The Artist Alley table of acclaimed comic book artist Kim Jung Gi, who passed away due to a heart attack on Monday at age 47, has been transformed into a heartfelt memorial by mourning fans.
Kim was known for sprawling, impeccably detailed scenes often drawn from memory and for live-drawing images in front of captivated audiences. Born in South Korea, he published numerous comics and sketchbooks during his career and he holds a Guinness World Record for “longest drawing by an individual.”
Kim had been in Paris for an exhibition of his work and was about to head to the US for New York Comic Con, where he was scheduled to speak. The Artist Alley table where he would have exhibited was covered in notes to the artist, many thanking him for inspiring him. Some fans also left flowers and cards.
“Thank you for what you did for the Korean community,” said one note, signed in English and Korean.
Another read, “You are an inspiration to so many, and your legacy will live on. Thank you for all you have done for the art world.”
By 3:30 PM on Thursday, mere hours after Artist Alley opened, nearly every inch of space on the table had been covered, with some writing notes and others signing the table like a condolence card. A few left their own art in tribute, either on paper or by drawing characters on the table. Fans continued to come by to pay their respects and add their notes or signatures in whatever white spaces they could find.
LowerDecks skewers redemption arcs and colonialist tropes in an unusual yet hilarious episode
Let me start by saying “A Mathematically Perfect Redemption” is weird even by Lower Decks standards. Yet it’s this kind of over-the-top absurdity and humor that would only work in cartoon form that makes this show so enjoyable. In fact, I daresay this episode even went meta and made fun of some of Lower Decks’ own tropes.
The episode opens with a “previously on” that takes us back to the battle against the Pakleds in Season 1. An exocomp – a kind of sentient utility machine introduced in Star Trek: The Next Generation – named Peanut Hamper, who is an ensign on board the Cerritos, is called upon for a dangerous mission to save the Cerritos, and promptly abandons the ship to save herself.
Fast forward to this season. Peanut Hamper has been drifting alone in the debris field from the battle this entire time and working to repair a warp nacelle. In her loneliness, she has built an exocomp-like doll that she named Sophia, and at first seems to have a strong attachment to it. But the moment Drookmani scavengers show up, Peanut Hamper dumps Sophia to save herself using the scraped-together engine. It warps her uncontrollably through space, and eventually, she crash-lands on a primitive planet populated by bird people (for a moment, I wondered if they might be related to the Xindi-Avians of Star Trek: Enterprise that were never shown, but alas).
She awakens in a treehouse and is greeted by the village leader, Kaltorus of the Areore, who sees her arrival as destiny, a gift from the ancestors. Cue every single colonialist “character from advanced civilization meets primitive natives” cliche in the book. The villagers are skeptical of the mechanical being, especially Rawda, the stereotypical hot young prince figure. He’s a bird man (with the obligatory shirtless outfit to show off the six-pack), and she’s a talking metal box, but we all know where this is going to end up. Seriously, I could practically hear the artists giggling as they created this ridiculous character design.
Peanut Hamper impresses the villagers when she replicates some candy for a child but remains caustic and dismissive of what she sees as a boring backwater planet. Kaltorus tasks Rawda with showing Peanut Hamper their ways. He’s a prickly young male dedicated to his people, she’s a sass-mouthed young female with smarts on her side. Oh yeah, we all know where this is going. As Rawda shows Peanut Hamper around the village, where everything including the farm animals has wings, a sky snake (whose name Peanut Hamper mocks as redundant) attacks. Kaltorus shoots it down but is poisoned by its deadly venom, which no one has ever survived. Peanut Hamper promptly replicates an antidote, and the villagers rejoice.
Surrounded by praise, she seems to come around to the villagers’ way of life and takes on a healer role, even helping in a hatching process that usually sees a high infant mortality rate. The last one particularly impresses Rawda. He takes her on a flight across the sky and starts to sing… or, more accurately, squawk. Yup, it’s happening: The two fall in love after bonding over daddy issues. And of course, there’s a kiss. And sex. How does that work, you might wonder? Well, Peanut Hamper wonders that too as Rawda shows off his very different and, according to her, very complicated anatomy. Lower Decks fully leans into the ridiculousness of this pairing, to hilarious effect.
Rawda reveals that the reason he was so skeptical of Peanut Hamper is that his people have long been taught to fear technology. He shows her to an underground cave… It turns out, his people used to be an advanced, warp-capable society, but that led to endless wars, and so they chose to live a simple life. Some of these ancient ships remain beneath the village, and Peanut Hamper realizes she hasn’t violated the prime directive after all. Is anyone else getting flashbacks to Star Trek: Insurrection?
Cut to Peanut Hamper and Rawda getting married (because of course). The cliche is complete – the technologically advanced outsider has “gone native” and is settling into the “simple life” with the attractive indigenous person. Then, the Drookmani scavengers reappear to disrupt the ceremony. They’ve come for the underground ships under the belief that it is trash no one wants anyway, and they can take it with no problem. But of course, there is a problem: over the years, the trees have grown around the ships, and digging them up would destroy the village. Conflict!
The Drookmani start raising the ancient ships anyway, causing chaos. Trees fall, things catch on fire, and there are lots of crying baby birds. Up until this point, Peanut Hamper has refrained from sending a distress call to Starfleet, knowing she’ll face court martial and be sent to a penal colony for abandoning her post during the battle with the Pakleds. But that was the old Peanut Hamper! The newly redeemed Peanut Hamper is determined to save her new husband’s idyllic home no matter the cost to herself! She calls the Cerritos, and Captain Freeman, disturbed that Peanut Hamper appears to have violated the prime directive, orders the ship to her location.
The crew of the Cerritos realizes what the Drookmani are doing and prepare to save the day. But there’s no need – here comes Peanut Hamper in a heroic flight to save it first, choosing others over herself in the way she failed to during the Pakled battle! She boards the Drookmani ship and fights her way through it. From the ground, Rawda witnesses the ship’s destruction and despairs at Peanut Hamper’s apparent sacrifice. But wait – she survived!
The newlyweds are reunited, and Peanut Hamper gets a hero’s welcome. Freeman, Shaxs, and Tendi beam down, and the villagers protectively surround Peanut Hamper, having heard of her fears that she’d be sent to a penal colony. But Freeman isn’t here to arrest her – she’s here to thank her and invite her back to Starfleet. Rawda asks to come along as the devoted husband. Hooray, Peanut Hamper is redeemed by the power of love and colonialist fantasies!
And then the Drookmani show up in one of the ancient ships, having beamed aboard and made it operational, to reveal that they were invited to come to the planet to salvage the ship by none other than Peanut Hamper. TWIST! Turns out, Peanut Hamper arranged the whole attack so the Cerritos would witness her being a hero and get her off the planet without her getting in trouble. So much for redemption. Poor Rawda is heartbroken, and Peanut Hamper cruelly says that she has no interest in living the rest of her long robot life on this boring planet.
The Drookmani start attacking the Cerritos. Tendi points out that Peanut Hamper has one more chance at redemption: She can board the ship again and save the day! Here’s that heart-of-gold moment that Lower Decks has made such an integral part of its DNA – despite all of Peanut Hamper’s actions, she can still choose to do the right thing, and then we can all be one big, happy family!
Peanut Hamper’s response? NOPE. She’s only interested in saving herself. It’s Rawda who gets to be the hero, taking another one of his ancestor’s ships and using it to bring down the Drookmani. He returns to his village and declares that they will no longer live in fear of technology.
As for that selfish little robot? First, she tries to sweet-talk her way back into his good graces, but he kicks her to the curb. Freeman isn’t having any of her nonsense either. Peanut Hamper then lets loose the full extent of her evil robot-ness by trying to contact the Borg, who would love her. But the Cerritos crew, having had enough of her, disable her transmitter. She’s promptly shipped off to Starfleet’s Self-Aware Megalomaniacal Computer Storage, where she’s placed in the cell next to AGIMUS, the evil computer from Season 2.
This was definitely an unusual episode, in that our main characters are largely absent, and somehow felt even more bizarre than Lower Decks’ usual humor. It hilariously skewers so many tropes and cliches, it would take a novel to talk about them all. In particular, though it roasts the colonialist “going native” or “savior” narrative by appearing to give Peanut Hamper that storyline… then pulling the rug out from under it by revealing Peanut Hamper to be even eviler than before and letting Rawda save the day.
I feel like this episode of She-Hulk has been coming for a long time. While Ribbit and Rip It has the trademark silliness and fourth wall-breaking asides, it’s also very much about Jennifer becoming more comfortable as a super hero. Unfortunately, it couldn’t have happened at a worse time. While things start pretty well for our green-hued heroine, everything quickly goes up in flames in the difficult end sequence of the episode.
First of all, Jennifer has a new client – a total douchebag that calls himself Leapfrog. I admit his suit matches his name, and looks pretty decent, but the person wearing it should be nowhere near crimefighting. Case in point, the first thing we see is the doofus fail miserably to stop a crime. Just when it looks like he’s going to have the green beaten out of him, he says his trademark “Ribbit and Rip It” catchphrase before turning on his rocket boots. And then, of course, he damages himself horribly in the process, getting badly burned. Guess who gets to be his lawyer?
Unfortunately for Jennifer, Leapfrog’s father is a big client for GLK&H, which means she can’t turn him down. Even though there’s a distinct conflict of interest. Namely, the person that Leapfrog is suing for his defective suit is none other than Luke Jacobson. AKA the fashionable designer that is the only person capable of making suits that both Jennifer and her alter ego can wear. She tries to convince Luke to admit to some culpability and avoid a lawsuit, and instead he talks to her newest dress and rips it to shreds, saying he doesn’t make malfunctioning suits.
My favorite part of the episode, and something else I was waiting all season for, was the introduction of Matt Murdock as Jacobson’s lawyer. Using his super senses, he detects a whiff of jet fuel coming from Leapfrog’s boots. When he asks the idiot about what fuel he used, Jacobson retorts that he specifically warned which sort of fuel could be used safely in the boots. Meaning that Leapfrog is at fault, not Jacobson, and the case is summarily dismissed. Jennifer hopes Jacobson can still be her tailor, but he’s not interested in helping her anymore, and is quite bitchy about it.
Luckily, Jennifer gets the consolation prize – the attention of one Matt Murdock. At first she is annoyed by his confidence, but like any person with eyes, she quickly becomes enamored of the charming blind lawyer. He starts by finding Jennifer in her regular bar and orders her an appletini. Then he does his usual schtick and convinces her that she can do more with her position by embracing her duality instead of fighting it. It’s honestly going pretty well until he suddenly gets called away by work. Worse, Jennifer then gets called by Todd, the other giant man child of the episode.
Leapfrog is pretty bad, but Todd is no stranger to being a blithering idiot. The key difference is he thinks he’s somehow charming. He decided to win a Wakandan War Spear in an auction (he even paid “a millie” for it). After a super cringeworthy Wakanda Forever salute, he tries to convince Jennifer to help protect him from an infuriated Wakandan embassy. Then he hits on her, which causes her to push the table against him and leave.
As if that wasn’t bad enough, Jen then gets another call from her client, Leapfrog. He’s apparently being attacked, and it’s by none other than Daredevil in his brand new ketchup and mustard colored suit. Knowing the hero as we do, it’s clear that if he’s attacking someone, they did something to deserve it. But since Jennifer is still new to the hero game, she goes to defend her client, and there’s a pretty great fight scene. Daredevil does his usual bounce around and dodge everything routine, and she complicates it by throwing a car at him. Then when he avoids it and starts to escape, she unleashes her sonic clap, which knocks the blind hero on his ass. So much that she manages to unmask him, only to discover he’s actually Matt Murdock!
It turns out, Leapfrog kidnapped Jacobson in order to force him to make another suit. After trading some quips and calling Murdock Gold Devil, she agrees to work with the hero to protect his client from hers. Which is all sorts of awkward, but luckily Leapfrog is no criminal mastermind. Sure he has money he inherited and henchmen he calls Tadpoles, but he couldn’t work his way out of a paper bag. As such, Daredevil and She-Hulk make short work of him and his men, and then Leapfrog punctuates the whole situation by leaping out a window, only to maim himself pretty badly.
Jacobson is freed and agrees to make Jen’s dress for the upcoming Met Gala. But since Jennifer has some time to kill, she hits on Murdock, and her affection is returned in kind. Then they take it back to her place, and get to know each other without the super suits. Cue a Daredevil walk of shame the following morning, and Nikki suddenly popping in. No, the episode isn’t over quite yet, much as Jennifer questions it. They still have a gala to go to, which can only mean one thing – the big twist and finale are coming!
She-Hulk is all glammed up by Jacobson in a shiny silver dress, and is ready to possibly win the Female Laywer of the Year award. Her parents are even there, so it’s gonna be a good night, right? Wrong. Once Jennifer and several other lady lawyers are brought on stage, an Intelligencia broadcast takes over, and starts calling She-Hulk all sorts of horrible things. She takes it in stride until Josh’s home video of sexy time with Jennifer pushes her past her the point of no return, and she smashes the screen. She-Hulk chases some men outside and it’s clear she’s totally lost her cool and fully Hulked out. Which should make the finale next week pretty interesting.
Though I feel badly about how She-Hulk is being constantly attacked by sexists pricks, and this episode in particular felt like it was about white privilege, I’m sure she’ll find it in herself to save the day somehow. Overall a good episode, with highlights being the Daredevil cameo, Maslany as a giddy superhero and Nikki doing her best glam impression of Wolverine. Tune in next week to see how Marvel and Disney+ wrap up the show, and whether or not we’re getting another season!
You don’t need to watch the preceding Legends movies to enjoy Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind. Admittedly, almost everyone around me in the audience was here simply because this was a New York Comic Con event. Despite the lighter covid-limited-seating and that most of us in the audience were simply here to enjoy and exchange panels info of things to see on Day 1, what really stood out for this screening is just how much the audience left feeling entertained. The movie does a good job of exceeding expectations, even better, when there are none, which is how I think most viewers should approach it.
The story focuses on a young Kenshi (played by Manny Jacinto) from the Mortal Kombat series. Who is a lesser-known warrior than your Sub Zeros and Liu Kangs of the franchise, which actually helps its fresh take on the story. The film follows his journey as the only hero willing to stand against The Black Dragon, a recycled Mortal Kombat villain organization led by the surprisingly unstoppable King Kano (David Wenham). This time around Kano is more-or-less a cyborg in a very terminator body suit kind of way. Likewise, he and his Black Dragon actually have a pretty menacing role compared to previous depictions of the franchise.
The Black Dragon rule, led by the surprisingly unstoppable Kano. Kano is a big leader this time. He’s also kind of cybernetic in an Ultron kind of way in the black dragon. Cybernetic takes a step further than what we’re used to. Though with his goons such as Kano and crew. In no particular order, there’s some ruffians, a robbery, and a newly pacifist-living Kuai Liang (Ron Yuan), who is absolutely stellar in his portrayal of Old-Man Sub-Zero.
Now, though the Kenshi and sub-zero storyline are the focus, for a story that starts out pretty good, it does backpedal onto post-apocalpytic cliches by its midpoint. Anyone who has watched Daredevil (as Kenshi is a blind swordsman) or has seen any sort of old-mentor teaches padawan kind of story sort of can tell beat-for-beat what’s going to happen by the midpoint of the movie. There’s a cursed item. A motivation for revenge. And themes of regret and repeantance that while violently motivate for the characters, again, isn’t reinventing the wheel for the genre.
Which is why I think, the best thing to come out of this movie is actually Manny Jacquinto, who in so many ways, was surprisingly fantastic in this role. His playful take on the smart mouthed yet headstrong Kenshi comes off as sly, yet, cunning and his character arc feels genuinely refreshing for a series that’s sort of always depended on its extremities, whether it be Mortal Kombat’s visceral fatalities or ridiculous extra-dimensional karate-tournament to the death (I’m kidding) themed cinema style.
Seeing Kenshi grow in this journey and hearing Jacquinto’s cadence change along with the growth of his character does seem remarkable if you, like myself, keep remembering that this is Jason Mendoza from The Good Place. There’s some serious growth in range here as an actor just from his voice alone and Jacquinto does such a good job of going from cocky youth to serious warrior. I’d even say he’d be a fantastic choice for Nightwing, if this were possible (He’d also be the first Filipino Nightwing that had a cultural reason to use Eskrima Sticks).
Aesthetically, everything about these wastelands feels just like Mad Max…
It’s a western post-apocalypse filled with desert broken down wooden saloons and some, let’s just say, bombastic evil villain tropes. It should also be noted that Kano, a notoriously Australian retconned villain in the series, makes sort of the perfect antagonist for these wastes given that the Mad Max aesthetic and vibe was also entirely shot and taken off the desserts of Australia in those original movies.
Atop of this, one of the things stand out the most is that the movie is incredibly ultra violent. Lots of what you see is very reminiscent of some late 2000s Adult-Swim types of series, in that the action is over the top along with the weapons, gore, bullets, and viscera. That said, there were issues regarding the penciling and character models, whose textures at times felt disjointed from the movements of the film overall.
Now, the barrier to entry for this movie is a basic knowledge of Mortal Kombat. Some favorite characters make some appearances such as Sub Zero, Shang Tsung, and a few more cameos that I’ll avoid for the sake of spoilers as there’s a decent amount of fan service that’s best to approach blind.
The Take
Snow Blind isn’t a mind-boggling adventure nor it is a film that does much to depend on the laurels of its predecessor. Rather, the movie does what any good Mortal Kombat wants to achieve: showcasing violent action littered with fatalities while presenting some sort of ninja-aesthetically themed tragedy. All of which gets achieved in its hour and twenty-two-minute runtime… plus, a post-apocalypse.
3.5 Stars
Mortal Kombat Legends: Snow Blind will be available on digital release on October 9th and on the physical disk and Blu-Ray on October 10th
I’ll just preface this piece by saying that public libraries have always been a personal haven for me. They were always a great place to just unwind, discover new worlds and expand my knowledge. But I also acknowledge that kids these days are bombarded with many more ways to escape reality, from phones to surfing the internet and much more. So perhaps they need a little more incentive to head to their public library. Well, Marvel and the New York Public Library system have teamed up to give them just that!
As of October 11th, you’ll be able to get a limited edition Spider-Man library card at several library branches in NY. It debuts just in time for the New York Comic Con, and also honors the 60th anniversary of the iconic hero’s first appearance in Amazing Fantasy #15. And it’s honestly a collaboration that makes perfect sense, since Peter Parker was always as much of an intellectual as a super hero. He constantly had to research to find ways to stop his rogues’ gallery of villains.
For the card itself, here’s some key information:
“Images of Spider-Man—alongside Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy, two other iconic web-slingers—will be featured on the card, as well as on upcoming banners outside the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building and the windows of the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Library (SNFL), exciting patrons of all ages to tap into the unique power of reading, comics, and libraries to discover their inner super hero.”
The Spider-Man library card follows in the footsteps of other cards issued for The Snowy Day and embodies the Knowledge Is Power campaign. Its goal is to help New Yorkers reach their full potential by tapping into the many resources found in the NYPL. Better yet, it marks the one-year anniversary of NYPL’s initiative to remove fines from their cards, and thus remove barriers in accessing knowledge for New Yorkers.
In fact, here’s some more details about the move:
“This historic move was even a plot point in Marvel Comics’ Amazing Spider-Man #900, released on July 27. In a special story written by Daniel Kibblesmith, drawn by David Lopez, and colored by Nathan Fairbairn, Peter Parker returns a large stack of overdue books to the Library after learning of the elimination of late fines. Readers can check out Amazing Spider-Man #900 in a special bonus release on Marvel Unlimited, Marvel’s premier digital comics subscription service.”
Here’s some information to close things out. The launch of the Spider-Man library card comes on Open House week. Fans can get it on a first come, first served basis at branches in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island. There will also be several special programs curated by NYPL staff. So what are you waiting for? Go find a teen in your life and teach them to love learning at your public library.
New York Comic-con is coming up again and we at The Workprint will be returning to cover all the events from October 6th to the 9th! We’re also going to be checking out Marvel’s special events, located at booth #2057, to see what the company’s up to throughout the event.
Atop of this, Marvel Digital Media will be covering several events all throughout the convention, all live streaming across social media and Marvel.com. An overview of Marvel Entertainment’s panels can be found below, plus info regarding their upcoming activities and signings.
Here’s the updated schedule:
MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT BOOTH SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
11:00 – 11:15am EST – Welcome to New York Comic Con
1:00 – 1:15pm EST – Marvel Mystery Game
1:45 – 2:45pm EST – Marvel Live Draw! with Adam Kubert & Brian Crosby
3:00 – 3:30pm EST – Captain America: Cold War Signing with Collin Kelley, Jackson Lanzing, and Tochi Onyebuchi
5:50 – 6:00pm EST – Trivia Time with Marvel Insider
6:00 – 7:00pm EST – Marvel Giveaway Hour
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7
11:15 – 11:30am EST – Marvel Mystery Game
12:00 – 12:30pm EST – Miles Morales: Spider-Man Signing with Cody Ziglar and Federico Vincentini
1:30 – 2:00pm EST – Spider-Man: Beyond Amazing Cosplay Photo-Op
2:15 – 2:45pm EST – Target: World of Black Panther Trivia
3:00 – 3:30pm EST – Miles Morales Spider-Man: Shock Waves/Scholastic Signing with Pablo Leon
4:00 – 4:30pm EST – Behind the Scenes: The Making of Marvel Figures Presented by Madame Tussauds
5:50 – 6:00pm EST – Trivia Time with Marvel Insider
6:00 – 7:00pm EST – Marvel Giveaway Hour
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8
11:00– 11:15am EST – Marvel Mystery Game
12:00 – 12:30pm EST – Dark Web Signing with Zeb Wells and Adam Kubert
12:45 – 1:00pm EST – DoorDash Man on the Street
1:30 – 2:25pm EST – MARVEL x Ultraman: Exclusive Q&A, Signing and Fan Event
3:00 – 3:30pm EST – Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit Signing with Samira Ahmed
4:30 – 4:45pm EST – Marvel Mystery Game
5:20 – 5:30pm EST – Trivia Time with Marvel Insider
5:30 – 6:30pm EST – Marvel Becoming Cosplay Contest
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9
10:30– 11:30am EST – Marvel Mystery Game
12:00 – 12:30pm EST – Demon Wars Signing with Peach Momoko
1:00 – 1:30pm EST – Marvel Becoming Kids Costume Event
4:00 – 5:00pm EST – Marvel Giveaway Hour
MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT SIGNING SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
3:00 – 3:30pm EST – Collin Kelley, Jackson Lanzing, and Tochi Onyebuchi (Captain America: Cold War)
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7
12:00 – 12:30pm EST – Cody Ziglar and Federico Vicentini (Miles Morales: Spider-Man)
3:00 – 3:30pm EST – Pablo Leon (Miles Morales Spider-Man: Shock Waves/Scholastic)
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8
12:00 – 12:30pm EST – Zeb Wells and Adam Kubert (Dark Web)
1:30 to 2:15pm EST – Kyle Higgins, Francesco Manna, Shimizu & Shimoguchi (Ultraman)
3:00 – 3:30pm EST – Samira Ahmed (Ms. Marvel: Beyond the Limit)
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9
12:00 – 12:30pm EST – Peach Momoko (Demon Wars)
MARVEL ENTERTAINMENT PANEL SCHEDULE:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
Captain America: Cold War – A This Week in Marvel Special Event 1:45PM – 2:45PM EST | Room: 401
Co-hosts Ryan Penagos (aka Agent M, VP & Creative Executive at Marvel) and Lorraine Cink (Director of Creative Content at Marvel) return for a lively live-recording of the This Week in Marvel podcast! They’ll be joined by an all-star panel featuring Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty), Tochi Onyebuchi (Captain America: Symbol of Truth), and star-spangled Marvel Comics Editor Alanna Smith to talk about what lies ahead for Marvel’s premier shield-slinging heroes. Hold onto your hats, True Believers – Things are heating up as we hurtle headlong into the 2023 Captain America crossover: Cold War!
FRIDAY, OCTOBER 7
MARVEL COMICS: Marvel Fanfare with C.B. Cebulski 1:30PM– 2:30PM EST | Room: 405
Marvel Comics Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski along with super-secret special guests (TBA) will assemble for a lively discussion and Q&A session about anything and everything Marvel! What was their favorite outfit at the Hellfire Gala? Would they rather be represented by Matt Murdock or Jennifer Walters? Who do they think is the greatest Spider-Man villain of all time? Get your answers to these questions and more. But that’s not all – fans who stay until the end will receive an exclusive giveaway!
MARVEL: Books of Future Past 6:00PM – 7:00 PM EST | Room: 408
From original graphic novels to museum quality archival editions, some of Marvel’s most exciting books are produced with best-in-class publishing partners! How are these unique collections made? Join host Ryan Penagos (aka Agent M, VP & Creative Executive at Marvel), Marvel’s VP of Licensed Publishing, Sven Larsen, Abrams Editor Charlie Kochman (Fantastic Four: Full Circle), IDW Editor Scott Dunbier (Todd McFarlane’s Spider-Man Artist’s Edition), Folio Society Editor James Rose (Thor, Black Panther Deluxe Editions) and Penguin Classics Publisher Elda Rotor (Marvel Penguin Classics) as they reveal how these books are created and share a sneak peek at what’s coming next!
SATURDAY, OCTOBER 8
MARVEL’S VOICES: The World Outside Your Window 11:15AM – 12:15 PM EST | Room: 401
Marvel strives to create stories that reflect “the world outside your window” both on and off the page, so we’re bringing together some of our most celebrated creators to talk about a variety of characters and stories. The first-ever NYCC Marvel’s Voices panel is hosted by writer and podcast host Angelique Roche who will be joined by Eve L. Ewing (Monica Rambeau: Photon), John Jennings (My Super Hero is Black), Steve Orlando (Marauders), Cody Ziglar (Miles Morales: Spider-Man), and Marvel’s Voices Editor Sarah Brunstad. Celebrate the growing legacy of Marvel’s Voices in a conversation about their creative processes, collaborations, and professional journeys, as they paint a full picture of the diversity of the Marvel Universe. Plus – attendees will receive a special giveaway!
MARVEL COMICS: Next Big Thing 4:00PM – 5:00PM EST | Room: 405
This is it, True Believers, the panel you absolutely cannot miss! Learn what’s next for the Marvel Universe as Marvel Comics Executive Editor Nick Lowe and Editor-in-Chief C.B. Cebulski lead a legion of literary legends in discussion, including Gerry Duggan (Dark Web: X-Men, Invincible Iron Man), Jed MacKay (Mary Jane & Black Cat, Timeless), Zeb Wells (Amazing Spider-Man, Dark Web), and more! What lies in store for everyone’s favorite mutants and mutates as dusk falls across the world in the Spider-Man/X-Men crossover Dark Web? What do the hands of fate hold in store for the Marvel Universe in the pages of Timeless? And what hot new 2023 titles will be announced? Plus, stay until the end of the panel for an exclusive giveaway!
SUNDAY, OCTOBER 9
WOMEN OF MARVEL 10:30AM – 11:30AM EST | Room 405
The Women of Marvel return to New York! Writer and podcast host Angelique Roche will lead a lively discussion with Marvel talent including Digital Media Executive Director Ellie Pyle, writer Eve L. Ewing (Monica Rambeau: Photon), Senior Editor Lauren Bisom¸ and more Mighty Marvel guests! What is it like for women working in the industry today, and what is next for Marvel’s woman-led titles? And don’t miss a special giveaway at the end of the panel!
*UPDATE 10/5 From Marvel’s Latest Press Release*
In collaboration with Marvel, fans will be able to experience one-of-a-kind activations and promotions from partners at the booth including:
A closer look at Marvel premium digital collectibles and more from VeVe.
A Target/Black Panther photo opportunity to celebrate Marvel Studios’ Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. If you can’t be there in person, follow the action on Marvel Live! presented by Target!
An exclusive reveal of a wax figure going to the MARVEL Hall of Heroes at Madame Tussauds New York complete with photo opportunities with the brand-new figure and Black Panther.
Marvel Merchandise
Fans will also want to stop by the official Marvel store (right next to the main marvel booth) for convention-exclusive merchandise including t-shirts, spirit jerseys, comic book variants, and more! Apparel includes fan favorites like X-Men, Spider-Man, Ghost Rider, and the lovable Jeff the Land Shark.
Celebrate Spider-Man’s anniversary with a special edition mystery pin set. There are a total of 8 pins, be sure to collect them all!
The Marvel store variant comics include:
CARNAGE #6 PEACH MOMOKO VARIANT
X-TERMINATORS #1 J. SCOTT CAMPBELL VARIANT
Marvel Unlimited Annual Plus subscribers
will also be eligible this year for a free exclusive one-of-a-kind Ant-Man #4 variant by Nao Fuji featuring Ant-Man and Marvel’s latest breakout star, Jeff the Land Shark!
In order to redeem the comic, fans must come to the Marvel booth (#2261) at the Marvel Unlimited section and show their Marvel Unlimited membership plan screen within the Marvel Unlimited app or order confirmation for a Marvel Unlimited Annual Plus membership. One comic per member, comics are available while supplies last. And for fans who sign up for a Marvel Unlimited subscription plan at the booth, they will receive an exclusive pin, patch, or action figure, while supplies last! Fans should make sure they’ve signed up for Marvel Insider* to have the chance to earn tens of thousands of points with special codes at Marvel panels and trivia questions at the Marvel merchandise booth.
Marvel Panel Giveaways
In addition to variant comics at the merch booth, be sure to attend the MARVEL COMICS: MARVEL FANFAREpanel on Friday, October 7, where attendees will receive a stunning color-focus sketch variant cover of Miracleman #0. See the heroic primary colors of the title character’s costume pop on this one-of-a-kind one-shot cover!
Then, on Saturday, October 8, attendees at the MARVEL’S VOICES: World Outside Your Window panel will get a reprint of FREE COMIC BOOK DAY: MARVEL’S VOICES #1 with all-new exclusive cover art by Luciano Vecchio!
Also on Saturday, attendees at the MARVEL COMICS: Next Big Thing panel will walk away with an exclusive X-Men Red #7 variant by Stefano Caselli. The Sins of Sinister loom large on this amazing homage to the classic Uncanny X-Men #239!
Finally, on Sunday, October 9, attendees at the WOMEN OF MARVELpanel will receive a color-focus variant cover by Ryan Stegman & Romulo Fajardo Jr. of Jane Foster & The Mighty Thor #5, spotlighting Valkyrie and her All-Weapon!
Fans or Marvel comics are in for a chilly new treat to kick off this year’s New York Comic Con! As newly released information on next year’s Captain America: Cold War will see a developing crossover between the current Captain America storylines.
Currently, Steve Rogers’ past, along with Sam Wilson’s conflict with Wakanda, have been the subjects of two ongoing titles: Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty, created by writers Collin Kelly and Jackson Lanzing featuring art by Carmen Carnero, and Captain America: Symbol of Truth, written by Tochi Onyebuchi with art by R.B. Silva.
In the upcoming Cold War event at New York Comic Con, This Week in Marvel will be spilling all the tea about the thrilling comic book crossover that’s coming next year. The biggest revelation to be discussed will be in seeing how Winter Soldier factors into all this. As fans at New York Comic Con will soon find out! Details below:
THURSDAY, OCTOBER 6
CaptainAmerica: Cold War – A This Week in Marvel Special Event 1:45 – 2:45pm EST | Room: 401
Co-hosts Ryan Penagos (aka Agent M, VP & Creative Executive at Marvel) and Lorraine Cink (Director of Creative Content at Marvel) return for a lively live recording of the This Week in Marvel podcast! They’ll be joined by an all-star panel featuring Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing (CaptainAmerica: Sentinel of Liberty), Tochi Onyebuchi (CaptainAmerica: Symbol of Truth), and star-spangled Marvel Comics Editor Alanna Smith to talk about what lies ahead for Marvel’s premier shield-slinging heroes. Hold onto your hats, True Believers—Things are heating up as we hurtle headlong into the 2023 CaptainAmerica crossover: Cold War!
Marvel Booth (#2057) Autograph Signings:
3:00 – 3:30pm EST – Collin Kelley, Jackson Lanzing, and Tochi Onyebuchi (CaptainAmerica: Cold War).
CAPTAIN AMERICA: SENTINEL OF LIBERTY #8
Written by COLLIN KELLY & JACKSON LANZING
Art and Cover by CARMEN CARNERO
On Sale 1/4
Captain America: Sentinel of Liberty #8 sees Captain America’s allies strewn across the country with gaps in their memories. Who do you call? Well, if you’re Steve Rogers you might know a telepathic mutant by the name of Emma Frost! Although, the old adage applies—don’t ask questions if you might not like the answers…Still, a hero’s work is never done but while Steve and company get up and go to save a city being attacked by A.I.M., the Outer Circle reveals their master assassin: M.O.D.O.C.—the Mental Organism Designed Only for Control!
CAPTAIN AMERICA: SYMBOL OF TRUTH #9
Written by TOCHI ONYEBUCHI
Art and Cover by R.B. SILVA
On Sale 1/11
Captain America: Symbol of Truth #9 finds Captain America rethinking his current battle with the White Wolf when Hunter enlists the aid of an old nemesis of Nomad’s against Mohannda’s people. Sam’s got to deal with the incoming from Dimension Z toot sweet.
NYCC is back and finally at full capacity this October 6th-9th. The greatest pop culture convention on the East Coast has something to offer everyone from TV, movies, video games, and collectibles to what started it all: comics! We’ve put together this sampling of things we think you’d enjoy checking out.
HBO Max’s “Velma”
Ever wonder how Velma Dinkley came to be the nerdiest (and sexiest) member of the Mystery Inc. gang? Never fear, executive producer (and voice of Velma) Mindy Kaling and showrunner Charlie Grandy with the help of Warner Bros. Animation will answer all your burning questions with their adult comedy “Velma”. Come and check out a sneak peek of the pilot!
Location: Main Stage
Time: Thursday, Oct. 6 – 3:30 PM
Super Mario Teaser-Trailer Premiere
Illumination is presenting the Mario teaser-trailer as a kind of kick-off event for when New York Comic Con’s doors open, although it isn’t officially part of the stage festivities. There’s been a lot said about the film, not the least of which concerns the story direction and Chris Pratt’s voice performance as Mario, but this teaser trailer should give the fans something to chew on. Directed by Aaron Horvath and Michael Jelenic, the Mario movie also has the game’s creator Shigeru Miyamoto as a hands on producer.
Location: Empire Stage
Time: Thursday, Oct 6 – 4:00 PM – 4:45 PM
WEBTOON + DC: Building a New Generation of Fans and Heroes
WEBTOON has a huge collection of amazing digital comics— new stars feature on WEBTOON CANVAS and there’s WEBTOON Originals creators—it’s an eclectic mix for any type of comic fan. WEBTOON’s comics have been adapted by Netflix, HBO Max, and others, which explains the 89+ million monthly active users who make up their passionate fanbase. Don’t miss out on the future of pop culture.
David Lee, VP of WEBTOON U.S. and Marie Javins—Editor-in-Chief of DC—present a special event including creative teams from the most sought-after DC/WEBTOON titles. Rosie Knight, host, producer, and writer for Den of Geek, will moderate.
Location:Javitts Center, Room 406.1
Time: Thursday, Oct 6 – 4:45 PM
Netflix Presents: “The Midnight Club”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X3cCROeOQLQ
If you were a fan of Midnight Mass then you need to check out Netflix’s “The Midnight Club”—hitting the streaming service on Oct. 7th, NYCC guests get a special early-bird look at this new thriller series. Stay after the screening for a conversation with executive producers, cast members, and series creator Mike Flanagan.
Location: Room 405
Time: Thursday, Oct. 6 – 7:30 PM
Darryl Makes Comics Presents: Comics, Creatives, and Culture
Curious about Darryl DMC McDaniels and the future of the DMC Universe? Well then, this panel is perfect for you! Darryl will be discussing Creativity, Culture, and Comics, along with previews into the future of the DMCU, and if that wasn’t enough there’s the new song/comic collab “Me and My Microphone”!
Location: Room 406.1
Time: Friday, Oct 7 – 12:15 PM
Reginald the Vampire: Exclusive Screening and Conversation
October brings out all the spooky creatures so it’s no wonder SYFY’s newest series is Reginald the Vampire! Star and co-EP, Jacob Batalon, along with fellow cast and creators Em Haine, Savannah Basley, Harley Peyton, and Jeremiah Chechik will participate in a moderated conversation. And that’s not all—there will be an exclusive, extended preview of the series’ second episode before its airdate of October 12th.
Location: Room 405
Time: Friday, October 7 – 4:30 p.m.
The Sandman Dream Portal
To celebrate the release of “The Sandman: Act III” Audible and DC have teamed up to bring The Sandman Dream Portal to New York Comic Con. This interactive storytelling experience features the voice of Neil Gaiman—creator, writer, and EP—welcoming visitors to The Dreaming. From there they can explore the storylines of “The Sandman: Act III” through a surreal dreamscape gallery. The imagery within is an abstract introduction to various moments from Act III, ultilizing audio from those scenes along with ambient sound effects to carry listeners into the audio adaptation of this New York Times best-selling graphic novel series. And here’s the kicker: it’s a hop, skip, and a jump from the Javitts Center! The perfect lunchtime indulgence before going back into the convention.
Location: MediaPro Manhattan Studio
508 W 37th St
New York, NY 10018
Times:
Friday, October 7th – 4-9pm
Saturday, October 8th – 1-9pm
Sunday, October 9th – 1-6pm
Violent Night
The team that brought you John Wick, Nobody, Atomic Blonde, and Deadpool 2, along with action-oriented director Tommy Wirkola are premiering their brand-new holiday thriller Violent Night at NYCC. Be the first to see the latest offering from 87North. Mercenaries have breached the compound of a wealthy family on Christmas Eve, taking them all hostage, but there’s a candy cane in the works: Santa Claus (played by Stranger Things and Black Widow star David Harbour) is taking note of all the naughty people on his property, and he’s got more than coal coming their way. Please note: Violent Night is rated R.
Location: Empire Stage
Time: Fri, Oct 7th, 7:15 PM – 9:15 PM
Aqua Teen Hunger Force – Phantasm
If you’re a fan of the Aqua Teen Hunger Force then you’ll be thrilled to hear that Home Entertainment is premiering Aqua Teen Forever: Plantasm! Come see Frylock, Master Shake, Meatwad, and of course Carl in this rated R romp. Our Aqua Teens have teamed up with Carl to take down the corporate giant Amazin, and its head, tech mogul Neil and his sidekick, Elmer. Once you’ve taken in this magnum opus stay for a panel discussion with the filmmakers and key cast members, including an audience Q&A.
Location: Main Stage
Time: October 6, 8:30pm
Prime Video Presents: “The Wheel of Time” & “The Lord of The Rings: The Rings of Power”
It’s a two-hour gauntlet of back-to-back panels for the cast and creative teams of both “The Wheel of Time” and “The Lord of the Rings: The Rings of Power”, talk about your first time at Comic Con! Fans will be treated to insights about the second season of “The Wheel of Time”, and the “Rings of Power” season finale.
The Cave is a solid episode of La Brea, and it does a good job of streamlining the action so we’re not struggling to follow tons of different storylines simultaneously. The main arc deals with Eve and Levi being kidnapped, but there’s also plenty of screen time for Gavin and Riley and Josh. Better yet, we get some backstory for Gavin’s mysterious childhood, as well as learning more about the marauders that have been kidnapping people in the prehistoric past.
We learn pretty early on that the kidnappers are called the Exiles, thanks to Gavin’s memories growing up with grandpa Silas. All he knows is they’re dangerous and use horse-drawn wagons. Eve and Levi quickly discover the Exiles want one thing, a particular black rock that their prisoners are forced to mine. The Exile camp is spartan and cruel looking, with spiked gates, tall fencing and a massive portcullis locking their workers in the titular cave.
As Eve and Levi spend the episode in discomfort, we get more backstory from several different flashbacks. First it’s shown why Eve and Levi hooked up. Gavin was hard drinking and she was forced to do everything for her family, including fix a dishwasher by herself. Levi’s shoulder to cry on eventually turns into a friendship with benefits. Levi wants desperately to make things official, but Eve was hurt by her father having an affair when she was 15, and she doesn’t want to hurt her children the same way. Ironically she says this moments before Izzy’s horrific accident, and then she’s overwhelmed by guilt.
Gavin’s group is triumphant when they make contact with the original survivors in the Clearing, until they realize the people they came to rescue are all missing. I liked how a grown up Gavin reconnects with Sam, who helped bandage his hand when he was called Isaiah, and Ella connects with Ty. She also reintroduces herself to “big sister” Veronica. It goes well for a moment, but it’s clear Veronica is tortured by her past, which revolves around someone named Aaron. She pushes Ella away, and later tells Ty there are some things that you can’t be absolved for.
Cave boy decides to do something risky, and talks with his grandfather about rescuing Eve and Levi from the Exiles. Everybody warns him not to trust Silas, but Gavin finally decides to go solo with him to find them. Silas tries to get chummy with his grown up grandson, telling him he’d do anything for him. But Gavin reminds him of the horrible things Silas recently did to his wife and children, which Silas claims were for his sake. Then things get complicated and Gavin gets caught by a snare and dragged up a tree limb, only to foolishly drop his knife when trying to free himself.
A massive bear ambles along and gets punchy, swiping at poor upside down Gavin. Things look dire until Silas comes behind the beast and kills it with a knife to the noggin, before tossing the blade up to Gavin. I know, I don’t trust Silas either, but for now he seems to legitimately care about his grandson. Later Gavin trades stories of his adult life with grandpa, asking about what happened to his parents. Despite being told they’d died years ago, Silas reveals they’re both alive, but that he promised to take care of Gavin and to keep their secrets. Understandably his grandson is upset, but Silas won’t speak further on the topic.
As for Riley and Josh, at first they go to the new sinkhole in LA. Though it’s cordoned off by police, Josh wants to rush past their barricade. Riley tells him that’s a horrible idea, and that they should come try at night time instead. While they talk, a strange man in the crowd pays a lot of attention to them, and later is stalking them. When confronted by Riley, the man reveals his name is Franklin Marsh, a professor of geology who has suspicions about the sinkhole, but can’t convince anybody else.
Franklin found a pattern that predicts more sinkholes are coming, and that the next one will be life altering. It’ll open up in the middle of the ocean and create the biggest tidal wave in human history, devastating a huge swathe of land. Despite wanting to return to their parents, Riley and Josh agree this is more important, so they’ll stay and help him try and prevent or mitigate the damage.
Though there’s not a lot of exposition in the actual cave itself, other than plenty of flashbacks, we do meet Virgil. Supposedly he’s another LA refugee. I don’t know if I’m extra paranoid because of years watching LOST, but I instantly thought he was secretly the leader of the Exiles. This episode doesn’t lend my theory any credence, sadly. When Levi and Eve convince Virgil to help them try and escape, he gets badly beaten. Levi tries to help, but he gets beaten in turn, only to get returned to Eve later, where they tearfully reunite.
One of my favorite scenes from The Cave is when Sam uses his experience with the Wounded Warriors Project to help repair Izzy’s busted prosthetic leg, using tar and duct tape. She recognizes Sam from a vigil held for those that fell into the original sinkhole, where she met his son Andrew. It’s a touching moment, and made me care more about these characters.
The episode culminates in some shocking moments. First Silas drugs Gavin and leaves him right at the doorstep of the Exiles. Then Scott returns to the Clearing with a cryptic warning. Right when things looks totally dire, and Gavin is kidnapped, he recalls a hazy memory. Grandpa Silas put a map of the cave in his pocket, telling him it can lead him and his family to freedom once he gets caught. Which leads me to wonder how Silas had such a map, and whether this means he’s a member of the Exiles himself.
Overall a very solid episode, though perhaps not as exciting as last week’s La Brea. Hopefully we get more tidbits and secrets revealed in the coming weeks!
Poor Ben. After last week’s episode, he thought he was going to leap back home to 2022. But it’s no spoiler to say that wish won’t come true any time soon (I mean, the number of scenes hinted at in the poster alone make it clear that it’ll take more than 2 leaps to finish his journey). Instead, Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee) finds himself in a boxing ring… with a boxing glove coming right at his face. Welcome to the third episode, “Somebody Up There Likes Ben.”
Thanks to some conveniently placed posters, Ben has an easier time figuring out whose life he’s leaped into this time: that of a 1970s boxer named Danny Hill (Jermaine Alverez Martin) who’s supposed to fight for the title the next day. Here’s the weird thing: Ben wasn’t yet born in 1977, which means he has broken one of the parameters of leaping and gone outside his lifetime.
In the original timeline, Danny got distracted and lost his big fight, and his career never recovered. Ben is sure he’s here to change that… but what was Danny so distracted about? At first glance, it seems to be his romance with Angela (Danielle Larracuente), and Danny’s brother / coach, Daryl (Jon Chaffin), himself a former boxer, is certainly concerned that might be the case. But of course, this is Quantum Leap, and the situation is never as simple as it appears.
Meanwhile, back in 2022, Addison (Caitlin Bassett) is running herself ragged trying to figure out what Ben’s supposed to do to leap again, and also worrying about the mystery surrounding why he leaped in the first place. One of the biggest differences between the new Quantum Leap and the original is the heavy focus on the present. Whereas the original treated the adventure in the past as pretty much the entire story, with moments in the present largely incidental, 2022’s Quantum Leap makes the present just as important.
While this episode has no shortage of plot, both in the past and the present, it takes the time to delve into the emotional lives of the characters in both time periods. The original show had plenty of heartfelt moments in the past as Sam Beckett used therapeutic words to encourage people onto better paths. And Ben Song proves up to the task as he learns more about Daryl and how he’s supposed to change things for the better. But whereas in the original, it was easy to forget about people in the present (other than Al, of course), the 2022 show reminds us that the present-day characters are human too, and they’re going through immense amounts of stress as they try to figure out why Ben (who still can’t remember anything) hijacked the program in the first place, in addition to how to get him back.
While it’s impossible not to compare the original and the 2022 shows—I mean, they have the same title and everything—it’s also worth remembering that 2022 Quantum Leap is, in fact, a new show, and I, for one, am glad that they’re trying something new while also keeping the spirit of the original alive. A million words have been written about how much people miss Scott Bakula, to which I would say: Then go rewatch the original. Ben Song is not Sam Beckett, and that’s intentional. This isn’t a remake; they didn’t recast Sam. They introduced a new character, one who manages to embody the good-hearted spirit that made Sam such an appealing protagonist while bringing new dimensions to the story.
With three episodes in the bag and a fourth promising to be our first gender-bending escapade of the new show (as Ben comes to in a bar as a beautiful woman with a creep hitting on her), 2022’s Quantum Leap is off to a promising start, and I, for one, am excited to see where it goes next.
After Laena’s dragon-assisted suicide, the entire extended clan of Targaryens and Valeryans gathered at Driftmark for the funeral. It’s a solemn occasion as Laena’s casket is dropped into the sea, except when Daemon starts laughing, (Come on, dude. You actually liked this wife).
The wake follows and it’s an extremely awkward affair. Everyone is glancing nervously at everyone else, fearful of secrets being spilled or old grudges being unearthed. Young prat Aegon is drunk on the steps until his grandfather Otto kicks him back to his room. Yes, Otto is back as the hand (and Larys is now the lord of Harrenhall) after last week’s fiery “mishap.” Laenor is bereft after his sister’s death and is walking into the ocean. Corlys tells Carl to go save his ‘patron.” (Look I know it’s spelled with a Q but I god damn refuse to write “Qarl” anymore).
So, pretty typical for your average extended family funeral so far. Someone got too drunk, someone was histrionic, someone fucked their niece…
Oh, wait a minute. That one’s a little unique to GoT. We all mourn in different ways.
Yes, Daemon and Rhaneyra are back together for apparently the first time since the wedding feast. They have a long walk on the beach to catch up. Rhaneyra confirms the court gossip that Ser Harwin fathered her children since Laenor prefers lusty young men and nothing came of the few times he tried to do his royal duty. They try to keep up appearances for the sake of court. Rhaenyra is upset that Daemon abandoned her years ago, Daemon protests that he spared her, and then they kiss. They then go to a shack on the beach and do a lot more.
This is an odd scene, to say the least. Put aside the whole incest thing (I know.) It’s shot like a long-awaited, romantic rendezvous, with romantic music playing in the background. Maybe that is something the time jump skipped over, but as far as I know, Rhaenyra has not once pined for him. Their brothel hookup made sense in context, seeing as how she was drunk and had her head turned by Daemon taking her on a night on the town. And when he told Viserys to let him marry her, it came across as a power play, not a romantic yearning. So for their reunion to be played off as the consummation of a romance for the ages is just strange.
They aren’t the only ones involved in some illicit evening activity. Young Emo Aemond is skulking across the dunes, heading off to see Vhagar, Laena’s now ownerless dragon. After a few tense moments, where it looks like we might go two weeks in a row with a toasted royal, Aemond speaks enough High Valeryan to get Vhagar to let him ride him. Vhagar is the biggest dragon in the world, and Aemond has never ridden before, so this seems like taking your driver’s test in a Formula 1 race car, But! After clinging on for dear life, Aemond seems to get the hang of it, only crushing a few tents when he lands.
As he strides back into the castle through some tunnels, he gets confronted by his four cousins Baela and Rhaena are furious. That was their mother’s dragon and Rhaena was going to claim it. Well, sneers Aemond, you snooze, you lose, Aemond rides one dragon for ten minutes, and all of a sudden he’s a swaggering dick. This kicks off a fight among the five of them, with Jacerys and Lucerys joining in, and Aemond breaking Lucerys’ nose. Aemond taunts Rhaenyra’s kids, saying shouldn’t they be mourning the death of their father? This infuriates Jacerys, who pulls out a dagger. Aemond disarms him and is about to smash his head with a rock, but Jacerys distracts him with a handful of dirt in his face and Lucerys slashes him, slicing open his eye. It’s at this point the King’s Guard runs in to break things up. Fantastic work, men. Way to stay on top of things.
The maesters tend to Aemond. His flesh will heal, but the eye is gone. Alicent and Rhaeyra act like protective moms everywhere. Your thug son ambushed my poor boy and sliced out his eye! He was only defending himself from your son’s attacks! Viserys tries to get to the bottom of this. Rhaenyra tells him that Aemond called her children bastards. Viserys asks Aemond who told him this lie. He shrugs and throws big brother Aegon under the carriage. (Little brothers are the worst.)
Viserys turns his question to his other son. Aegon hems and haws until he just says, everyone knows this. Just look at them! (For a minute, I thought he was going to tell on his mom.) Enraged, Viserys says enough of this (truthful) slander. The House Targaryen is a family, and family has to stick together. Now, knock this off, and let’s have some goodwill.
Alicent is not in the mood to sing kumbaya. Her son’s eye is gone! What justice is that? No, she won’t be happy until Lucerys gets his eye cut out.
The court is shocked by this rather biblical turn. Viserys tells her no. Rhaenyra tells her she’s crazy. Alicent isn’t having it. She orders Criston to bring her Luc’s eye since he answers only to her. To Criston’s credit, he’s not eager to gouge out a child’s eye, order or not. Enraged, Alicent grabs a dagger and charges at Rhaenyra and her kids.
Rhaenyra grabs Alicent. (And just to be safe, Daemon keeps Criston at bay) At last, Rhaenyra tells her, the court sees you for who you really are behind all that self-righteousness. Otto tells her to drop the knife. She does, but not before slashing Rhaenyra’s arm.
In the aftermath, Otto consoles his daughter. Sure, the whole court thinks she’s a loon and her husband will now automatically favor Rhaenyra, but Aemond now controls the biggest dragon in the world. More importantly, Otto has seen a new side of her. He’s now convinced that she has what it takes to win the game, this game of thrones if you will…
The other power couple, Daemon and Rhaenyra, are also scheming. In order to solidify her claim on the throne, she proposes that they get married. Just like Aegon the Conqueror did when he married his sisters! (Not sure that’s the role model you want to follow.) One problem, Rhaenyra is still married to Laenor. No worries, Daemon has a plan for that.
He approaches Carl with some sweet words about how across the Narrow Sea, there are places where men can be free and no one cares about your name or if you were highborn. We then see Carl challenging Laenor to a duel, claiming he’s been disrespected. The page runs away to get Corlys. When Corlys and Rhaenys enter, they find Laenor’s body burning in the fireplace, dead.
As Rhaenyra and Daemon chat about this murder – people will suspect, but never be able to prove anything. But they’ll think you’re capable of anything and fear you – we see Carl and another passenger rowing a boat to a ship docked offshore. Who is the mystery man? Why it’s Laenor! He’s shaved off his white dreads and faked his death and is now ready to start a new life across the sea. Best of luck guys! Pity about the rando that Daemon murdered so there would be a body in the fireplace, but you can’t scheme for the throne without murdering a few little people.
This was the best episode since King of the Narrow Sea. We have now clearly delineated the warring factions for the throne – Hightowers and Valeryans vs Rhaenyra and Daemon. Both sides are showing their propensity for depravity and murder and underhandedness. We are now getting to the big dragon battles they’ve clearly wanted to have for weeks. It looks like a breakneck pace for the last three episodes.
Score: 4 out of 5
WHO’S THE WORST? Tough call this week. Aemond stole a dragon, Daemon fucked his niece, but I think we have to go with Queen Alicent here, capped by her stabby rampage in court.
LINE OF THE WEEK Daemon (to Otto): “No matter how fat the leech grows, it always wants another meal.”
American Idiot released in 2004. It was the seventh studio album for the band Green Day. Whom, after a successful 10 year run of making music about how it sucks being a loser, skate punk, and lonely masturbation, many critics had then considered at the time, were a band now over the hill (at least to Rolling Stone).
Meant to be a more serious album compared to their classic records such as Dookie or Insomniac, American Idiot was different in that this was Green Day’s first ever concept album. A Rock musical set in lower suburbia starring a character with a messiah complex literally called:
“The Jesus of Suburbia…”
Adored by every outlet and pop cultural magazine everywhere, the album represented pop punk at its finest. With songs that touched upon a generation of youth during the turn of the 1990s from skate punk, to emo, and of course, the hardcore punk scenes.
American Idiot had released at the right place and the right time. It was inspired by a cascade of current events during the moment, such as the aftermath of 9/11. Which was at the time, a moment of unease and insecurity (and a lot of racist scares) for most teens. There was this ever-growing fear of a possibility of a teen draft and the call to war. Which, very un-healthily, began just a few years after the Y2K bug hit that got the ball rolling. This ever present discourse around the post-apocalyptic fear mongering scare of the decade during the Bush administration years.
As a result, American Idiot spoke had several classic singles that surprisingly charted well on Billboard’s lists of top songs for over a year. Boulevard of Broken Dreams, American Idiot, Jesus of Suburbia, and of course, Wake Me Up When September Ends.
The song was… different to say the least. It felt like a hangover of sorts. Distinct, in that it really never fit that concept album or the theme of a lower-middle-class anti-hero rebelling against a disappointing establishment.
Ironically, it was Wake Me Up When September Ends that became the most memorable of Green Day’s album. And for the past decade, it’s become a viral and very popular internet meme to poke fun of throughout the end of the month of September, not unlike Justin Timberlake’s: It’s Gonna Be May.
Yet, the original song’s purpose was meant to be a song tribute to his father, who died on September 10th, 1982 after a battle with cancer. Billie Joe Armstrong’s dad was influential on the youth’s musical upbringing, being both a trucker on the road, but more importantly, a Jazz Musician. When returning home from the funeral it’s been said that Armstrong had locked himself into his room. Repeating what would become the chorus of the song.
“If there’s a song on there that veers away from the story for the album, it’s that one. It’s a personal thing. I’ve never tackled an issue about that — about singing about my father,” said Armstrong in an interview with MTV back in 2005. “It’s hard to sing, but definitely therapeutic, because it deals with the passing of someone that you love.”
The song’s music video likewise featured a Marine-themed love story starring actors Jamie Bell and Evan Rachel Wood. It’s also, highly considered the band’s most accomplished song on the adult contemporary market and to this day, is covered by artists across the world. Featured in video games such as Rockband.
So should we be making fun of the song? I don’t know but I do think its roots should at least be noted in consideration before sending another meme about it.
Twenty-two years ago, Wonder Man and Beast buddied up for an astounding adventure in Avengers Two: Wonder Man and Beast – a three issue limited series care of Roger Stern and Mark Bagley! Now, a new generation of readers can revel in the bromance of a lifetime when this special edition of Marvel Tales brings back the epic tale for the first time since its original release.
Hank McCoy and Simon Williams met during their time as Avengers and, as chronicled in Avengers Two: Wonder Man and Beast – Marvel Tales #1. During their dynamic duo as Wonder Man and Beast, they faced iconic villains, got caught up in all the feels, and had some pretty kick-ass moments! More recently, Wonder Man has returned to the land of the living and is on his way to California to take care of some things from his past. With his best bud Beast, in tow as moral support.
But Wonder Man’s goals post-revival doesn’t go according to how he’d thought due to the perils of his old nemesis, Lady Lotus! This hypnotic supervillain of flower power shows up with some of her own welcome back plans for Wonder Man and Beast. If that wasn’t bad enough, the towering It! The Living Colossus, has decided to attack the city of Angels, leaving Beast and Wonder Man in a perilous position of whether or not they’ll be able to save Hollywood. Or better even more worrisome, deal with Lady Lotus in time to save the city.
Check out the brand-new cover by Nick Bradshaw, which will also be available as a virgin variant, and relive the glory days of two of Marvel’s greatest duo this February!
AVENGERS TWO: WONDER MAN AND BEAST – MARVEL TALES #1
Family is a word that begins with “F” and ends with “Y”.
It can also be better associated with three repeating “F” words in succession, begging the question, “Y?”
Season 4 Episode 4 Recap
We check in on Earn (Donald Glover) outside of a domicile we’ve seen but once in the series: his old house. His mother Gloria (Myra Lucretia Taylor) greets him most affectionately, as opposed to when we first saw her. His father Raleigh (Isiah Whitlock Jr.) is also in a chipper mood, now that he’s retired.
He’s not accompanying them to church, however. Lord, no. Even as a retiree, he’s a busy schedule to hold true to.
Earn asks to grab a bite to eat, but Gloria is on a schedule herself, en route to pick up Grandpa and Aunt Jeanie. They’re apparently back on talking terms, though Gloria swears her sister is simply keeping her father because she’s waiting to collect his pension. Additionally, her house is that of a hoarder, so the living conditions aren’t exactly the most favorable.
Her plan? Steal Grandpa for the afternoon. Multiple times, Gloria swears that it is Jeanie who has lost her mind, so maybe today’s the day to get a little crazy herself.
Elsewhere, Raleigh’s a man on a mission. He’s at the mall to get a new phone. The mall is in its most rare, pure state: empty. The pep in his step says it all. Retirement’s treating my guy not too shabbily.
With all aboard, Earn’s still a bit hungry, but not nearly enough to rummage through Aunt Jeanie’s (Michole Briana White) purse for cough drops. You know those hunger pangs you get sometimes? Kinda like the stomach pains you get when you know something’s a little off? Well, Earn can provide for the entire car, as Auntie wants Earnest to beg forgiveness at Sunday service for fornicating an unmarried Van, leaving her in sin.
Upon arriving at the church drop-off, as Aunt Jeanie exits, Earn signals to his mother through the window this is her only window for stealing away with her father.
She peels away, leaving the two behind, though only one is truly left in the dust.
In church, as a black pantomime troupe is in the throes of catching the holy ghost in front of an enraptured congregation, Earn attempts to throw the scent off of his mother’s deed. Aunt Jeanie is more than a little suspicious. With that, Earn excuses himself to go to the bathroom, leaving him just enough wiggle room to call a higher authority.
Getting his shoes shined, his father asserts that Earn’s digging into his “me time.” He’s afforded but three hours every Sunday of rest before the kids show up at the mall.
Hell, god created Sunday for a day of rest anyway! Let’s call it his father’s way of keeping holy the Sabbath.
Left to fend for himself, Earn attempts to make a break, only to be met with a voice from behind. Hey, all roadblocks don’t have to be right in front of you!
Aunt Jeanie confronts him and though he swears he doesn’t know where her sister took Grandpa, she wants to put a boot on the situation.
Earn immediately uses Alfred as an excuse and after a little acting exercise of how many ways one can say “So,” she demands to join him.
Back in the mall, Raleigh’s enjoying the Heavenly atmosphere within the edifice. In an all-white get-up, staring at an all-white SUV with the shades of white interior of a mall, you’d think the dude had died and gone there already.
Stridently denying a kiosk worker, he’s laser-focused.
That is until he’s stopped by a worker at a hat kiosk, complimenting his look, suggesting a hat to complement his look. Consider her flattery the hook.
At the studio, Al (Brian Tyree Henry) is throwing down Uno cards with ??? a fellow artist. The person clearly knows not the rules of the game and thinks al’s cheating, but all fun and frivolity is cut short by a ruckus outside the studio door. Al grabs his heat, only to see earn and Aunt Jeanie approaching.
Aunt Jeanie demands the entire room save for Al to kick rocks. ‘Crazy’ as Gloria may think she is and strapped as everybody in that studio maybe, she is an elder and commands respect.
Al absolves himself of it all but also spills the beans before realizing that Auntie wasn’t 100% in the loop.
Thus ensues her martyrdom speech of how the whole family is against her. She looks to straighten out the shit toot suite by calling Uncle Willy and having him patch in Aunt Pearl as well. Lastly, she’d like Pearl to add Gloria. Family meeting! Al sure as fuck ain’t happy to bear witness to something his cousin lassoed him into.
Willy (Katt Williams), formerly Alligator Man currently living his best life barbecuing something fierce, asserts that his sister kidnapping their father is by virtue impossible since ‘kid’ is in the word. Pearl (Teresa L. Graves) asserts that Jeanie is ‘out of her mind’ just like Gloria’s been saying. Gloria’s simply listening to the foolishness, shaking her head.
Jeanie’s worried that dad has dementia and though Willy disputes that, Pearl just advises her to simply inform Gloria how to administer his meds. End of call, right?
Jeanie’s having none of that. She’s accusatory of a few things, like not helping pay for her daughter’s tuition but then boils it down to a singular sentiment- the trio hated her because of her having the least melanin.
This, of course, is met with a chorus of laughter. They simply don’t like her because she’s “evil,” with Pearl even saying that if police were involved, she wouldn’t bemoan her “light skinned-ed” status.
Fucking Aunt Jeanie drives the knife in by citing Gloria’s whole stunt as due to their father not remembering Gloria throughout her life; not her birthday, Christmas, or graduation. Now that he’s on his way out, she bets her sister can’t even talk to him because he remembers not who she is.
Gloria, listening on the other end, visibly upset hangs up without a word spake. Pearl confirms her assertation that Jeanie is evil and hangs up. No need to put it in quotes this time.
Before Willy can seize the opportunity to ask for the money he loaned Jeanie for Keisha’s student loans, she immediately hangs up.
At the chapeau stop, Raleigh’s feeling a few of the hats. He’s brimming with happiness from the compliments the vendor (Tatiana Neva) is laying on thicker than molasses. His surname may be Marks, but he shouldn’t have to be made out to be one. A sale is a sale, though.
That’s when she brings out the big gun. She tells of a hat that isn’t available to the public yet, but one she swears can only be right for him.
Extracting a garish brim, Raleigh is besotted. Maybe taking it out of ‘storage’ made it seem more special to him, but we all know it’s in there for a reason. It’s red with a cross on it. It’s Hell disguised as Heaven. Plus, it’s fucking unsellable.
At the studio, the cops question Jeanie and she tries to snake her way into having them believe Gloria’s a danger to her own father. This prompts them to prove this with a call to both of them.
Grandpa (Bob Banks) claims he’s compos mentis. That is until he claims to be in Egypt and had been for two weeks before his daughter can thank the officer, abruptly hanging up.
With the Chi-Lites “I Want To Pay You Back” serving as the soundtrack in his head, Pops is walking tall through the mall. That is until he notices his Heaven on Earth has been converted to Hell with the church crowd flooding in. I love me some delicious irony.
Heading for a surreptitious exit, he’s stopped by a youngin’ (Kelvin Hodge) amused by his choice of newfound headwear. He proceeds to blatantly insult him and revel in it before wanting to take a picture for the Gram.
He mockingly begs to take a picture with him to the amusement of his friends and the abject cringe of the rest around. Raleigh relents, perhaps being half embarrassed by a young black man begging and half just wanting to get out of an uncomfortable situation, and agrees to take the picture, with sheer disappointment painted on his face. Fucking assholes.
Back at the lab, Earn and Al both are cornered, Jeanie outside complaining to the cops. Earn certainly doesn’t want to grow old and bitter like them and Al feels that. He asks an employee (Jessica Craig) for another way out and she informs him of the ‘Shmurda’ exit.
The dude had the FBI and three baby mamas after him, so the escape was built, though it turns out that Auntie made her way to that side as well.
The staffer assures them that so long as they walk out and never look back, they’ll skate scot-free. Too bad it didn’t work out the same for Bobby.
Inside his car, Poppa is contemplative. His visage will soon be viral. His moment of sunshine will be a punchline for all the world to see and comment on. Defeated, he continues on into the restaurant.
After their ‘dinner’, which Earn asserts it wasn’t since it’s 5 pm, he sees his father’s not looking himself, though he plays it off and requests the bill.
He also wants to cover it, despite their MasterCard bill last month being a bit on the weightier side. He doesn’t want his son taking care of something he feels he can still pull some weight on. Sadly, it’s misplaced masculinity, but it’s what he’s holding onto now after the day he’s had.
Gloria notices the table didn’t get any bread, and when she asks if they can get it in a to-go box, the young waiter gives her the run around before Pops slams his fist down and demands the bread. He’s had too much of those whippersnappers and their lack of respect for one day.
Now that it’s out of his system and his authority yields results, he’s up for a Redbox rental and so is Grandpa! The rightful balance has been restored as Gil-Scot Heron’s “Save The Children” takes us out.
Season 4 Episode 4 Takeaway
The power duo of Stefani Robinson and Hiro Murai bring back Earn’s parents in a way that was at first uplifting, but then heartbreaking.
Last I remember seeing them was in the Pilot and they dispensed some hard-earned advice to their son, but it was for the better.
We get to see a bit more of Earn and Al’s family dynamic as they are two successful adults and how they want to learn from the past so as not to repeat it, which is a lesson to be learned, no matter the age.
Before we dive into the latest episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law, I want to spend a moment to thank Victor for his fantastic coverage these past few weeks. Not only did it cover some of my absolute favorite moments from the show thus far, but it was well written and a delightful read. And while I don’t think Madisynn and the Sorcerer Supreme (AKA Wongers) will ever become a power couple, I’d love to see more of both in the future. But for now, let’s get zen with The Retreat.
The episode starts in a good place. The cute guy from the wedding last week, Josh, has stayed in touch, texting Jen like crazy. Best of all, he seems to genuinely like Jennifer herself, not her super-powered Hulk alter ego! Which is proving to be incredibly rare in the superhero’s brief time on the dating scene. Jen and Josh go on several dates, and eventually sleep together. Which is where everything goes wrong. Jen texts him the next day, saying how “she can’t stop smiling”. And Josh doesn’t respond. For days.
It’s a good thing Jennifer has mastery over her anger, because her cousin Bruce would be Hulking out 24/7 in her shoes. Regardless, she’s still not handling things particularly well. She’s constantly checking her phone, even at work. Nikki tries to convince her to give the phone some distance, but Jen just can’t. Then she gets timely intervention from an unexpected source – Emil Blonsky’s parole officer.
Turns out, Emil’s inhibitor bracelet malfunctioned, and so the PO wants a Hulk to go with him to check on things. Make sure he’s not being Abomination again, and maybe help keep the PO out of the ICU in the process. Though Jen would prefer to wait by her phone all weekend, she feels responsible for Emil. So she meets the guy at Emil’s super fancy wellness retreat. And while we don’t get to see Emil’s multiple wives in the episode, there’s a lot of hilarity that ensues.
Emil is still doing his laid back cult leader thing, and seems to be abiding by the conditions of his parole. Apparently his inhibitor got affected by an electric fence when he was chasing after his favorite chicken. It happens. The PO verifies the situation and hauls ass out of there. Just as Jen is about to follow suit, two super-powered doofuses (doofi?) crash into her car, stranding her until a tow truck can swing by. Oh and did I mention that the wellness retreat has very bad cel reception and almost no Wi-Fi?
Yes, I was immediately worried this was some form of a trap, especially when the Wrecker shows up in the sharing circle. But to my pleasant surprise, Emil seems to actually care about the wellbeing of his people. For a price, sure, but it’s still better than running around smashing things as Abomination. Or at least less dangerous.
As for the “super villains” at the retreat, they’re a motley crew. The first two that smash her car are El Aguila (totally not a matador, despite his electrified sword and attire) and Man-Bull. The latter is working out issues with matadors, and the former is trying and failing to convince everyone he’s not a matador. They have a weird and hilarious codependent relationship, and they really steal the show.
The other two are Porcupine and Saracen. Porcupine has a giant, pointy suit and green helmet he refuses to remove. Saracen thinks he’s a vampire, even though he’s not. And Wrecker? Well, he’s apparently trying to get past his very recent violent impulses and putting his enchanted crowbar away. He never explains why he went after Jennifer a couple episodes back, which was my main irritation. Honestly he’s the only one I still don’t trust, but the others are just misfits.
Much as Jen doesn’t want to unload her truth on the group, Emil convinces her, and it actually makes her feel better. She realizes that the divide between She-Hulk and Jennifer is still a problem for her. It’s so tempting to transform into the popular green version of herself, and yet she wants people to love the human side. Which is why it hurts so much that Josh is seemingly ghosting her after a whirlwind romance.
In the end, Jen yurts it out, and finds a semblance of peace. She’s also convinced to delete Josh’s number, which is a great choice. The problem is, the damage is already done. They flash back to several days later, and it’s revealed Josh is working with She-Hulk haters, and probably up to no good. The moral of the story is never trust a cute guy named Josh. Overall a great episode, and we’ll be back with more coverage in the coming weeks!
Lower Decks loves its references, and this week the show took us on an adventure to the space station Deep Space Nine. For some, mixing the most light-hearted Star Trek show with arguably the most serious might feel a bit jarring. But let’s not forget that in between the grimmer storylines were plentyoffunmoments. And, this being Lower Decks, it’s that side of Deep Space Nine that “Hear All, Trust Nothing” leans into.
The episode starts with the crew of the Cerritos heading for Deep Space Nine for one of their usual low-stakes assignments: They’re basically interstellar Drizly, delivering a large number of alcoholic gifts to support post-Dominion War trade negotiations between the Federation, represented by the Vancouver, and the Karemma, a commerce-focused species from the Gamma quadrant and former Dominion members. But then – surprise! – the Vancouver is called away to save lives on another planet, and a frustrated Captain Freeman is called upon to lead negotiations right as the Cerritos arrives at the rendezvous point. While Freeman storms off to cram months’ worth of diplomatic preparations, Ransom orders the Cerritos to circle around the station, pretending to be in awe, to buy time while the Deep Space Nine theme song plays… and then do it again.
While Freeman has seemingly been thrown into a higher-stakes situation than usual, our lower deckers are preparing for some completely inconsequential escapades. Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford are excited to visit Deep Space Nine and check out Quark’s bar. Mariner pokes fun at them, declaring her intention to relax on the ship. But then her new girlfriend, Jennifer, proposes that the two of them hang out with Jennifer’s friends, and Mariner, antsy about what this could mean for her relationship, instantly changes her tune. Despite her hesitation, she caves to Jennifer’s request to go to her friends’ “salon.”
Boimler, Rutherford, and Tendi arrive at the Deep Space Nine promenade, while Freeman is greeted by Colonel Kira, who’s now in charge of the station. It is references galore as Kira takes them into Sisko’s old office, which still includes his baseball. And it turns out that Kira and Shaxs were in the Bajoran resistance together. Their reminiscences soon turn into a heated polite fight over who saved whose life more time, which each claiming the other was more heroic.
I’ll admit that it was a little weird seeing this cartoony Kira after being so familiar with her tough, no-nonsense live-action counterpart. But Kira always did have a quirkier side beneath all that, it would have been even weirder if she’d been in Serious Mode on what is, fundamentally, a comedy show.
The Karemma arrive with an ominous tone, with one pointing out that they always have the “other option” if diplomacy fails. Looks like Freeman’s about to be in for an unpleasant surprise.
Boimler, Tendi, and Rutherford arrive at Quark’s, where proprietor Quark is cheerfully running a thriving business that now has franchises all across the Alpha Quadrant. Quark, upon greeting Kira and Freeman, proposes a franchise at Starfleet Academy, though Freeman says no. Quark was always one of the lighter characters on Deep Space Nine, and let’s face it, the Ferengi are by design rather cartoony in the first place, even in live action. So seeing him in cartoon form felt pretty natural.
Boimler, still determined to be “Bold Boimler,” goes to gamble at the Dabo tables. Meanwhile, Tendi is approached by Mesk, a fellow Orion Starfleet officer, who’s extremely excited to meet another one of his kind. Mesk immediately starts talking big about being an Orion, even showing off an Orion pirating weapon that he got a religious exemption to wear with his uniform. Rutherford is excited by Mesk’s enthusiasm and grand claims about being a fierce Orion pirate while Tendi is visibly uncomfortable. Mesk offers to take the two on a tour of Deep Space Nine, which Rutherford accepts while Tendi squirms.
Back aboard the Cerritos, Mariner arrives at Jennifer’s friend’s salon, where everyone is wearing sweatshirts and making candles. She does her best to put on a polite face and hold it together during the hippy-dippy display, pouring herself a large drink. To her surprise, two of Jennifer’s friends ask her about Boimler, who they find attractive.
Rutherford and Tendi, led by Mesk, walk the Promenade. Rutherford rushes to the second level to sit over the edge with his feet dangling, Jake Sisko style. Mesk continues talking big about being Orion with Tendi, who seizes upon a communication from Freeman, requesting assistance, as an excuse to get away. Much to her dismay, Mesk gets himself reassigned to provide security for her and Rutherford as they deliver a bunch of crates to the Karemma ship. And the big Orion talk continues, with Tendi cringing more each moment.
Meanwhile, an awkward Mariner continues trying to hold it together while Jennifer’s friends engage in spoken word and interpretive dance performances around a bunch of candles.
Freeman tries to convince the Karemma of all the commerce opportunities in the Alpha Quadrant while the Karemma scoff. Hoping that talking to an entrepreneur will help the situation, she takes them to Quark’s. But Quark, who apparently still holds some Dominion War grudges, wants nothing to do with them, and soon, a heated argument commences.
On the Karemma ship, Tendi finally snaps at Mesk’s unrelenting boasts about being all pirate-y, saying that their people’s criminal reputation isn’t cool, it’s embarrassing.
Where is Boimler during all this? Why, he’s been winning big at the Dabo table, much to the dismay of a Ferengi employee.
Despite Freeman and Kira’s attempts to smooth the situation between the Karemma and Quark, things go south when the Karemma smash Quark’s fancy replicator. One of them uses a device to trigger a systemwide shutdown, and then the Karemma grab Quark and beam back to their ship. As they return, Tendi, Rutherford, and Mesk are sealed into the cargo hold, and soon, and the ship takes off.
The systemwide shutdown affects the Cerritos, which is docked against Deep Space Nine, and Mariner finds herself sealed inside a dark room with all of Jennifer’s panicking friends, whose candles are fast consuming oxygen. She tries to calm them and be polite, even as one of them refuses to blow out a candle because it represents their “intentions.” Jennifer pulls Mariner aside and asks why she’s being so… nice. Mariner admits it’s because she’s afraid to offend Jennifer’s friends, which might offend Jennifer, which might ruin their relationship. Jennifer confesses she likes Mariner because she’s bossy, doesn’t take crap from anyone, and that she’d been looking forward to seeing Mariner take her hippy-dippy friends down a peg. Relieved, Mariner starts ripping the friends a new one and even uses her phaser to stun them while Jennifer watches delightedly. Realizing it’s not a good look for the two of them to be the only ones not stunned, they embrace before Mariner stuns the both of them as well.
On the Karemma’s ship, Rutherford calls upon Mesk to use his pirating abilities to get them out of the cargo hold. If ever there was a time to steal a ship, this is it. That’s when Mesk breaks down and confesses that all the big talk was to cover up the fact that he doesn’t actually know anything about being an Orion pirate. He was adopted by humans and raised in Cincinnati, and everything he knew about Orions came from bad holo-novels. But because he hadn’t met any other Orions until Tendi, playing into stereotypes worked for him.
Tendi, in her friendly Tendi manner, tells Mesk to just be himself. And then she leaps into action with those Orion pirating skills that Mesk had been boasting about this whole time. She hot-wires their way out of the cargo bay, knocks out a passing Karemma, takes his gold-pressed latinum tooth, punches her way into the control room, and uses the told from the tooth to hack the ship into stopping right as it’s about to enter the wormhole to the Gamma Quadrant. A tractor beam from Deep Space Nine, whose power has been restored, then pulls the Karemma ship back.
In the Deep Space Nine brig, the Karemma reveals that Quark’s replicator was built from proprietary Karemma technology. Freeman realizes they hadn’t been kidnapping Quark – they’d been arresting him. She announces she has a solution that will make both of them happy.
In her captain’s log, Freeman declares that the mission was a success. The Karemma have agreed to open trade and not to arrest Quark in exchange for 76% of his franchise’s profits. Mariner and Jennifer are at Quark’s bar having a drink, and Jennifer is delighted that her friends are now scared of Mariner. Quark tries to confront Mariner about her tab, but Mariner blackmails him into clearing it – as she has a disc with an image of Quark’s head on Kira’s body that Quark had thought erased. Quark snatches the disc as a suspicious Kira approaches and demands to know what’s on it.
And what about Boimler? Still winning loads and loads of latinum. The Ferengi employee offers him a gift card to Quark’s for twice the latinum’s value in exchange for him not taking the winnings. Boimler happily accepts – they don’t use money in Starfleet anyway.
Tendi talks to Rutherford and decides to embrace her past, holding up the gold-pressed latinum tooth she’d taken. Except it’s kind of gross and she doesn’t know what to do with it. Quark snatches it, citing Rule of Acquisition #9: “Opportunity + Instinct = Profit.”
All in all, “Hear All, Trust Nothing” is another solid and fun episode of Lower Decks, with slightly higher stakes than usual for Freeman, and entertainingly low stakes for Mariner and Boimler. They basically have nothing to do with the plot. It was nice seeing more time dedicated to Tendi, with Rutherford comfortably in his role of the supportive best friend. For fans of Deep Space Nine, the crossover and references are loads of fun as long as you don’t take them too seriously… which why would you, when this is Lower Decks?
All things considered, the season 2 finale for Resident Alien was pretty satisfying. Admittedly there wasn’t a huge focus on laughs, though there were plenty of them. But what this finale had in abundance was surprises. It also had a few really confusing segments that eventually make sense at the very end. They are peppered throughout the episode, including at the beginning. They’re all testimonials from people who swear they’ve been abducted or otherwise encountered alien crafts. We’ll get to that later. First, let’s see how our crazy little town of Patience is faring in I Believe in Aliens.
D’Arcy and Asta are in a good place. After all, they’re getting ready to move in together, and Harry is back from his “medical conference”. Better yet, Asta’s child Jae wants to spend more time with her biological mother, and asks to work at the clinic again. Sure, she needs to get some school credits, but a win is a win. But by far the coolest thing to happen to Asta is she gets the baby download from Goliath, the whole thing.
Though we knew Earth was being invaded by the Grays, we didn’t know how they were doing it. Harry comments the Grays are weak and awkward creatures, but they’ve mastered hybridization techniques. Not sure if that means human / alien or alien / alien, but either way it means Harry and Asta can’t underestimate them. Worse, Goliath says only one person that he accidentally kills in the future can stop them – someone named Eleanor McAllister.
It’s an understatement to say Harry doesn’t take the news well. Not only doesn’t his species have a word for failure in their language, but he’s terrified of screwing up. So his plan is simple – he’ll pour all his energy into loving his children, his alien baby and Peter’s son Robert, who he “adopted”. Harry tries out several terrible names for the baby, including Moishe, Brad and Jebediah, finally settling on Bridgit (really). There’s also some hilarious moments with the little monster, such as when it’s drinking toilet water and later drinking milk from Harry’s breastfeeding apron.
As for Mike and Liv, they have some satisfying arcs. At first Mike is being a goofball per usual, trying to get more deputies, patrol cars and body cams from the mayor. Ben tells Mike he doesn’t need any of that, since the resort is a thing of the past, but Mike clearly doesn’t believe him. Liv meanwhile finally finds proof her worst fears were well founded when a news blast says Peter was killed in a car accident. She’s not buying it, and immediately starts investigating. Mike warns her not to waste her time, but instead she finds Peter’s van and takes it home to look for evidence, against Mike’s wishes.
One of the most exciting scenes in the episode is when Harry officially meets Enver Gjokaj’s character, Joseph. They met briefly last week, but didn’t really trade pleasantries. Joseph is smooth as silk, and arrogant to boot. He walks in on Harry in the diner, first freezing all the humans in the room. Turns out, Joseph isn’t an Alpha Draconian, but a Gray hybrid. He tells Harry that his species conceded the planet to the Grays, and that he can return home without danger. Harry spends a lot of time worrying about how Joseph got his cel phone number, but then realizes maybe it’s time to just quit and head home with his baby (and Robert). He also steals Ellen’s milkshake after time starts up again, for good measure.
As for the General, now that the base has been compromised she’s moving to another. First she looks for the hard drive Peter stole, and then discovers Joseph was the mole. More happens with her story, but I’ll save that until the very end.
Harry tries and fails to be a father to Robert. After the 20 something refuses to go into time out, Harry does something kind. He gives him the alien sphere and says it will keep him safe, letting the human go free, and probably causing Peter to thrash in his grave. But Harry’s heart was in the right place, even if he is a horrible father.
Speaking of terrible fathers, Kate wakes up again, alone in her bed. Ben is sleepwalking, and having the same weird dreams. As for his son Max, Harry tries to say goodbye to the boy the weirdest way possible. He gives him a “self portrait”, which is just a stick figure of how he supposedly looks as a human. Max says Harry won’t leave him, he likes him too much, which irritates the awkward alien. Then Sahar meets Harry and baby at the cabin, and there’s almost a tearful reunion. Baby calls her Mama, and she gives him a doll, while admonishing Harry to come up with a better name for him (this is what convinces Harry to name him Bridgit, cause he’s a bridge between the species).
Liv is suddenly harassed by cops about the van she stole, but to my shock Mike covers for her. He even helps ascertain that the cops aren’t really cops, and is finally willing to give Liv’s conspiracy theories some credit.
Harry is about to head into space with the baby, when he realizes something. Goliath sent the baby to him to change him. Which means he’s not Goliath yet, and that he can still change the future. So he sends baby into space alone, and heads back to confront his destiny.
I Believe in Aliens culminates in a few key scenes. Liv finally gives her own testimonial, admitting she believes in aliens. D’Arcy finds evidence in Asta’s room from the Hodges murder, and when she confronts her and Harry about it, Asta still won’t come clean. Realizing their friendship is at a breaking point, Harry does the right thing and reveals his alien form to D’Arcy, and all becomes clear. She takes it surprisingly well, calling him a dinosaur, much to his hurt feelings.
Then Joseph gets hired as Mike’s newest deputy, moments before helicopters assault Harry’s cabin. They break in and take him captive to the General, and it seems Harry is willing to work with her to help stop the Grays. And Robert is sitting on a park bench when he gets abducted again, as who is his “roommate” but Mayor Ben! Turns out, he wasn’t sleepwalking after all.
Overall, I Believe in Aliens did a lot of things right, and set the stage well for Season 3 of Resident Alien. Here’s hoping Harry can get his act together before the Grays destroy the entire planet!
I was really tempted to cover the modern Quantum Leap, but there’s a really good reason I didn’t. Not because it was a bad premiere, but because covering one time travel show is a lot. Covering two is insanity. So I decided to play it safe, and instead chose to cover a show I was already watching last season, La Brea. Season 2 starts off pretty strong with The Next Day, managing to keep the mystery going while moving the story forward.
Here’s the Cliff’s Notes recap if you’re feeling rusty. A sinkhole opened up in the present, drawing Eve and son Josh to 10,000 BC. Eve’s estranged husband Gavin had visions of them in the past, which is because he’s actually a grown up cave boy that used to be called Isaiah. There’s also a mysterious woman named Rebecca Aldridge who seems to know way more than she should, and who helped Gavin discover what was happening. There’s also Silas, Gavin / Isaiah’s grandfather who is a ruthless old bastard who tried and failed to keep his grandson in the past. Oh and Josh and Riley, along with Lily and Isaiah, traveled through an actual tear in space to 1988 just as Gavin, sister Izzy and Ella (grown up Lily) finally made it to 10,000 BC. Whew, just recapping that hurt my head, but let’s keep going.
The Next Day starts with a startling scene. A family is enjoying a park near the Hollywood sign when their daughter and dog go off to explore. Suddenly a gigantic sinkhole opens up, swallowing all the Hollywood letters between H and D, and sending the Y hurtling towards said little girl. It nearly cuts her in half, but she gets lucky, as does her doggy, Doc. Dramatic stuff, but it wasn’t yet clear when this occurred. More on that later.
Back in the Clearing, Silas is now a captive, interrogated to little effect by Sam and Levi. Despite not eating or drinking for 24 hours, Silas is refusing food or drink, spitting water at Sam when offered to him. Sam is clearly in a bad place, both because daughter Riley is in another time period and also likely because pain from his injuries is persisting. I wouldn’t say he’s a pain pill addict yet, but it’s a close thing. Exacerbating the whole situation is that Paara wants Silas back in her custody, meaning they’re working on the clock. Not to mention it’s hard to argue with the people keeping everybody fed.
As for stoner Scott and the mysterious Aldridge, they’re on a side mission that seems increasingly more important. There’s a giant steel and glass tower in 10,000 BC, and Aldridge is eager to get to it. Scott remarks it’s amazing how quickly she healed from her stab wound, but she deflects. All that matters is getting to the tower to keep everyone safe, she says. The only small problem is the people there want her dead. Oh and she also implies that Silas had a hand in creating the sinkholes, which is interesting.
Gavin, Izzy and Ella are finally in the past, and things are difficult. Gavin and Ella no longer have their visions, likely because their younger selves are no longer in 10,000 BC. Not to mention Ella isn’t interested in being a team player. Izzy quickly realizes her prosthetic leg is breaking, though she doesn’t tell anybody. That said, I enjoyed watching Gavin become a fully functioning human in the time period he previously lived in as a child. He goes off to hunt some food, and manages to spear a prehistoric boar. The only problem is he attracts the attention of bigger prey, a gigantic woolly rhino! He manages to avoid getting speared, but only barely. Thankfully he does secure some meat for his team.
As for Josh and Riley, if circumstances weren’t so dire, they’d probably be having a great time. They wake up safe in 1988, only to discover their young charges are missing. Luckily they’re just being taken in by nuns, which fits the history as Gavin remembers it. The only downside is that another sinkhole isn’t supposed to open for 30 years, but they still manage to find an unlocked home with the family on vacation. They gorge on food and Josh is ready to relax, but Riley is worried about her father and those still in 10,000 BC. So much for a sexy vacation.
Sam goes rogue and pulls a gun on Silas, demanding answers. Silas says that only Rebecca Aldridge can bring his daughter back, and that he can take them to the tower to force her to help. Though Silas is untrustworthy, Eve and Levi head out to investigate the tower claim and report back. Ty hangs back to keep tabs on Sam, and also buys time by playing on Paara’s feelings for him.
Once Eve and Levi head out, they quickly find Lucas by Marybeth’s grave. The drug dealer is a new man, and determined not to lose anybody else. Suddenly the group discovers Veronica being accosted by armed men with medieval weaponry. To everybody’s surprise, Lucas heads after her half cocked, and starts up a half decent rescue. They manage to get Veronica free, but then Levi has to deal with an assailant, just as Eve gets kidnapped herself.
The big action scene in The Next Day happens after Gavin realizes the woolly rhino he evaded earlier is hunting them. There’s a darling woolly rhino that surprises them, and they’re about to use the animals’ limited eyesight to make it past. Then Izzy’s leg breaks, and her scream attracts the attention of one of the baby’s parents. It charges them, but the rhino hunting them intercepts, and Gavin’s group manages to get away unscathed.
The Next Day ends with a few big reveals. First, as Riley and Josh are about to leave their refuge, they find a newspaper. It clearly shows that the sinkhole which opened at the beginning actually opened in 1988. Meanwhile Scott and Aldridge head closer to the tower, and Rebecca reveals a hidden subterranean entrance. Lucas and Veronica make it to the Clearing, and Levi lets himself get kidnapped to be with Eve. Finally Gavin and company discover the Clearing off in the distance, as well as discovering the missing letters from the Hollywood sign in 10,000 BC.
Overall a good start to season 2 of La Brea, and surprisingly not that hard to follow, despite being a time travel show. Be sure to tune in to The Workprint in coming weeks for our continuing coverage of the show!
As I was settling in to watch this week’s episode, I got a call from my mom. She was letting me know that she and her house were OK after Hurricane Fiona had passed through the region. As we were wrapping up, I mentioned that I was going to watch House of the Dragon and she said something that really clarified an issue I’m having with this series.
“Oh, I like reading your recaps (thanks, Mom!), but I could never watch the show. I really need to have someone I can root for.”
And that really put the finger on it. In Game of Thrones, you had characters who were underdogs and who you could root for. Maybe they weren’t moral or brave or righteous, but they were characters with motivations that you could get behind. Tyrion, the neglected younger brother of Cersei and Jamie, mocked and ridiculed by his family. Daenerys, the last Targaryen, sent off to a foreign land to marry a barbarian in order to secure the fading fortunes of her family. Arya, the tomboy daughter of Ned Stark, who wanted nothing to do with castles and crowns. Jon Snow, the bastard, desperate to prove his worth…
With House of the Dragon, Who are you rooting for?
There aren’t any underdogs. All of the characters are scheming and striving to get power for power’s sake. They’re all in the same family and all rather unpleasant. The leap forward in time has made everyone in House Targaryen jaded and bitter.
Yes, we have leapt forward in time again, a decade this time. We now have new actors playing Princess Rhaenyra, Laenor, and Queen Alicent, plus we meet a whole slew of their kids. There’s barely time to get your bearings, so here we go.
We meet Rhaenyra (now played by Emma D’Arcy) having her third son, Joffrey (oooh, portents!), following Jacerys and Lucerys. There are rumors in court that the father of her kids isn’t Laenor (because, you know, he likes men) but rather Ser Harwin Strong, son of Lyonel, the king’s hand, since they all are his spitting image.
These rumors are fully believed by Alicent (Olivia Cooke), who tries to convince the king of this, but he will not hear it. (And despite Otto’s warnings, the frail king is still hanging in there, barely.) The queen demands to see the newborn babe moments after his birth. Rhaenyra obviously doesn’t trust the queen at all, and rather than let the child out of her sight, she expels her afterbirth, walks across the castle, up a few dozen stairs and presents him to Alicent. That is some level of spiteful mistrust to overcome that much pain. I sometimes drink my Coke Zero at room temperature because I’m too lazy to walk 10 feet to the kitchen and get more ice, so props to Princess Rhaenyra and the motivating power of hate.
Alicent has three kids of her own: Aegon, the oldest (who likes to masturbate on the city while standing in his window, which is a great shorthand to show what a spoiled creep he is), middle daughter Helaena, and youngest Aemond. Unlike Aegon, Aemond doesn’t have a dragon. (The eggs only hatch about half the time.) This makes him extremely jealous of his brother and cousins. After one dragon training session, they tell gullible Aemond that they found him a dragon of his own, then trot out a pig they’ve tied wings to, calling it The Pink Dread. This infuriates Alicent, who interrupts Aegon mid-wank session to tell him to never embarrass his brother in public.
Speaking of dragons, Daemon and his wife Laena are soaring over the skies of Pentos. It seems the couple have been touring throughout the kingdom the last few years, crashing on the couches of various lords. The show doesn’t really get into why. Wasn’t Daemon going to inherit the Vale? Are they not welcome in King’s Landing or Driftmark? Dunno. They have two girls – Baela and Rhaena. Baela has a dragon, while Rhaena has been keeping her egg warm for eight years now and it doesn’t look promising. Laena is also extremely pregnant with a third child.
As they have their farewell feast, their host begs them to stay. The Triarchy (groan) is on the rise again and terrorizing the Step Stones. Daemon can have the castle and all the taxes from the region if his family – and their dragons – stay to protect Pentos from more crabby pirates. Laena wants to keep riding her huge dragon, but Daemon is willing to consider it.
Back in King’s Landing, Criston is training Alicent’s and Rhaenyra’s kids in combat. He’s no longer Rhaenyra’s guard, but is stationed with the Queen. He trains Aegon and Aemond hard, but Harwin notes he’s barely teaching Jacerys and Lucerys. Criston goes, all right, and has the 15 year old Aegon fight 9 year old Jacerys. Harwin protests that that is hardly a fair match. Criston replies that combat is seldom fair, and the cousins go at it.
Aegon starts off well, but is but on his heels by an enraged Jacerys. Criston coaches Aegon until Jacerys is knocked down and tells Aegon not to let him get up. He whacks at him till Harwin steps in. Criston smirks. Wow, that’s kind of love and devotion one usually sees for brothers…or sons. That sets Harwin off and he proceeds to kick his smug ass around the courtyard until four knights pull him off. And good. Criston’s been a real dick the last two episodes. Still, this confirms what he suspected. He believes Harwin to be the father.
After a small council meeting, where Alicent and Rhaenyra contradict everything the other says, Rhaenyra stops everything to make a proposal. She is sorry for the tension between her and Alicent, after all, they were friends long ago! Since her son, Jacerys, will inherit the throne from her, Rhaenyra proposes that he be betrothed to Alicent’s daughter, Helaena. It will unify the family and keep Alicent’s kids on the throne. Viserys is delighted! All his kids and grandkids, one big happy, inbred family! Alicent isn’t, sensing that Rhaenyra is desperate and scared.
After Alicent gets the sickly king back in his room and all snug in his blankie, Lyonel enters the chambers to try and resign. He can no longer serve after the fight in the courtyard and his son has brought shame to the family. There is a dark cloud hanging over his family that he can’t abide. What is this cloud, asks the King. Alicent looks very excited, hoping that the hand will say what everyone in court suspects. However, Lyonel will not. Since he won’t say what the problem is, the King refuses to accept his resignation. Instead, Lyonel asks for leave to take Harwin to Harrenhall, so he can assume his duties there as heir (and also stop fathering royal bastards).
Furious, Alicent storms off to dinner with Lyonel’s other son, Larys. No one is on my side, she complains. Why, if my dad Otto were still hand, he’d make the king listen to my theories about Rhaenyra’s infidelities!
Larys takes note of this, and proceeds to get together his own suicide squad, He gets some death row inmates and commutes their sentences, so long as they agree to have their tongues cut out to keep his secrets.
After Harwin leaves, Rhaenyra decides it’s time for her family to flee as well. It’s no longer safe in court with Queen B. trying to root out her secrets, so she tells Laener to pack up for Dragonstone. He protests, but calms down when Rhaenyra says he can bring his boyfriend, Qarl, along. (Oh ffs, please just spell one name in this series normally. Please. Give me one character named Doug or something.)
In Pentos, Laena is having a difficult birth. The baby refuses to come out. The doctor tells Daemon that they could open the womb, but there’s no guarantee the baby will live, and the mother definitely wouldn’t. And credit to Daemon. Unlike his brother, he isn’t willing to gut his wife like a fish. However, Laena is in such pain that she staggers out onto the beach and shouts Dracarys at her dragon, Vhagar, until he burns her to death. (The Maesters really need to bring in a few OB-GYNs because the state of maternal care is appalling.)
Lyonel and Harwin reach Harrenhall, but their return home doesn’t last long. That night, a fire breaks out in the castle. Both Strongs are trapped in their rooms, and die when the fire causes parts of the building to collapse. In the wreckage, Otto Hightower strides through, and I’ll lay you odds that he had Larys’ very dirty dozen lock them in and start the fire.
Alicent has similar thoughts. After hearing about the disaster she runs to Larys, who basically admits it. My queen wished for something to be done, it is done, Now, contact your father so he can become hand again. And, you know, one day you can do a favor for me. Larys is ice cold, having just orchestrated the deaths of his father and brother, and just wants to be this series’ version of Littlefinger, (How’d things turn out for that guy, anyway?).
I am starting to lose my patience with this series. The time jumps make it almost impossible to get to know the characters. Information gets dumped out as a result, rather than shown through actions. Character beats that could make you empathetic or sympathetic get glassed over. Laena had a ten year marriage to Daemon that barely got ten minutes of screen time, a marriage that was apparently pretty good since they had kids. How did she tame this reprobate, who we last saw killing his wife and fucking his neice? Eh, who knows.
Thus far, I’m not a fan of the older actors playing Rhaenyra and Alicent. Their younger counterparts had some innocence to them that made you hope they could work things out. The new actors are just playing bitter and jaded,
And we’re going to fight the damn Triarchy again? After hyping the crab feeders last time, only to (literally) cut their legs out killing all of that build up, why should we get excited this time around?
This show can be very good, especially when it lets the characters have some room to stretch. Unfortunately, the characters are becoming chained to plot points and it is not as interesting.
Again, who now are you supposed to root for?
RATING 2 out of 5
WHO’S THE WORST?
Everyone? Larys beats out a crowded field by murdering his family. In a shocker, two-time defending champ Daemon is actually the most decent person here because he refused to kill his wife.
If you have a passion for lightsabers, laser guns, grappling hooks, and spiders, then look no further for the greatest 2D release since Adobe Flash was discontinued and Albino Blacksheep faded from public memory. SpiderHeck hits with some serious nostalgia for the halcyon days of Stick Fight and Xiao Xiao 3 Flash videos, crossed with some inspiration from the flashiest of Jedi lightsaber fighting techniques. All wrapped in a modern Unity package with physics, an OST jam packed with absolute bangers by Professor Kliq, and a bold electrifying aesthetic.
But above it all, it’s just cool. Everyone knows that the kid who spins their pen in their hand is the coolest kid in school, and now you’ll be here spinning your lightsabers. Catapult your spider body at breakneck speeds while performing moulinets to parry and cleave with your double-edged saber and dodging remote mines, rocket launchers, and laser revolvers. Control the high ground and watch as your foes careen into the lava. SpiderHeck offers countless hours of both hilarious and epic moments in both solo PvE and local and online multiplayer PvE/PvP modes.
Laser swords, laser guns, and crossbows that shoot laser swords
Yes, there are lightsaber crossbows that fire whole-ass lightsabers that can be picked up after you completely miss your target point blank. And that’s about the extent of creativity for weapons, though that still sets the bar pretty high. SpiderHeck has swords, guns, and explosives, with many guns and explosives featuring pretty radical designs. And if you don’t feel like shooting laser swords, you can always just chuck yours, then recall it Force-style to stab your enemies in the back.
As far as the lightsabers themselves go, or particle swords as they are known in SpiderHeck, there’s a decent enough variety of them that they’ll always feel fresh. Not only are there various base forms, such as a regular saber style or elongated spear style versus a Darth Maul dual saber type, but each particle sword that spawns can have differing stats for its length and width, meaning that one lucky spider could end up with a bona fide Buster Sword. It’s entirely possible to have legitimate sword fights, as the weapons all have weight and momentum, and all weapons are able to parry sword strikes as they clash. Particle swords can also reflect most gun projectiles back to sender, furthering the spider-Jedi image, or perhaps opening up potential for Spider-Laser-Tennis in the future.
SpiderHeck also features a wide array of guns and explosives, including RPG-type weapons. There are the classic archetypes, such as shotguns, revolvers, or rifles, but there are also some more creative designs, such as a laser gun that takes several seconds to charge up, but hits everything in a line regardless of any terrain. Or a rocket launcher that shoots five rockets at once. And yet, all guns have their specific strengths and weaknesses, especially the higher caliber guns which cause insane recoil, so there’s decent balance between sword and gun. Also, this is the type of game where you’ll wonder, “will that kill me?” and SpiderHeck responds with an enthusiastic “Yes!” as your own free-flying spinning sawblade eviscerates you, so players must be extra cautious of spidercide.
I’m the sort of guy that will pick up a particle sword in most circumstances, but sometimes a square peg just needs a round hole, and the best way to make a round hole is a bullet. Weapons constantly spawn on the battlefield, and it’s easy to chuck one weapon to pick up another. For that matter, all weapons have limited use—swords have durability, guns have ammo, and explosives blow up—so you’ll be constantly swapping weapons anyway.
Best lightsaber mechanics? I meant the best grappling hook mechanics
SpiderHeck is on a physics-based engine, which has implications on every action that the player takes. As you bring up your particle sword to parry, the resulting strike will blow both swords and spiders back a little, and it takes time to bring the sword up back to position. Same goes for aiming a gun, and pulling the trigger actually results in the spider being blown back from the recoil, because obviously, it’s a tiny spider with a massive gun. Similarly, nearby explosions will greatly knock back the spider if they’re not within the blast itself.
This physics system is what allows the grappling hook to really shine. Each swing follows predictable momentum, with differing forces such as the grapple itself, weapon recoil, gravity, and swing speed pulling on your spider in different directions. The magic of SpiderHeck comes from instinctual understanding of how it all comes together, and bending it to your will to perform amazing death-defying parkour tricks. There’s no better feeling in gaming than mapping out the perfect grapple in tight terrain on the fly, lightly skimming the lava, and hearing your trichobothria sizzle as you swing to safety. And that doesn’t even take into account the lightsaber in your hand.
That being said, I initially found the movement in SpiderHeck to be extremely difficult to comprehend. After all, we’re terrestial lizard brains that are used to interacting with the world in a simple flat plane, so who are we to fathom the inner machinations of a spider’s omnidirectional mind? Things like gravity and being right side up mean very little to a creature that can walk on a ceiling.
A protip: your spider doesn’t jump against gravity, it jumps against the surface it’s standing on.
In a world where gravity is optional…
As a 2D fighting game like Super Smash Bros, map design also has a large effect on how the game plays. In its pursuit of zaniness, SpiderHeck offers a gamut of diverse maps with different design elements. For example, one map is designed like a Pachinko board, with a lava death zone at the bottom, and with items, enemies, and boxes raining down from overhead. Other maps have features such as elevators, falling platforms, jump pads (directional boosts really since they face every direction), rotating blocks, and swings. But most notably, a selection of maps feature zero gravity, which offers large changes from how movement on standard maps works. The wide selection of maps will keep fights feeling fresh as every map brings about different challenges and different movement possibilities.
Simple game modes with the promise of more after release
The beauty of SpiderHeck is the culmination of all these separate and massively complex mechanics coming together to complete simple objectives. On release, SpiderHeck will feature three simple game modes, though with all the necessary customization options: a simple versus mode with limited crossplay, a wave survival mode with optional co-op, and the Tiers of Heck—a specially tailored challenge trial mode that gets progressively more difficult with a significant speedrun element. There’s also an extreme difficulty parkour map in the main lobby, though I have yet to reach the end and see what you get (probably nothing).
All game modes generally utilize the same pool of weapons, maps, and modifiers, though there are some that are specific per mode. Modifiers are cards that affect gameplay and can offer both mundane and exciting changes, such as improving air movement control or increasing the pull of the grapple web, or escalating the spawn rate of particle swords and enlarging their length or width. There are also some more wild cards such as decreasing an enemy’s fear of lava, which makes it easier to bait enemy AI into killing itself in magma— definitely an attractive option, given that the yellowjackets are just absolute beasts with swords, especially those with the Mace Windu or Darth Maul lightsabers.
Decent controls on KB/M, superb controls on controller
SpiderHeck features support for both KB/M and controller, with unchangeable keybinds for both, although changeable keybinds are planned for a future patch. For now, the default keybinds include basic movement, and buttons for jumping/web grappling, picking up or throwing/recalling a weapon, and using the weapon—swords have a lunge attack, guns are fired, and mines/explosives are activated and thrown.
If you ask me for an input mode, even as a longtime PC gamer that regularly laughs at the concept of aiming with thumbs, I would definitely choose controller for SpiderHeck. Dual joystick is an absolute necessity for aiming, as you need to precisely aim both your weapon and the grapple web.
For KB/M, you’re provided the option to aim your web with the mouse or with movement keys (WASD default). The WASD aiming is vastly preferable, since it’s just not reasonable to constantly give up aiming your weapon to readjust your grapple—often times, your sword needs to be in position as you clash with an opponent, and that just isn’t possible if you’re busy trying to find the right grapple angle. But even with WASD aiming, restricting your web grapple to eight directions greatly hinders your mobility, and proves to be a significant handicap in a high-octane deathmatch, even with the improved weapon aim with mouse. This is definitely a game where movement matters more than aim.
SpiderHeck also currently has some strange technical limitations that prevent more than one player in a lobby using KB/M input, even when playing online, so for people planning to play with their friend groups, it’s simplest for everyone to be on controller. This limitation may be addressed in a later patch.
As far as navigating the game itself, the design is flawless. Every menu interaction is quick and crisp, meaning you spend less time in menus and more time in-game. Entering a game mode itself involves maneuvering to its platform and waiting for the 3,2,1 countdown so there’s some slowdown there, but otherwise everything is designed to be an expedient player-centric experience.
Weird technical issues and lack of content to be addressed after release
The technical oddities don’t stop with the KB/M limitation. SpiderHeck is also slated to release with limited crossplay, with only these following options available: Steam x Epic, Windows Store x Xbox, Playstation x Playstation, Switch x Switch. And while the multiplayer works fully when actually in-game, the features surrounding it may be a bit limited, even on release, such as the potential lack of fully-featured matchmaking.
Additionally, as mentioned earlier, custom keybinds are not a thing yet. I do think that the default keybinds are superb, but that level of customization is an expectation in modern gaming, especially for gamers with disabilities. This also ties in with the limited game settings available, with barely any adjustable graphics sliders available. SpiderHeck relies heavily on complicated physics, and certain in-game interactions can cause unavoidable lag. Still, some of that slowdown has to come from particle effects, and not being able to adjust many graphics settings is a limitation that some gamers may find difficult to accept.
There is also a basic character customization system that allows you to choose a preset color scheme and a hat for your spider. I’d like to see more unrestricted customization options and maybe even mod support in the future, but understandably those are complex features to implement.
Further planned updates include Twitch integration, difficulty sliders, different types of challenges, actual meta progression, and additional zany map mechanics. But at this time, there is no official roadmap for post-release content.
SpiderHeck: cool concept, excellent execution, extremely creative, but needs some work in the backend
It’s undeniable that the gameplay in SpiderHeck is just straight up cool and fun, and smooth execution leads to extreme satisfaction. The music and aesthetic design are top-notch, even if the OST is limited. It offers copious amounts of gameplay for both solo and groups, and the developer is planning to continue support and development for the game after release, hopefully to hammer out some of these weird technical limitations and flesh out the content.
Bob Dylan once sang, “The Times, They are A-Changin'”. (Matthew 7:6) also cited: “Do not give what is holy to the dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet and tear you to pieces.”
Do the math on which lasted longer in your memory.
Season 4 Episode 3 Recap
We open in on Paper Boi (Brian Tyree Henry), backstage finished from his set for a Bar/Bat Mitzvah. He’s approached by a father who is massively impressed by him and his stage presence.
In fact, he wants to employ Paper Boi’s services for his son; teach him to be more like him, and teach him how to rap. Paper Boi’s not got time for silly games, as he’s a busy musician.
However, to the tune of one million dollars, Paper Boi’s namesake would be fucking disingenuous if he refused the request.
At Earn’s talent management company, the HOC (Paden Fallis) informs the room of a newly signed client: a quickly climbing author whose sales are in an even quicker slump for a viral video of her pulling a gun on a black teen fundraising at her doorstep. The company needs to devise a plan on how to make the ‘oops’ vamoose before the lightning in a bottle becomes flash in the pan.
Some suggest digging up dirt on the kid or painting the area as high in crime. Earn (Donald Glover), fed up with the situation simply wants to work on other signees instead of contributing to the systemic bleeding hemorrhoid on the ass of society.
HOC knows their plate is full, throwing out D’Angelo to Earn as a high-profile act as a way to dismiss him, but he takes the challenge, convinced he can sign the elusive prodigy, much to the snickering of everyone around.
He’s welcome to go on his snipe hunt, however, reaching out to someone who knew his hair braider.
Elsewhere in the ATL, Paper Boi meets his client at the lab. In the booth, a young kid, yodeling via autotune to a trap beat is done with his take. Al introduces himself to another kid lounging. Meet Benny (Daniel Rashid), the child whose dad “bought” him. He’s also introduced to Yodel Kid (Tucker Brown), who recognizes Al as someone he used to listen to when he was “a kid.”
The pipsqueak ain’t nothing but a goddamn tadpole. Fucking youth of today, man.
Though Al wants to earn his keep, Benny’s cool with him doing nothing and collecting his check.
Already feeling slightly stressed about not feeling needed with a pregnant woman on the couch not helping the vibe, the little bespectacled white lad named Lil’ Rick Moranis (ugh) certainly isn’t making the scene any better. Lil’ Rick’s accompanied by an older black man that immediately recognizes Paper Boi. This is Bunk (Charles Malik Whitfield), an artist that Al respects as well.
Bunk invites Paper Boi to escape the out-of-body experience that is little white kids playing big adult rappers to chill in Studio Three.
There, whilst enjoying some sticky, Paper Boi speaks his mind on the ridiculousness of the scene, going as far as to say it’s not even rapping. Bunk may agree, but disagrees with Al making a mill off of this when he in reality should be making ten times that amount.
Al asserts he’s fine with banking what he makes, but in Bunk’s words of wisdom: “Saving money ain’t making money”.
Maybe touring for Paper Boi isn’t the only way to keep on the grind. Buck invites him to a gathering he holds with a few others to talk about these exact things.
Earn pulls up to a Rally’s. Perplexed that one exists in Georgia (where it should only be a Checkers), he continues around the building to find two doors: one labeled employees only and one labeled D’Angelo with the universal symbol for ‘human’ upturned.
Upon entering, he encounters a large empty brick-walled room, with a gentleman (Zach Humphrey) reading a magazine next to a large vault door. Though Earn asks to see D’Angelo, the man remains silent, leaving Earn to shack up in the Waiting Area which is simply a corner with a piss bucket and a sleeping bag harboring a mysterious bloodstain underneath it.
The next night, Al joins the “YWA Meeting” and according to the board, the talking point of the evening is “Ready For Your Grammy?”
Bunk welcomes him. In comes rapper Gas 90 (Jay Jones), gold chained up, sunglasses on. He asserts that the meeting isn’t about rap, so those concerned with it could kindly see themselves out. Al is confused but isn’t headed for the exit.
Gas 90 swears anybody in the room could rap with the best of them, but if rap meant money, Cassidy would be dripping in shekels, proceeding to show the first slide. It’s a group of black kids mean-mugging for the camera with a singular white kid in the middle.
The question posed is which of them is generating billions of streams landing them on the Billboard charts?
It’s a simple, self-evident answer that scoffs at a raised hand. Gas 90 has a solution to make the black man the money he should be making.
A rising tide lifts all boats, and with that, Gas 90 presents his foolproof equation for success: YWA + GRAMMYS = $$$
What is YWA, you may ask? “Young White Avatar.” An example would be the little rascals he was hanging out in the studio with the other day. To Gas 90, you have to get one, train and nature them, and ultimately catch ‘em all. Yes, like Pokemon. Or slavery in reverse.
Al thinks it’s laughable, as he can make a better album, win a Grammy and use the steam to go back out on tour.
Bunk knows the artistry will be better, but the cold, shivering truth of the matter is that nobody will want to hear him because he’s old.
According to the program, the three stages to downfall are simple. Stage 1 is Young Street, how they all started. All swagger, all love. Stage 2 is O.G. when the young bucks look up to them as a sign of respect for the influence. Lastly, Stage 3 is unceremoniously Family Films, riding on the cusp of O.G. to the road of selling out.
Al still isn’t buying it. He swears he’s still popping, selling out arenas, but Bunk hits him hard that arenas are soccer stadiums. In fact, the kids in the studio barely knew who he was.
Still adamant that he’s still remembered as he still speaks for the streets, Gas 90 asserts to Paper Boi that the streets can’t feed him. Case in point, Blue Blood, whom all adored, but few realized had an album out until it was too late.
Bunk suggests that to maintain the lifestyle they are accustomed to, a Y.W.A. within the next five months is imperative, so Al takes a field trip. To a high school.
There, he sees Benny making it rain to a crowd of adoring, impressionable minds. These are the kids that will beg their parents to spend as much money as possible to support this brat who raps about Twitch views. The streets will always be real, but the internet has a reach that is unimaginable.
He also spots Yodel Kid, a child sick on Ecstacy. Al manages to get a word with Benny but much to his surprise, the guy’s already signed with Bunk. Hey, new game, new block.
Not one to be left out in the dust, Al swallows his pride like one who struck out at a bar and goes for second-tier: Yodel Kid.
So long as his acquisition doesn’t yack in the ride, the relationship may be beneficial. In Yodel Kid’s words, he’s a legend that’ll “live forever.”
Having spent a week at the Rally’s, Earn looks disheveled, biding his time away waiting, his mental state slowly deteriorating. He finally asks for water and is guided to a closet with Dasani’s. This is his breaking point and out of desperation takes one of the man’s magazines.
Taking a moment to breathe, he achieves a moment of enlightenment, questioning what D’Angelo is, then asserting that we’re all D’Angelo before requesting to experience D’Angelo.
This prompts the man to open a door in the brick wall. It’s a dark passageway, to which Earn gets in and proceeds forward into the black and dank before emerging out of a closet and into another room.
A black man with braids singing along to Al Green’s “How Can You Mend A Broken Heart” pauses his video game to fix himself a peanut butter and fried chicken skin sandwich. From behind, the braids seem unmistakable. The voice sounds nigh angelic.
Upon turning around, however, we see this is ostensibly NOT D’Angelo. According to this gentleman (Enoch King), Earn asked to experience D’Angelo and at the moment, they both are D’Angelo.
Earn’s tired, unbathed, needing desperately to sign D’Angelo. According to this person, the company is not ‘true believers’ and are deemed unworthy of his presence.
Defeated, Earn entertains the person’s thought of what a D’Angelo is, which is a complex, global network of people, including D’Angelo’s.
Earn’s fucked if he doesn’t show up with the real D’Angelo. This D’Angelo keeps this in mind and through the network relays to earn that since Earn was eight, he’d dream of hands pulling him down as he was swimming wouldn’t let him escape. This D’Angelo questions him on why he believes the hands had any intent to harm him in the first place.
After taking a beat, Earn is off through the way he came.
It’s the red carpet at the Grammy’s and Boogie Bunk along with artist Benny are among the industry’s elite alongside Gas 90 and his proxy Post Malone. They’re met by Paper Boi, all decked out. He’s not nominated for a Grammy though. Yodel Kid is, having gone Platinum in eleven days. There’s only one catch.
Yodel Kid is a no-show on account of him being dead, most likely an OD. You know what they say about death in this industry…
At a bar, Al, Earn, and Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) watch the awards recap on the tv screen.
Who is the rap album victor? Of course, it’s Yodel Kid with “Born to Die.”
Congrats are in order for Alfred, but he confesses to not being cut out for managing, querying Earn about how he does it.
Earn’s answer is simple- it’s not about what feels good, it’s about what survives. This gives Al pause, as he’s authentic, not the flavor of the week.
Earn dips for business in the morning, Darius dips for an after-party and though he invites, only Paper Boi remains in the booth. Food for thought.
Season 4 Episode 3 Takeaway
Though not under the patented helm of Hiro Murai, this episode had a bunch that needed to be unlocked like a videogame bonus.
From the treatise of gimmick-rappers skyrocketing in streams to lives of actual legends and the illegitimacy of the Grammys, the message was clear. Mind you, by a show of hands, how many of you heard of Big L? Now, how many of you heard of Jack Harlow? Casket-case closed.
Duran Duran said it best: “Don’t say a prayer for me now. Save it ’til the morning after.”
Remember last week, when there was a mysterious box and we were teased with a tantalizing glimpse of Daredevil’s helmet? Well, this week opens with another mysterious box… only this one has a glitter bomb! And an invite to be a bridesmaid in the wedding of Jennifer Walter’s childhood friend, Lulu!
So, no Daredevil or Matt Murdock this week. The show rather cheekily addresses this via a fourth wall break: “Yes, it’s a self-contained wedding episode. And if you think this wedding is happening at an inconvenient time, you’re right. ‘Cause that’s how weddings always are.” Groan. Another meta-joke: “Who has a wedding on a Thursday?” (Catch a new episode of She-Hulk each Thursday on Disney+!)
Jen is surprisingly excited to go to the wedding of someone she’s barely talked to since high school, mainly because it’s going to give her a chance to show off her new She-Hulk wardrobe. Nikki is stoked because she gets to work with Mallory Book on a new divorce case.
Our guest this week is David Paresqui (last seen on Disney+ as the Major Domo of the Mayor of Mos Espa on Book of Boba Fett). He plays a character named Mr. Immortal, whose power is (you guessed it) immortality. As he explains to Nikki and Mallory, you know how it goes. Love gets stale as you get older, he’s an immortal being who hates conflict, can you really blame him for faking his death instead of divorcing or talking to his partners? It’s easier on them that way! (Technically, he doesn’t fake his death. He walks into traffic and gets murdered Joe Black style and then regenerates.) He hates conflict so much that when his lawyers start yelling at him for being so insensitive to his partners, he jumps out the window.
Paresqui is delightful as the amoral immortal. Even with his few lines of dialogue, he really gives off the impression of being in love with his many exes despite the fact he’d rather get hit by a truck than have a real conversation with any of them. The settlement session with his seven ex-wives and ex-husband gets off to a rocky start, with them arguing how to split up that Apple stock he bought in the 1980s until Nikki takes control. Quickly bonding with all of them, she gets them all fair compensation.. Very funnily, the one Mr. Immortal blanches at the most is the sincere apology with 15 seconds of eye contact, and Nikki makes it 20 when he complains.
At the wedding, Jen is eager to show off her Hulkiness and her fun new dress. She revels in the compliments until the Bride Lulu asks her to knock it off since she wants all the attention on her. It’s her daaaaay! And you know what? Fair. The bride should be the center of a wedding, even a passive-aggressive bridezilla like Lulu.
To make things worse, Jen’s nemesis Titania has weaseled her way into a wedding invitation as someone’s plus one. Jen is furious, thinking Titania’s only there to ambush her, but Lulu dismisses her as sounding crazy. At least there’s a cute guy outside who awkwardly flirts with her while she’s eating the candied nuts. Joshua seems nice and is actually into Jen, so this will undoubtedly end badly. She flirts as badly as he does, at least until Lulu breaks them up to ask them to help clean up. Half the event staff has quit on Lulu because of “how I’m treating them.”
The wedding stuff as a whole is ok, but not great. The humiliations aren’t that terrible and Lulu honestly isn’t the worst bridezilla. (Has no writer on She-Hulk watched a few episodes of Say Yes To The Dress?) There feels like there could’ve been a lot more to be done here.
Things go downhill from there into the realm of bad wedding tropes. The groomsman Jen is paired off with is Lulu’s tiny, sickly dog, Jonathan, with his tongue lolling outside his mouth. It’s a cash bar, so Jen is plunking down $12 at a time to get drunk. (At least she can get drunk since she promised she wouldn’t hulk out.) Of course, since she isn’t metabolizing alcohol quickly all buzz turns into all barf. And while she’s puking in the garden, that’s when Titania attacks her.
This quickly turns into a funny fight, since Jen is too drunk to fight back and also too drunk to hulk out, which infuriates Titania. Jen tries, after laughing about how Titania is obsessed with her. Finally, after first just busting out of her shoes, she manages to hulk up and makes short work of Titania. After she knocks over a waiter, she slips in the spilled ice and falls flat on her face. She gets up with puffy lips and broken veneers, making her look like a buck-toothed raccoon. After yelling at the wedding attendees for filming her (“What, are you streaming that for your eleven followers?”) she steals a layer of the cake and runs off. Jameela Jamil is a hoot as Titania, and I would have liked to see more of her wedding shenanigans.
Back in the office, Nikki and Mallory celebrate the settlement of Mr. Immortal’s many divorces. They surf onto a website one of his wives mentioned, Intelligentcia, where she saw footage of her husband getting mowed down by cars. Nikki notices a section called “Slutty She-Hulk” (for members only), and the two are quickly sucked into a world of misogyny, with posts full of death threats directed at Jen. Mallory makes Nikki promise not to tell Jen, since there’s nothing she can do about it and it will only make her feel bad. Nikki agrees but quickly calls her anyway once she’s out of the office. Some of the posts feel like real-life angry incel tweets about the show (“She-Hulk isn’t even that strong!”)
This leads to some of my gripes about the show, a show that I like but doesn’t always work. I love Tatiana Maslany, both as Jen and She-Hulk. I think the cast is great in general (especially Nikky and Mallory). But the episodes themselves are uneven and some of the show structures are maddeningly inconsistent. Some weeks the fourth wall breaks are well integrated, and some weeks it’s an afterthought. Sometimes the lampshading of the real-life Twitter haters is clever, some weeks it feels labored. Some episodes have sharp gags, some episodes have jokes that the Cathy comic would’ve found hacky. Are the post-credit scenes a thing? They were until last week.
Still, when this show is clicking, it’s really good! When it isn’t, it’s a little meh.
This episode was a little meh.
Rating: 3.5 out of 5
RANDOM NOTES:
Please stop trying to make Ched happen. Where Madisynn was a funny annoying character, Ched is just plain annoying.
Respect though for DJ Ched using an old-school airhorn rather than a sound file.
Do you know how the wedding stuff could’ve been more fun? Structure it as a reality wedding show, like TLC mainstay Four Weddings. “It was great when She-Hulk showed up, and Titania gave me some tips on smokey eye, but the cash bar was tacky. So I give this wedding a 6.”
Again, no post-credit scene this week. We do get an altered title card like last week.
And that’s it for me! Josh Speer is back next week to recap the rest of the series. It’s been fun doing this, and if you enjoyed my recaps be sure to read my House of the Dragon ones every Monday morning.
I had pretty high expectations for the latest Resident Alien after last week’s episode. Overall I think it’s fair to say Best Enemies delivers, even though a couple of elements frustrated me.
Best Enemies is mostly focused on the odd relationship between Harry and Peter, the Alien Tracker. It starts with a flashback to a much younger Peter and his wife mourning their kidnapped baby. Suddenly the wife disappears and reappears screaming, saying they took her again and that she saw her baby boy. It’s clear just from this exchange why Peter hates aliens so much, and why it probably exceedingly grates that Harry got the best of him.
Peter has been Harry’s captive for a few days, and Asta comes by to check why Harry hasn’t been to work. He’s been having a fun time, pondering how humans are bound to common cause while he’s bound to saving their planet. He’s also been enjoying using Peter’s purloined taser to make tea. Unfortunately, Asta arriving spells the end of his fun and games. He foolishly sets up a baby monitor to keep tabs on Peter, and it starts talking, which leads to Asta discovering the captive human. To Harry’s chagrin, she sympathizes with him and his tale of woe. Harry says he’s been torturing the man, but his idea of torture is more slapstick than actually effective.
Long story short, within moments Asta has freed Peter, and Harry’s cranky about it. Especially since he’s expected to prepare food for the man! He had been feeding him bland oatmeal, but now he’s cutting onions. And as expected, he starts crying and getting emotional about YoutTube videos. Not only does Peter help take over onion duties, he reveals that there’s a secret government base in Wyoming, and that may be where little Bobby the alien baby is being kept. So the two former enemies team up to break in.
Before we get to that big scene, let’s see how other residents of Patience are faring. Though we left D’Arcy in a bad place, she’s been recovering with Asta and her dad Joe. She’s even returned the favor by cooking for them, but Asta is worried she’s neglecting her life. She tries to get her dad to kindly kick her out, but then D’Arcy doubles down and brings her PlayStation to the house, and eventually Judy as well. Asta asks her dad again, and it backfires, with him saying Asta should live on her own as well. Luckily, D’Arcy has her back, and suggests they move in together.
Ben is also having a weird time. He starts sleepwalking outside his house and knocking on the door. When pressed by Kate, he reveals it wasn’t the first time he’s done this. In the past, every time it happened he had the same dream. It involved Ben being on the bed with a broken leg, his family all around him, yet unable to communicate with them.
While it’s easy to dismiss the goofball mayor, I am starting to think there might be something more to the whole situation. Possibly something alien related, but I can’t confirm that in this episode. Later on, his lack of sleep causes him to be paranoid and crash his car, but that leads to him and Kate reuniting and the townsfolk of Patience checking that he’s okay. It also leads to Ben deciding to give up on his resort, thankfully.
Mike and Liv don’t have much screen time in the episode. Mike does do a creepy background check on Torres to assess the pros and cons of dating her. Liv says that’s a bad idea, but she’s much more distracted worrying that something happened to Peter. Which is 1000% correct, but otherwise she doesn’t accomplish much in Best Enemies.
Now for the main event—Harry and Peter breaking into a government facility! And yes, it’s the same facility we’ve seen plenty of in previous parts of this season. How will they manage it, you ask? Simple. Peter has Harry in alien form in a cage, and demands to talk with the General.
It takes all of a few moments for Harry to break free. In the commotion, Peter handcuffs the General and starts opening all the cell doors. As for Harry, he’s having a grand time. First he discovers the room with the humans on hospital beds. Turns out, they’re the guards that tried to stop him from leaving the planet in season 1. Somehow, they’re all mentally networked, and Harry uses that to compel them to do his bidding. Which mostly consists of them attacking fellow guards, much to Harry’s delight.
Harry eventually finds baby Bobby in his adorable alien form. He gets the rest of the message from him, which leads to my main complaint with Best Enemies—Harry gets the message, but we don’t get to see it. Which likely means that will happen next week, but it’s still annoying after waiting all season for some resolution. Harry’s ready to leave the baby and go, but it calls him daddy. Suddenly the alien goofball is overwrought with emotions, and he bonds with his son. Then he puts him on his shoulder and continues his rampage.
The last arc of the scene involves Peter finding proof one of the detained humans is actually his son grown up. Worse, it’s the same human the alien guard was harassing earlier this season. He tries to go to Peter, but the guard psychically warns him to stay, and that he belongs to them. Not listening, he goes to Peter, and the guard draws his gun on them both. Peter jumps in front of the bullet, and Harry sics his human drones on the assailant. But unfortunately, Peter is fatally wounded, and implores Harry to save his son before he perishes.
It all ends with the General trying in vain to stop Harry’s rampage, and Harry getting the best of her. He’s moments from choking the life out of the woman, but maybe because of Bobby he relents. Then they all escape and go on a road trip, and the baby was even thoughtful enough to swallow the alien sphere when nobody was looking!
Though I loved the majority of Best Enemies, especially silly moments like the Greek guy from History channel being in a cell, I was really underwhelmed by the ending. Yes, I liked how Ben has grown as a person and the town rallies around him. And yes, I loved the stuff that happened with Harry, Peter and company. But we still don’t know about the message from Goliath. Which feels like a gaping plot hole, at least if they don’t resolve it before the end of the season.
Showtime has announced that the second season of Your Honor, starring Bryan Cranston (Breaking Bad)will return on Friday, December 9.
Your Honor follows Cranston as Michael Desiato, a respected New Orleans judge whose upstanding life is derailed when his teenage son’s accidental hit-and-run killing of the son of notorious crime boss Jimmy Baxter (Michael Stuhlbarg) led to a high-stakes game of lies, deceit, and impossible choices. Hope Davis (Love Life, American Crime) stars as Jimmy’s wife, Gina, who is at times more dangerous and driven than her husband, and Isiah Whitlock Jr. (The Wire) stars as Charlie, a local politician, and Michael’s best friend.
The 10-episode second season will introduce guest star Rosie Perez (The Flight Attendant),with Margo Martindale (The Americans) and Amy Landecker (Transparent) returning as guest stars.
Martindale returns as Senator Elizabeth Guthrie, the mother of Desiato’s deceased wife and one of the last links to his previous life. Landecker plays Detective Nancy Costello, who has been betrayed by her friendship with Desiato and will not let go until she uncovers the truth.
Perez will be playing Olivia Delmont, a charismatic assistant U.S. Attorney who must manipulate and motivate an unwilling asset in order to bring down a crime organization in New Orleans.
Season two follows Big Mo (Ward-Hammond), the formidable leader of the Desire Gang, who demands fierce loyalty as she pushes to expand her empire throughout New Orleans with help from Little Mo (Machekanyanga). Fia Baxter (Kay) is forced to reckon with the true nature of her family as she deals with the aftermath of her boyfriend’s shooting (by a bullet that was intended for her brother). As the only surviving son of Jimmy Baxter, Carlo (Stanton) is now more determined than ever to follow in his father’s criminal footsteps, while Eugene Jones’ (Flores Jr.) attempt to avenge his brother’s death has created a new chain of events that threaten to create a war on the streets of New Orleans.
Your Honor Season 2 is currently in Production. The series is executive produced by Robert and Michelle King (The Good Fight, The Good Wife, Evil) and Liz Glotzer (Evil, The Good Fight), with Joey Hartstone (The Good Fight) serving as showrunner and executive producer for season two.
As a Y2K teen, I often channel surfed after school or when the ‘rents were out, searching for sci-fi. And every time the remote landed on a rerun of the original Quantum Leap (1989-1993), I’d stop and watch. Sometimes, I’d be lucky enough to stumble into a marathon. The show’s unique-yet-simple premise and adventure-of-the-week format made it easy for a casual viewer to drop in, and fortunately for those who, like me, weren’t quite old enough to follow the original as it aired, NBC’s new Quantum Leap revival follows the same template.
Taking place in 2022, about 30 years after the original, Quantum Leap sets up a new series of time-traveling/history-fixing escapades with a new main character, Dr. Ben Song (Raymond Lee). After acknowledging that the original leaper, Dr. Sam Beckett (Scott Bakula) never returned, the show introduces us to Ben and his fiancee, Addison (Caitlin Bassett).
Ben has been working on a new Quantum Leap project for the government and one day, gets an urgent yet vague text. The next thing we know, he’s stepping into the machine and into the body of a man in “July 13, 1985” (also the title of the pilot episode). With no personal memories and no idea what he’s doing there, other than that he’s the getaway driver for a heist in progress, Ben gets to do the classic Quantum Leap opening of looking into a mirror to see what he looks like to the outside world (We, the viewers, get to see Ben, but the other characters in the past see the person whose body he’s borrowing. As for Ben’s original body? Why, it’s still in the future…).
Thankfully, Addison then appears as a hologram only Ben can see to give a brief explanation of what’s going on and help guide him through the past. She can’t explain why he stepped into the machine either, as Ben told no one of what he was doing before he left.
The show appears to be setting up a season or series arc, hinted at in the teaser, where Ben’s actions are about more than altering history and finding a way home. In this and the emotional connection with Addison, the new show ups the stakes.
Like in the original, Ben must take action to save someone in the past before the machine will allow him to leap out. As for who and how? Well, that’s what the episode is about. Without spoiling anything, I’ll just say it’s a heist adventure with some fun action sequences and a few classic heist-movie moments.
Despite the many hours I’ve spent watching the original Quantum Leap, I can’t begin to tell you a single plot point beyond the basic premise (thanks, Swiss cheese memory). What I remember vividly, though, was the strength of the characters and the emotional heart at the core of each episode – the emphasis on human connection, on the value of people and relationships.
Thanks to a script that never forgets the characters driving its story and some earnest performances by the cast, the new show successfully captures that same heart. In other words, it feels like Quantum Leap. And that’s ultimately the most important thing, beyond the updated special effects and new plots.
For new viewers, there’s no need to worry about catching up on a show old enough to count as an Elder Millennial. While it references the original, the new Quantum Leap’s pilot is the beginning of its own journey. I, for one, am super excited to see where it goes from here.
I’ve been a fan of The Voice since the very beginning. Which is a bit strange, since I don’t normally watch reality television or game shows. I think it stems back to my irritation with Simon Cowell from American Idol always treating contestants like raw sewage. By contrast, The Voice seemed to be more uplifting and positive. So several years later, I’m a regular viewer of the show, and am excited to help review the premiere of Season 22 with the Blind Auditions.
While I may have become a bit more jaded about the show over the years, and definitely suspect a lot of the banter between the coaches is somewhat scripted, the undeniable fact is that it’s still very entertaining. At least the majority of the time. There’s some big and bold personalities that have been coaches in the past, from CeeLo Green (I still miss you), to Adam Levine and Shakira. And while I miss Kelly Clarkson a lot, and found her attitude very engaging, the coaches this season are all fantastic. Blake is still a hillbilly jerk, John is the king of smooth and Gwen is a popstar princess in pink. But the big surprise was the newest coach, an advisor to Mr. Legend last season. None other than Camila Cabello!
I honestly wasn’t that familiar with Cabello prior to this, other than the earworm that is Havana. Watching tonight’s episode, I learned that she was also in a group called Fifth Harmony back in the day, so she knows a thing or two about fighting for recognition in the industry. Though she might not look that intimidating, dressed like a glittery buccaneer, she proves tonight she’s ready to fight for every artist. And to my great delight, she’s already proving a thorn in Shelton’s side, though nobody can eclipse Adam Levine’s mastery of driving Blake crazy.
There’s some really great contestants that show up, though I am starting to shift how I look at 4 chair turns. Previously, I thought only the best of the best won that rare distinction. While I do think some truly amazing artists get all the coaches’ attention, I’m starting to believe those that only get a few chairs to turn might be something even more special. An example tonight is Ian Harrison, and he has a truly tragic backstory. Another is named Emma Brooke, dressed a bit like an albino Carmen Sandiego. And then there’s David Andrew, who has the most amazing hair I’ve seen in some time.
There’s also some amazing song choices this evening, starting with Hallelujah, then Separate Ways, The Night We Met, California Dreaming and plenty more iconic tunes. And yes, there’s a few country souls as well. While far from my favorite genre, the artists that sing country songs tonight are really talented, and one even has the moniker The Cuban Cowboy. I won’t say how many wind up with Blake, but I will say I enjoyed how rough of a night Shelton has. Though his consolation prize is that he’s married to the adorable Gwen Stefani now.
There’s also a couple of heartbreaker moments where some really talented artists don’t get a single coach. I won’t say which ones, but suffice to say they really impressed me. Then again, I’m far from trained in any musical sphere, so maybe I don’t know what I’m talking about. I just know what I like when I hear it, and a couple of those voices won’t be singing anymore this season.
One of my favorite artists tonight is named Jay Allen, and he looks like Adam Levine reincarnated into a more muscular form. I won’t spoil what song he sings, but I will say that a couple of coaches fight hard for him to join their team. He also has a tragic but uplifting story about a serious loss he suffered recently.
We get to learn more about Camila, at least as a coach. She’s constantly taking notes, and espouses she wants musical diversity on her team. Though she is a needle in Blake’s side, he gives her plenty of grief as well. In fact, Blake plays more stunts in this premiere than I think he’s played in entire past seasons of The Voice. It all culminates with the “mascot” that he brings on stage for the last few minutes of the episode.
There’s also a really fun moment with Camila singing a song Gwen Stefani is famous for, and being joined by some of the other coaches. John hands out varsity jackets, and has moved farther away from Blake’s seat, with the girls in the middle. Not to be outdone, Gwen hands out badass hoodies, and Camila takes photos with artists. Blake, being the country boy he is, has a very special prize for those that join his team, but I won’t ruin it.
It ends with a to be continued moment, which is honestly a tradition at this point. Overall it was a pretty great premiere of The Voice Season 22. There’s magic in the episode, from literal magical wands to a Harry Potter reference. And there’s someone that looks like a popstar version of Borat. All in all, a really strong start, and one that has me excited to see what other great artists join the coaches to fight for supremacy.
Do you hear wedding bells? It’s time for Westeros’s dreamiest couple to be forced onto a politically arranged marriage. Yes, Princess Rhaenyra is set to marry her cousin, the lanky and handsome dragonrider Laenor. Both are extremely meh about the whole thing.
But, while the King is puking mightily while sailing the Narrow Sea to Hightide (Has no Maester invented Dramamine yet?), Queen Alicent is saying farewell to her father, Otto. Otto, who of course takes no responsibility for his schemes blowing up in his face, blames his daughter for his misfortunes. If she hadn’t run to Rhaenyra and told her about his accusations of incest, the King would’ve believed him and now Aegon would be the heir. Alicent rolls her eyes at that, but Otto presses her. King Viserys is going to die soon, maybe in a few months, maybe in a few years. When that happens, half the kingdom will not accept Rhaenyra as queen – especially not if royal-born son Aegon is waiting in the wings. And her good friend Rhaenyra will need to kill all the other potential heirs, i.e. Alicent’s kids, in order to strengthen her claim.
The great thing about the way Rhys Ifans is playing Otto is that while he is clearly self-motivated to have his grandson be king, he clearly believes at least some of the bullshit he’s saying. A queen would upset a lot of people (if the bawdy players of last week are at all indicative). There would probably be a war and thousands would die, likely including Otto’s family. So while there is a valid concern, he’s also eager to stay in power, and Ifans does a great job at showing the layers.
At Hightide, King Viserys is greeted by… no one, an appalling breach of etiquette according to the new hand, Lord Lyonel Strong. (You know it’s fantasy because they spell common names with extraneous letters and Ys for vowels like they were auditioning to be Wong’s new sidekick in the MCU) Technically, someone is there. Lord Laener Valeryon is having some combat training with his good friend, Ser Joffery Lonmouth. Ser Joffery’s whole look is best described as Hunky Ron Weasley, so I’m calling him that for the rest of this recap. Lady Laena, the King’s almost fiancee and all grown up now at (I’m guessing) 17, comes out and directs the king to the throne room at driftwood, where Corlys awaits.
This is some big dick swinging by Corlys. He is still annoyed about the whole “Viserys wouldn’t marry my tween” thing, and now the king has come to him seeking Laener’s hand for his daughter so he is dining on the irony. He makes him trudge into his castle and metaphorically bend the knee. Corlys, of course, physically kneels before Viserys, but it’s clear he thinks he has the upper hand. So much so that he requests that the children of this union take the Valeryon name. Only until they take the throne, mind you. His wife, and Viserys’ cousin, Rhaenys, pops in to wish the King well but is shocked at how weak he is, flinching when she takes his hand and coughing all through the meeting. (A not at all subtle reminder of Otto’s warning. This episode is extremely unsubtle all the way through.)
They both express their sadness about the death of Daemon’s wife, Lady Rhea Royce, ruler of Bloodstone in the Vale. This is the first the king has heard of it. (Come on, Lyonel! This is your job!) She was thrown from her horse in a hunting accident and broke her neck and skull. However, we know it was no accident. Daemon, rocking his villainous black cloak, returned to the Vale. After exchanging insults with his wife, he spooks her horse to throw her off, where she lands with a sickening crunch. Paralyzed, she taunts Daemon as a coward who can’t finish anything, until he picks up a rock.
Meanwhile, Rhaenyra and Laenor are getting acquainted on the beach. They both like each other just fine, but Rhaenyra admits that they just aren’t attracted to each other. You know, the way some people like goose, but she prefers roast duck. (Which sounds an awful lot like the “Snails or Oysters?” scene in Spartacus, the one where Olivier comes on to Tony Curtis.) It would seem that the main problem Laenor has with the wedding is not that Rhaenyra is her cousin, it’s that she’s a female cousin. (It’s just a phase, says Corlys!) Rhaenyra proposes an arrangement: they will perform their duty to each other and to the realm, and then they will each “feast” as they like since they both have some tasty snacks on the side.
Hunky Ron Weasley is thrilled! Dude, she gave you a hall pass! I’ll be your sworn protector, and we can still do all the “combat training” you like! Ser Criston much less so. The poor lad had sworn a vow of chastity, which he broke for Rhaenyra. He spent the last couple of years listening to her complain about being forced into an arranged marriage, so he assumes she’d want to run away with him, to Essos, stowing away on a cargo ship full of oranges. They could get rid of their names and titles and just be free from obligation. And Rhaenyra is like, WTF are you talking about? She just wants to keep on having some fun sex, which appalls the suddenly, extremely moralistic Criston. I will not be your whore, he exclaims! Buddy, did you think this was Downton Abbey, where the landed gentry marries the chauffeur? And I don’t know where this side of Criston came from. There has been nothing to indicate anything like this in the past weeks. Maybe there was some scene cut for time, but this is a character turn completely out of left field.
After going to bat for Rhaenyra last week, Alicent has had the poison of doubt poured into her ear by Lord Lerys, Lyonel’s lame son. (That’s a lot of L’s, GRRM.) “I hope the Princess is all right. The Grand Maester himself made her a special tea. Oh, she went on a boat this morning? Odd that.” Less sure of her virtue than before, she summons her guard to her chamber for questioning. Maybe Rhaenyra did get it on with her uncle after all…
And because Alicent is so roundabout in getting to the point (I heard a rumor… about the Princess… that she might have engaged in some… unsavory activities.) and Criston is so wracked with guilt that he immediately confesses to his dalliance with Rhaenyra. She started it, but I should have known better, so please be merciful and give me a quick death for my sins. This is not what Alicent expected, and is so shocked she dismisses him.
The king is being attended by the maesters. His arm looks terrible, withered and weak, and he is clearly feeling his mortality. He asks Lyonel if he’ll be remembered as a good king. After all, he fought no wars and made no conquests. Lyonel tells him that many would consider that extremely successful. But will anyone sing songs of me in years to come? If only, he sighs, I had an opportunity to be forged in battle, maybe it would have been different. Lyonel reminds him that many men who are tested like that wish they would have been passed over. This is a nice little scene. Lyonel is being truthful without being hurtful. Viserys would have been terrible in battle, as indecisive as he is. But who doesn’t wish things have turned out a little differently and wonder about what might have been?
At last, it’s time for the Announcement Feast. And after seven days of feasts and tournaments, there will be a royal wedding. (Viserys loves his feasts and tournaments!) However, the Queen is late. She strides into the hall in the middle of the King’s pronouncements wearing a green dress. (As the toady Laerys helpfully points out, green is the color of war in House Hightower. Again, super subtle.)
The feast begins with a courtship dance between Laener and Rhaenyra, and I have to say that this is the absolute dorkiest dance I have ever seen. And I have seen many traditional and folk dances and comedy comic dance scenes. This looks like Elaine Benes performing a mating dance for a peacock. Not since Leslie Neilsen and Pricilla Presley cut a rug in Naked Gun 2 ½ has there been such an awkward pairing. It is hilariously bad. After they finish, the rest of the court takes to the floor as dinner continues.
There is a lot going on. Ser Gerold Royce, Rhea’s cousin, straight up accuses Daemon of murdering her to get her castle. Lady Laena flirts with Daemon since he’s now single and ready to mingle. Daemon makes another play at Rhaenyra, who seems to be over him and taunts him by daring him to steal her away and take her to Dragonstone. Hunky Ron Weasley figures out that Rhaenyra is having an affair with Ser Criston from the way he is staring at her, and suggests to him that they both protect the secrets of their masters. Alicent stares daggers at the King while he gorges himself. The way this scene is cut and paced, it’s trying to make a comparison to the dancing on the floor and the intricate dances of politics and rumors on the sidelines. It would work a lot better if the dancing wasn’t so absolutely terrible.
Suddenly, a scream cuts through the court and the sounds of a fight echo through the air. Because of the crowd on the dance floor and the ensuing chaos, it’s not immediately clear who is fighting. My first thought was that it was Ser Royce, avenging his cousin. But no! The crowd parts to show Ser Criston beating the ever-loving crap out of Hunky Ron Weasley. Apparently, the newly moralistic Criston didn’t relish the idea of keeping secrets with him, so much so that he bludgeons him to death in front of the entire court. Laenor wails in grief and despair.
We immediately cut to the wedding. It’s not seven days later, but more like seven minutes. Nothing like a little murder to hasten things along! I’m sure the haste is due in part to Corlys wanting to get this done before a heartbroken Laenor can change his mind. Instead of a huge, festive celebration, it’s a family-only affair. There is still half-eaten food piled on the tables as the two families gather in front of the head table. Nothing has been cleaned away, and the young couple exchange their vows in front of dirty tables and broken chairs.
As the ceremony goes on, it cuts away to a guilt-ridden Criston about to commit seppuku in the garden, but his hand is stayed by the Queen. I imagine that she thinks a King’s Guard who knows the secrets of the future Queen will be a valuable ally in whatever schemes she has to get Aegon on the throne.
Back at the wedding, just as the High Septon pronounces them husband and wife, Viserys collapses to the ground. And as the small wedding party rushes to his aid, the camera pans over to a pool of Hunky Ron Weasley’s blood still on the floor after all the chaos. A rat scampers onto the screen and starts to lap it up. Scavengers, feasting on the throne. Like I said, not really subtle this week.
This episode really dragged for me this week. So many longing or accusing glances. So many chess pieces being moved in the grand game. And while the feast at the end was supposed to be a grand whirlwind of suspense until it exploded into violence, it just felt rather inept to me. The editing choices felt more like a parody of courtroom etiquette than anything else. It just seemed like a placeholder, despite so many actual important plot points happening.
This is a shame, since the preview for next week showed us that this is the last we see of Milly Alcock as young Rhaenyra, since we are jumping ahead a few more years. She is the heart of the show for me, and I’ll miss her. She brought both innocence and a worldliness to her part, and is a big reason why I’ve enjoyed this show overall.
RATING: 3 out of 5
WHO’S THE WORST? It’s a tough contest this week, with lots of contenders, but I think the edge goes to Daemon again. You know, after two weeks of incest and wife murder, he might just run away with this whole thing. He had a strong challenge from Criston the over-reacting, guilt-ridden, and lovesick knight
LINE OF THE WEEK:
VISERYS: Surely. Lord Corlys, you are not proposing the Targaryen dynasty end with my daughter, simply because she’s a woman? RHAENYS: (Ironic chuckle)
The Goblin Queen (the clone of Jean Grey otherwise known as Madelyne Pryor) and Chasm (Peter Parker’s clone who goes by the name Ben Reilly) team up this December to stoke an Inferno of revenge! These famously wronged clones have their sights set on Spider-Man and the X-Men.
The Dark Web saga starts in December, with series one-shots Dusk and Dawn, written by Zeb Wells, of Amazing Spider-Man fame, and art by the iconic Adam Kubert. Dark Web #1 explores the full extent of Madelyne and Ben’s heinous team-up. The resulting effect on both Spider-Man and the X-Men, and what part Venom has to play, looks… well, dark!
Afterwards, Amazing Spider-Man #15 and 16 continue the story care of Zeb Wells and artist extraordinaire Ed McGuinness. Venom kicks off the action by battling against Peter Parker. We also get answers as to why he’s working with Chasm, leading into the real contest: Peter Parker vs. Ben Reilly in a battle where neither pull any punches!
Don’t worry, we didn’t forget about your favorite mutant heroes. Dark Web: X-Men is also dropping in December, which will be a three-issue limited series from X-Men scribe Gerry Duggan, with renowned New Mutants artist Rod Reis.
In Dark Web: X-Men #1, Madelyne Pryor has taken control of Limbo, formerly the dominion of Magik, and under her rule a whole bunch of demons are visiting the Big Apple. Cyclops and Havok’s ex has returned for revenge forcing the X-Men to face their less than glorious past with the Goblin Queen! Dark Web: X-Men #2 keeps the party going and might not end the way our heroes are hoping, even with the help of friends.
“You can’t go wrong with the X-Men and their Amazing Friend, Spider-Man. Limbo is attacking NY and threatening to ruin the holidays. Come for the Inferno, stay for Rod Reis!” Duggan said in an interview with ComicBook.com.
Dark Web: Ms. Marvelsees the titular heroine step out from Amazing Spider-Man’s shadow to take on the spotlight in her own limited series.
Think you know Ms. Marvel? Well think again! Prepare to meet a brand new kick-ass Kamala brought to you by Sabir Pirzada, who has worked on Marvel’s Voices and Ms. Marvel on Disney+, with art accompanied by debut artist Francesco Mortarino.
Talk about your tough internship! Poor Kamala has only been at Oscorp for a few weeks when literally all hell breaks loose. After Madelyne and Ben’s evil interloping combines with Oscorp’s already shady experimentation the results are deadly, leaving Ms. Marvel responsible for averting disaster all by her lonesome. Our stretchy super teen is inevitably sucked into Limbo, and driven to battle her way to freedom!
“I could not be more thrilled to return to Kamala’s world after writing her in Marvel’s Voices: Identity and getting a chance to help introduce her to the small screen on Disney+,” Pirzada told Newsarama. “This time around, Kamala’s facing a new challenge: the dangers of Limbo! And a few familiar faces – friends and foes – are bound to make some surprise appearances on this adventure!”
Al Ewing, Bryan Hitch, and Ram V have had an amazing run together and Venom #14 will finally give readers some paydirt! The Goblin Queen along with her new pal Chasm, have been eyeing Eddie Brock and the symbiotes who follow his lead. This issue sees her plans come to fruition as Eddie Brock’s lingering fears from last year are about to come a terrifying head!
Norman Osborn as a hero?
Writer Christopher Cantwell and artist Lan Medina think it’s possible and keep exploring his good fight in Gold Goblin #2. It’s an interesting query where the answer just might be that…maybe it’s not for Normal after all. Dark Web #1 had him up against Chasm, but this new frightening adversary could drive Norman to call it quits on his fledgling good-guy gig!
Dark Web’s got one more power couple to play with: Mary Jane & Black Cat! Yes, two of Peter Parker’s most significant others are getting their own trip to Limbo. Jed MacKay, who has been building a better Black Cat through solo series and the limited series Iron Cat, is furthering her evolution while roping MJ in on the fun!
OK, so fun might not be the right word as MacKay and Vincenzo Carratù (making his thrilling debut as a Marvel Comics artist), will be throwing the girls into Limbo!
It’s something of a gauntlet given the two women have only recently been thrown together and each has her own secrets that will be hindering their escape potential. Mary Jane Watson isn’t her usual self, while Felicia Hardy is carrying around some unresolved guilt.
Will they be able to get their escape plan off the ground!?
And that’s all of them, whew! You can check out the Cover art and credits below.
Do you remember that alarming image from Donny Cates and Nic Klein’s smash run of Thor? You know, the one where Thanos decimated the entire Marvel Universe?
Thor remembers.
He’s been working hard to keep that from coming true. Whether or not the God of Thunder can stop it, remains a mystery. One that’ll only be resolved when The Legacy of Thanos arrives this December.
Penned by guest writer Torunn Grønbekk, along with returning artist Nic Klein, the story will focus on Thor and Valkyrie Rúna. The tale will detail secrets about Thanos’ dark yet strange connection to Asgard. It will come directly out of Thanos: Death Notes, an oversized Thanos one-shot that drops in November which is about the surprising revelation of a seventh infinity stone. This upcoming run will also effectively set the stage for Cates and Klein’s Thanos takeover.
In Thor #29, Thor’s baby sister Laussa has been kidnapped by, Thanos. The despicable fiend has taken her beyond what even Sif’s All-Sight can detect, forcing the God of Thunder to enlist the aid of the Valkyrie, Rúna in order to find and rescue her. And though Rúna is well acquainted with the unknown, together, they must dive so deep into Hel’s frozen depths that the truths regarding the untold horrors from Asgard’s violent past make rock their very foundations.
“There is something incredibly inventive and bold about Donny and Nic’s Thor, and it’s been an absolute delight to guest-write a story for this run,” Grønbekk said in a press release from Marvel. “It’s turning out to be just the kind of thing I love – big swings, solid character moments and deeply human solutions. Also, Nic is impossibly good. There is a special kind of joy to see his pages come together. I don’t think I’ve ever had this much fun making comics!”
Sometimes you don’t need an Ouija to raise old ghosts and serenade new demons.
Sometimes it takes a good bank account and even better angels…
Season 4 Episode 2 Recap
We open up on an EMT passing an older, worse-for-wear woman (Brooke Bloom) with her dog Gizmo. Inside her abode, she spies on him getting undressed.
It’s creepy. But it matters none as her laptop pings.
It’s Gordon Rosenbaum, Literary Agent to the Eastern Seaboard. The email informs her he’s read her manuscript and is interested in further discussions. She’s at a loss for words.
Elsewhere, Japanese Breakfast playing dreamily in Earn’s (Donald Glover) car is interrupted by a call from Al who needs the info for his Gamertag login. It’s back from middle school, so though laughable to Alfred, it’s ‘Mulan’. Although Earn could roast his cousin for it, it’s Al who’s doing the roasting.
Earn’s on his way to therapy. Clearly, to Paperboi, taking a mature stance on mental health is nothing but throwing his manager’s 15% away (We need to de-stigmatize, not pathologize, people)!
Earn’s curt answers and crossed arms glaringly show a distance between him and help from Tillman (Sullivan Jones), his therapist. He claims that he’s fine with the probation ending and with his alma mater Princeton inviting him to speak, but keeping his phone’s sounds on distracts from the initial check-in of the session.
Clearly, Earnest is frustrated though. His doctor is telling him he’s having heart troubles and that he should ‘have his head checked’ but when asked to give up the phone, Earn merely pockets it with the body language of someone who is on the defensive.
Though his doctors claim he’s in good health and thinks Earn’s lying about his symptoms, my guy went for a second opinion, being hooked up for the weekend like “Alita: Battle Angel”, strapped with not a sword but rather an EKG.
They conjecture depression, panic attacks, and anxiety. It can be the cause of his symptoms and Tillman wants to get to the bottom of it. Earn swears none of it makes any sense, as he’s now extremely successful, now taking on even more clients. His therapist asks how family life is and the pauses speak louder than their silence.
Earn’s redecorating the condo, which is interesting because he’s moving out of GA for L.A., where he’s wanted as a Creative Consultant. It’s only when Tillman asks about the distance between him and Lottie if Van (whom he’s yet to tell) decides not to go that he feels the tightness in his chest and proceeds to lie down.
Liza proceeds into the literary agency coming across Gordon’s assistant… a full-haired and buttoned-up Tracy (Khris Davis). Maybe the guy’s foul but honest ways changed him since literally being left out in the cold at the end of season 2!
Being called up in boisterous Tracy fashion, Liza proceeds into Gordon’s office. Before anything could really get off the ground, Gordon (Keith Flippen) simply admits to having read a simple sample of her book online.
He still wants to find her a publisher.
Things like this don’t happen, but Gordon is a fast talker with an even busier schedule, so though she doesn’t have any illustrations, he will find her an illustrator she can commission.
He recommends she get a stylist as well, as he’ll set up a reading at a public library for the inner city youth. At that reading, he’ll also arrange for a publishing legend to scout her there. She won’t be able to miss her, as the magnate will be wearing a hat.
Before Liza can ask any questions or get a word in edgewise, she’s already got an agent. Yeah, she must be living in some movie or something because this is too good to be true for any author.
At therapy, Tillman queries Earn, now on his feet who he trusts. His long answer leads to his short one: Darius.
Earn, deflecting queries Tillman about things around his office, like a box containing a keyboard and though he requests a demo, Tillman tries to get back on track, telling him maybe later.
Earn’s mannerisms are now more lively and anxious. He divulges that he turned down the opportunity to speak at Princeton, but demanded an honorary degree. In fact, he’s glad he didn’t stay at the school.
The resentment he harbors for the university goes deep and with good cause.
He met a fellow RA, Sasha, and they became close. When a job interview popped up, he attempted to scrounge up some money for a suit.
A party opportunity presented itself from his crush and with his RA (best)friend Sasha overhearing, she agreed to hold the suit for him in her room so he can go seamlessly from the party to the interview.
So he went to the party and when it was time to collect on her promise, he was ghosted. When he finally got a hold of her, she simply brushed him off as being busy.
With the interview hours away, he made the last ditch effort and used his master key to get his gear from her room. Before you know it, Sasha went to the dean and it went escalated from suspension to talks of expulsion with ‘rapist syntax’ like “intruder” and “personal assault” being bandied about.
Yes, Sasha was white.
Being one of the few black students at the school, he felt scared. He also felt angry. Most of all, he felt betrayed because he and Sasha were supposed to be friends. He put his complete and utter trust in someone and they failed him in a major way.
This all comes back to a “member of the family” who abused him, bringing Earn to tears. A breakthrough has been achieved, and though Tillman offers him tissues, Earn swears he’s good (As someone in therapy now, there have been times I’ve been brought to near tears. It’s a fucking stupid social construct that men aren’t supposed to cry. They are supposed to internalize and suck it up. I’ve still yet to break down in front of my therapist and we’ve been seeing each other for nearly 10 years. That day will come, I’m sure).
After that, he and Sasha ceased communication. The only thing that Earnest took from it was to vow to be better than the place and people that didn’t believe him. Spite gave him courage.
Tillman understands spite as a powerful weapon, one that could do beautiful damage, but one that could ultimately have its dispatcher feeling depressed and empty, like “a book someone else wrote for you.”
In essence, he’d be denying Princeton because of Sasha, not the university itself.
Liza and her friend Becca (Helen Abell) meet up for lunch. Lisa has some great news for her bestie. She’s quit her job. She’s found an agent. Her friend, though happy is flabbergasted, though not exactly ecstatic. Her friend is worried Liza will ask for another 500 bones. This has Liza feeling betrayed.
Hurt, she demands her friend tell her she likes her writing. At the next therapy session, Earn is ready to chat, already moving the coffee table over for his typical laying down spot. In fact, Tillman got him a gift: a floor pillow since he’s more comfortable on the ground than not.
Earn opens up about really embracing the heart-to-heart they had the last session and feels a lot more willing to let go of the pain and anguish because internalizing it is of no productivity. Nevertheless, he still isn’t going to go to the speaking engagement, as all roadblocks were in place.
Figuring he would take Van and Lottie and afterward, take Lottie to Sesame Place, it would be a win-win.
However, with the debacle at the airport, from a white woman at the gate denying him passage because of the state of his passport to finally finding another black lady that would put them through only to be stopped by TSA (probably tipped off by the white power chick at the front desk) to Van crying, he figured it was never meant to be.
In fact, he remembered what he and Tillman spake about spite. He realizes the anxiousness and anger will just bury him deeper, so he’s learning to let go.
Tillman is thoroughly impressed. This is when Earn asks for some time off of the sessions. He wants to take the tools he’s learned and put them into application in the real world.
I’ve been there. I haven’t exactly been on a straight 10 years with my therapist. I’ve taken a few years off, wanting to utilize what I’ve learned to do better, to get better… I also never got a floor pillow though and never got to keep it either.
Sauntering into the public library, all gussied up with Gizmo in tow, Liza approaches the front desk and despite her protestations for the dog to be with her and a note from the FAA designating she can have it by her side, the librarian (Schelle Purcell) ain’t havin’ it.
Storytime is here. A group of black youths is gathered around, the cameras are on her and the publishing legend has now just arrived. Oh yes, that is Roseanne Barr you see. Author Liza Mann proceeds to read The Homeliest Little Horse.
It starts out well, but the little kids start roasting her story and the titular horse itself. The kids then point out the horses farting, though it’s just the smoke… maybe from the fire that is having her going down. The kids know that the story blows and soon leave her with only the cameras as her audience. She attempts to finish her story with poise, but her failure is out on the front stage, in-full, horrible colorful page.
Her last sad visage is now being played on multiple screens in a bar.
Earn’s making contacts, handing out cheese like Nino Brown and Darius (LaKeith Stanfield) along with Al (Brian Tyree Henry) are confused as to the occasion.
Why it’s a wrap party!
Ya boy had basically hired all actors, Tracy included to ruin Liza’s life, effectively having her drain her bank account to accomplish a dream that was hers she tried because she wrested it from a family just trying to get to fucking Sesame Place. Tracy though is scared of Earn for once because of his mind. Al actually isn’t too jazzed either.
Even Darius, who is the stalwart of them all, though impressed, labels it as possible ‘terrorism’. As Rick James’ “Cold Blooded” floods the speakers, Earn sips his drink and agrees he might need to go back to therapy. He is the Homeliest Little Horse.
Season 4 Episode 2 Takeaway
This episode caught me off guard for a few reasons. Though not a bottle episode, it mainly takes place in a sacred space.
This is a place where we pay to only have intimate thoughts divulged and purged, a place for self-reflection and discovery. It takes us to our deeper recesses where we might only speak to people with licenses and have this discussion without us thinking us flown over a nest.
It’s brave and it’s bold and it’s only somewhere where this show would always go.