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Space Force Episode 8 Review – “Conjugal Visit”

By
Robert Kijowski
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0

Sometimes, when reality throws you a nice loop, it’s to hang yourself. Oppositely, when reality throws you a loop, it’s to improve yourself.

Episode 1 – “The Launch”

Episode 2 – “Save Epsilon 6!”

Episode 3 – “Mark and Mallory Go to Washington”

Episode 4 – “Lunar Habitat”

Episode 5 – “Space Flag”

Episode 6 – “The Spy”

Episode 7 – “Edison Jaymes”

Though I’ve never been in a bid for a nickel, a dime, or a quarter except for Poker when I used to play as a kid… this is a different type of bid. One where you cannot get out of, no matter how many coins you can throw at it (which is a bail.) On this eight episode of Space Force title “Conjugal Visit”, we’ll realize there are some things that money, or even more costly, cannot buy.

We begin with Dr. Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich) reviewing with Dr. Chan (Jimmy O. Yang) as General Laird (Steve Carell) pumps his biceps. This assuredly isn’t helping other than onanism, which we all know a certain Prez knows how to do, by sadly through now help of Fuck Tony (Ben Schwartz).

General Naird is not about to let themselves be derailed by this fuckery and instead of above,his actual Aide-de-camp go on his instinct because the conjugal visit was rescheduled and heaven forbid this guy doesn’t get his nut while all the base is primed to overtake for something bigger. Honestly? Love et, uber-alles.

Though Dr. Chan is going to Denver as well (where his General is about to get his fuck on), Mark assigns Captain Ali (Tawny Newsome) to escort the guy on a ROAD TRIP. It’s because everybody but his staff that knows is acutely aware of his mission… except his daughter, Erin (Diana Silvers).

As Fuck Tony tries to narrow down the list of suspects on a corkboard like some type of fucking crackpot to Brad Gregory (Don Lake) and Dr. Mallory and though Gabe Ely was a potential to peg out, he wanted too much money and after a series of fuck you’s, he’s out of the running.

That leaves the trio with much to talk about but not before Mark and Erin take the heli to what is basically to get his nut off. Plus, after a few explanations through the din of winding down helicopter blades and disgust upon his daughter, they go their separate ways within the confines of… well, confines.

Speaking of confines, a conjugal visit is typically in a trailer gussied up like a nice room. Hey, it ain’t no fucking Bellagio! This is jail and you take what comfort you can afford… which in this case means it’s basically a living room with a bed… a trailer.

As Chan Kaifang’s SUV cruises down the road in his Chevy with Angela Ali, they find common ground in music choice. K-pop is always a common ground! Though he’s not Korean himself, Chan and Angela find super common ground through much more than that.

Their General is waiting though, rife with nerves until two knocks meet the door, and as he said ‘two bumps’ his wife Maggie (Lisa Kudrow) comes in and they embrace. It’s a very cute moment, as these are two people that seem in love still, after all that time.

Just as that moment which led to their undressing, Mark goes on a strategy which is his Military brain. Strategy, the operative word.

Their interaction is anything but sexy and more of a task. Even kissing is uncomfortable to watch, and that should be THE TOTAL LEAD IN! That would get anybody horny, right? Nope, not the audience?

Clearly, the disconnect underlines something way more significant… but as either tries to get their groove back, Erin explores the courtyard of the prison. The funny this is she finally finds friends in a group that knows her mother on the other side of the fence.

They may seem menacing at first, being more inside than the outside, Erin wants to know more about them and her mother as she’s not had a full family in a while. This dialogue might complete it, at least through stories while running with them through their free time.

Elsewhere in the free world, Chan is trying to guide Angela through Blind Glasses, which sticks them both together more intimately. At least they are cuter than…

Mark and Maggie, in contrast, sit on the bed, starkly and silently, fully clothed. They seem like two sexless muppets and technically, they are.

Meanwhile, though the Braintrust of Fuck Tony, Dale, and Adrian are running over thoughts that may run them into ruination or sprint them into the spirit, Adrian is freaking out. Nevermind the catastrophe of a well-respected, genius person… This is Space Force on the line! Brad may have an answer though.

Going the whole hog on their love of K-Pop, they cruise on down the road, both the couple, yeah, I said it, couple of Angela and Chan and though Angela cannot see through her Government provided Blinders, she can sense his movements, like Daredevil. She cares not, because she’s having a good time and goes with him on that.

Back at the prison, Erin outruns the other three on the other side out. She’s deserved an explanation and it’s all about respect, so he gets it that her mother’s inmates respect.

As always though, sometimes visits aren’t welcomed… at least with the same outcome.

This means that Mark thinks his life is still in love with him, but rather, in fact, the present speaks to the future. This means being in an open relationship while he’s on the outside and she’s on the inside while quoting the Airforce handbook. She’s found somebody and he’s not it.

It’s complicated and that should be the answer. Maggie’s not gay, but she’s not straight and to be in the clink for 40 years isn’t making it easier. For someone like Mark, it’s hard for him to accept.

Though Mark asks her just for a divorce at that point, Maggie states what is evident in all marriages behind bars. It’s about love and truth, especially if you have a kid. Mark actually embracing her and kissing her on the neck shows maturation and dismissing his pigheaded claims. Love is love.

As Angela and Chan also figure out what is Fullmetal Alchemist and the Brotherhood series, they are so fucking cute together! Their banter is beautiful, actually some of best to come out of this show.

Back in the ‘bunker’ after a great sex session, Mark wants to end her seeing another person, but Maggie doesn’t see it that way. He doesn’t want to ‘cheat’ on her, but he feels that he would be. Duty means loyalty and defection is punishable by death… of the corpus or by the soul. In his case, by the soul. She’s giving him a pass… because Erin isn’t in the business of that.

Once Erin gives the trio a run for their money, the only thing that’s said by the lead Prisoner (Nicole J. Butler) is running is freedom. This gives Erin pause, outside of catching her breath. So Erin runs more and more until it gives her happiness (since she quit track because of the move.)

Back in their Love Suite, Maggie shows Mark that being faithful is enough, but happiness is Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness. Mark swore to being patriotic and that’s the most he can do for his wife. He agrees.

Dr. Mallory tells that in only three days’ time, they are about to embark on one of the most expansive, expensive and patriotic things the space crew can do. Go to the moon. There’s only one problem… it’s only Phella Bat (Aparna Nancherla) and Eddie (Chris Gethard). These are played well by both of my favorite comics the idiots on the flight, but they ask decent questions.

As Mark and Maggie depart their separate but richer ways, they see why they came together in the first place: Love… or their ‘love’ left in the first place, Erin, which her dad left behind in a morose state on his helicopter to the tune of “Daydream Believer.”

At the first viewing of this, I thought I would write it off as a simple building up to a finale, but on the second viewing, it truly hit home.

There are some relationships you can’t repair and have to repair before you can get to your goal. Sometimes, self-reflection comes from your better angels.

We’re rounding out the next two episodes and though I’m feeling happy to take on something that’s taken me this long to pen, through ‘uughh’ feeling because I wasn’t a fan the whole season, I may not be reviewing the next, since they were renewed… but this episode made me stand up to the relationships I may or may never had.

I give it 5 bars… sorry, Stars.

‘Banana Tail and The Checkerboard Jungle’ Review 

By
Christian Angeles
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0
banana tail

Comic veteran Mark McKenna delivers a fun children’s book about overcoming bullying, friendship, and of course, a Banana-tailed monkey.

Comic’s veteran Mark McKenna is no stranger to the industry, as we learned last March when we got to speak with Mark about his upcoming Banana Tail picture book. A long-time comic book veteran of 35 years, Mark has worked on over 600 different comics published in both Marvel and DC. But in the past few years, Mark has taken to crowdfunding his own indie productions. 

This newest release, aptly titled Banana Tail and the Checkerboard Jungle is the third book in Mark’s Banana Tail series. Artful stories about an adorable Banana-tailed monkey, his friends, and their adventures on Oops-N-Ouch island. In this little bananas bonanza, we get to hear the origin story of how Banana Tail met one of his best friends, the black-and-white plaid Zebra, Tic Tac. All in 33 wonderful pages, penciled in by Guardians of The Galaxy artist, Kevin West, and gloriously colored by artist Kate Finnegan.

Now, as someone who reads many children’s books (as I often read to my three-year-old nephew), I must admit The Checkerboard Jungle delivers eye candy on every page. It’s great for children, as it has plenty of pictures, scenescapes, and animals for them to check out, and in this one, also features a surprisingly large amount of action. Something which Mark’s art executes rather well on. Likewise, the book is also very colorful, with snapping attention to its jungle scenery, which makes it both vibrantly pop and stand out. 

As a recounted adventure story, The Checkerboard Jungle sees Banana Tail enter some unfamiliar territory, as he consistently has to avoid two meanie jungle bullies, Snap the Alligator, and Snare the Snake. In the process, Banana Tail meets Tic Tac the Zebra, who aids him on his quest to find a way to return back to his home to the Monkeekee tree. All while meeting a series of different animals along the way. It’s an easy read for children of all ages and a fun story about friendship, with a nice little payoff towards the end. 

You can purchase a copy of Banana Tail here.

 

Animaniacs Review 

By
Christian Angeles
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1
animaniacs
Animaniacs -- They’re back! The Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and the Warner sister Dot, have a great time wreaking havoc and mayhem in the lives of everyone they meet.  After returning to their beloved home, the Warner Bros. water tower, the siblings waste no time in causing chaos and comic confusion as they run loose through the studio, turning the world into their personal playground. Joining Yakko, Wakko and Dot, fan-favorite characters Pinky and the Brain also return to continue their quest for world domination. (Photo Courtesy of Courtesy Amblin Television/Warner Bros. Animation)

What’s zanier beyond the max? Because Animaniacs gets to that level of zany in this reboot. 

Back causing havoc across the Warner studio lot, the epic return of the Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and, of course, the Warner sister, Dot, is nothing shy of fantastic. A fun tribute to childhood and the 90’s nostalgia of the original series, all while still feeling oddly modern. In regards to this season’s creative use of both animation and song, wacky and memorable pieces prod and poke fun at how both pop culture and technology have evolved throughout the decades. 

Executive produced by Steven Spielberg, Animaniacs was a major hit during the 90’s animation boom. A show that defied expectations by popularizing the use of meta-comedy, a brand of humor which coincided with search engines and the rise of the internet age. What’s fantastic about this season is just how much the show acknowledges this trend. It pivots straight into this hyper-nostalgic joyride that was always Animaniac’s sugar-rush brand of comedy, while also celebrating what it’s missed out on in the past decades. Mostly through song. And especially in the pilot episode.

So if you like stuff like this. Expect a lot more.

 

What’s Back?

Animaniacs — They’re back! The Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and the Warner sister Dot, have a great time wreaking havoc and mayhem in the lives of everyone they meet.  After returning to their beloved home, the Warner Bros. water tower, the siblings waste no time in causing chaos and comic confusion as they run loose through the studio, turning the world into their personal playground. Joining Yakko, Wakko and Dot, fan-favorite characters Pinky and the Brain also return to continue their quest for world domination. (Photo Courtesy of Courtesy Amblin Television/Warner Bros. Animation)

Well, for starters, the main cast is all back. All the original voice actors, such as Rob Paulsen (Yakko/Pinky), Tress MacNeille (Dot), Jess Harnell (Wakko), and Maurice LaMarche (The Brain) deliver performances that are superb and really embrace the best of what they used to do with these characters. Likewise, The Warner siblings, Ralph the guard, and Pinky and The Brain all make returns to the lot and Acme labs. 

In addition, there is also a new Warner CEO, a woman no less, which the show emphasizes strongly. She’s less the business villain of the 90’s corporate executive and more of a Hollywood 2020’s awful corporate executive type. One that’s full of know-it-all trends, the importance of multi-tasking, anti-refined sugar and dietary strict, and of course, has the cutthroat business executive mentality.

Sadly, there’s no Slappy Squirrel, Buttons, Mindy, or even Goodfeathers parody pigeons. Animaniacs has definitely become tighter in concept than it used to be and is seemingly more focused on the Warners and then Pinky and the Brain, with the occasional original sketch afterwards that either bring backs the Warners for a semi-conclusive take-home message or introduces an entirely new sketch for parody entirely. Though fret not, because for all the elements it does brings back, it does so with great hilarity that likewise embraces the times. 

Probably the best example of this is Pinky and the Brain. The Brain plays doctor Frankenstein quite a bit this season, creating his own, in the most non-spoiler way possible, types of ‘monsters’. Though it’s obvious he’s seeking a family, or maybe even another friend beyond Pinky (who is also more self-aware thanks to 22 years of therapy). In strange ways, Pinky and The Brain begin to do things this season to pepper funny little accompaniments that unintentionally grow their characters as they continue their various attempts to try and take over the world. It’s a storytelling move that very much embraces the times by commenting on how much power we as a society give into things. We, as a people living in a new globalized world, have changed. Giving priorities to things such as political divisiveness and ‘instagratification’ celebrity (And yes, that’s a joke about Instagram). 

 

Okay, So What’s different?

Well, much like Futurama and its return to Comedy Central after its long seven-year hiatus, Animaniacs modernizes itself by poking fun about what’s changed. The show playing up the elephant in the room by having characters from 20 years ago learn and embrace the things we care about now. Things like smartphones, drone usage, social media, self-celebrity, and YouTube culture. Things that, from the lens of the past, all look semi-ridiculous as to what we’ve become. With 20 years of material to poke and prod at, this season of Animaniacs is more meta than ever before and is not abashed at being tongue-in-cheek about its own selling out via its own embracing reboot culture. 

Though the best bits this season are actually in how it looks at and handles our modern political landscapes. Which is why I’m a tad disappointed the show didn’t release closer to election day. Animaniacs does an oddly fantastic job of taking jabs against the Trump-supporting right., which makes sense, given that the series was created and played out through the Clinton administration era. A time where politics was less severely polarized and sensibility and truth was, for lack of a better acknowledgment, still sensible. What’s impressive is that this season was written circa 2018. A surprising reveal once you watch this season because the things Animaniacs touches upon feels a little too close to our current situation now. How you may ask? Well, without any spoilers, I’ll just say there’s a lot of witty allegorical parody of the gun-totting Russian puppet type of Americans. There’s even a strong episode about the necessity of ‘bun’ control. Though, in this case, it’s about an overpopulation of bunnies.

 

Style

Animaniacs — They’re back! The Warner brothers, Yakko and Wakko, and the Warner sister Dot, have a great time wreaking havoc and mayhem in the lives of everyone they meet.  After returning to their beloved home, the Warner Bros. water tower, the siblings waste no time in causing chaos and comic confusion as they run loose through the studio, turning the world into their personal playground. Joining Yakko, Wakko and Dot, fan-favorite characters Pinky and the Brain also return to continue their quest for world domination. (Photo Courtesy of Courtesy Amblin Television/Warner Bros. Animation)

The animation this season is vibrant. A modern digitalization while still holding true to that cartoony looney tunes flair. Atop of this, there’s a lot of themed episodes where the art changes. An entire parody episode dedicated to delivering hard jabs against Russia and Vladimir Putin. There’s even an epic anime-styled homage. Like the cuteness themes of the Lego movie? There’s that too. The animation is also more creative than ever before, surpassed only, in ingenuity, by the series’ excellent musical numbers. Pieces that have powerful yet also silly messages about how much has changed in twenty years.

Personally, the only example I have of an animated comedy making the time skip in its return is again, Futurama, a series which did very well because of its looser censorship on cable and its embracing of the current climate. Animaniacs does very much of the same in technique, but where it really stands out is that it never breaks bank. It stays in its genre as a child comedy while still feeling semi-adult. Whereas Futurama did things on the edge to sort of embracing its return, Animaniacs feels like a show that fits for kids of this generation and really nails that gap most series struggle to find between old gen and new. Likewise, If you liked the series Adventuretime, I think Animaniacs does something similar in that it touches on very adult themes while somehow feeling childlike.

 

Should you watch Animaniacs?

A resounding yes, I haven’t enjoyed a reboot this much since Futurama. It’s Adventure Time level of comedy with funny musical pieces, brilliant meta-comedy writing, and a lot of genius takes about our current times. There’s also the promise of Season Two, which if you’ll watch this season, is promised by Dot herself to feature an episode dedicated to drinking too much coffee, ruining a sweet 16, and somehow doing an Oliver Twist parody. 

The Mandalorian: “Chapter 11: The Heiress” Reflection

By
Bassam Kaado
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0

In the third episode of season 2 of The Mandalorian, Mando and the Child step in the right direction. Unfortunately for them, the ride is still a bumpy one.


Fridays have become so exciting for me with the return of Disney+’s The Mandalorian, and this week’s episode “Chapter 11: The Heiress” did not disappoint. Directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who returns again after her first episode in Season 1, we get a chapter that delivers on the action, gives us a nice look into the Star Wars lore, and a little bit of Baby Yoda here and there to satisfy the savage legions of The Child Crew (brothers and sisters, rejoice).

Now on Trask, the Frog Lady (on-set performer Misty Rosas, voice by Dee Bradley Baker), a fan favorite, has finally reunited with her husband! The two are adorable, and the episode gives us plenty of moments between the two that plays on the heart strings. It shows how much emotion can be displayed with little to no dialogue, which is thanks to Frog Lady’s actors. Mr. Frog keeps his word and gives the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) a lead to go on for finding his fellow Mandalorians. He boards a fishing ship that’s supposed to bring him to the Mandos, but he and the Child end up being on the bad end of a trap. There were some troubling moments where I feared for the life of Din, and, more important, Baby Yoda. Poor munchkin. Luckily for them, they are saved by a trio of  . . . Mandalorians! 

Finally, success for our Clan of Two, but the Mandalorians aren’t what he expected. Following his meeting of the Marshal, Din fears he’s come to another dead end, but the trio ARE Mandalorians, just different. A fun side note, one of the Mandalorians is played by WWE superstar, Sasha Banks. She does a great job and kicks ass. My worlds collide!

The trio, led by Bo-Katan Kryze, are a different type of Mandalorians that don’t follow the same strict creed that Din does. This meeting, whether you believe the Mando Three, is an excellent way to quell the fans’ concerns about the inconsistency of Mandalorian portrayals. In other Star Wars content, including the famous The Clone Wars series, Mandalorians are shown to be able to take off their helmets in front of others. The show here explains this difference by saying that Djin’s group of Mandalorians are a religious sect, The Watch, that are more strict and want to preserve the ancient way.

Bo-Katan talks with the Mandalorian and makes a deal: if Djin helps the Mando Three steal weapons from an Imperial freighter, she will give him information to find a Jedi. This scene was interesting to me because, when the Mandalorian was told to bring the Child back to his kind, I always thought the implication was to find people of his race, not Jedis specifically. Also, Bo-Katan has some shady intentions. 

Before the big mission, the Mandalorian askes the Frogs to look after the Child, who is given a warning to “behave.” We all know what that means. Also, another side note here: I understand there was some backlash to the Child’s eating habits last episode. We were all okay with him eating a frog in season 1, but now that we know the parent, it’s a big deal. The Child is still a very young alien (age is relative) and it was played for comedy. Come on, y’all. Do better. 

Anywho, the band of Mandos make their way on the freighter and work their way through the group of Stormtroopers and Imperial members. After boarding the ship, the Mandos are able to get to the cargo bay. There, Bo-Katan reveals that their main objective is to not just get the weapons but to also capture the ship. It is a part of her mission to reconquer Mandalore, which she believes is her right to rule. This is really cool that the show is diving into the Expanded Universe (Now called Legends, blah) and pulling these backstories back to the forefront. The Manadalorian doesn’t appreciate the changing of the deal terms, but he is forced to help to get the information.

Once the Imperial captain has a brief convo with Bo-Katan over a comlink, he realizes that the Mandos want the ship. He contacts his superior, Moff Gideon, the return!! The Moff gives his order, and the ship’s captain plans to crash the ship. The Mandos fight their way towards the cockpit and finally make it there, due to Din’s badass efforts. 

The efforts to crash the ship are thwarted by the Mandos, and Bo-Katan interrogates the captain for the whereabouts of the Darksaber, finally addressing the ending of last season’s finale. The captain commits suicide, and the Mando Three have their ship. To honor the deal,. Bo-Katan holds up her end of the bargain with information: the Jedi Ahsoka Tano resides in the city of Calodan on the planet of Corvus. The Mandalorian refuses the offer to join their ranks and goes to pick up his kid from daycare. With the ship in okay working condition, the two return on their journey. 

What I really loved about this episode is the plethora of Mandalorian action. We already know that Din was a badass, but seeing the Mando Three get some action was awesome. It also helps give a diverse look to the Mandalorians, with a mixture of colors and armor style. It’s so much fun watching them.

I am also SUPER excited for Ahsoka Tano to make her series debut. A minor character that built up fanfare through shows like The Clone Wars, fans have been waiting for her to appear in live-action form. Even better, she will be played by living goddess, Rosario Dawson. 

Some much to look forward to, and I’m counting down the days till Friday.

I have spoken. 

Space Force Episode 7 Review – “Edison Jaymes”

By
Robert Kijowski
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0
SPACE FORCE (L TO R) KAITLIN OLSON as EDISON JAYMES in episode 107 of SPACE FORCE Cr. AARON EPSTEIN/NETFLIX © 2020

When you hear the name Edison, what do you think of? Does it illuminate your mind with thoughts of perseverance? Does it spark up your interest in invention? Does it sound like espionage and duplicity? On the seventh episode of Space Force (Netflix) titled “Edison Jaymes”, we see that sometimes view things as a flash in the night… not a flash in the pan.

With still no plug on the leak that was sprung to India in the last episode, General Mark Naird (Steve Carell) the POTUS as a penance wants Space Force to pair with private industry to fuel the Lunar satellite launch. This big cog in the machine is none other than Elon Musk proxy Edison Jaymes (Kaitlin Olson) much to the delight of Dr. Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich) and to the worriment of Fuck Tony (Ben Schwartz), as Edison’s PR person, Hannah Howard (Janina Gavankar) who got him fired from American Apparel by leaking his text messages.

Meeting Edison face-to-face, Mark is thrown for a loop. Power blazer, power stance, power product, Edison cuts to the chase without any waste, just like her product which makes their rocket burn more cleanly. Though Mark isn’t used to a woman CEO being this curt, Adrian is unequivocally “stanning” in her presence.

Elsewhere on base, Mark’s daughter Erin (Diana Silvers) is homesick, though her Grandpa Fred (Fred Willard) assures her that during those formative teenage years, friendships are as easily remembered as they are forgotten… and just like that, they are as Edison Jaymes’ Mercedes Maybach rolls in. I mean, curiosity trumps any long-lasting friendships, right?

Admiring the luxe ebony interior, teenage knuckleheadedness doesn’t go out of style, as Erin catapults her ice cream cone all over due to Duncan Tabner (Spencer House) spooking her by knocking on the window. What always never goes out of style for curious teens? Bolting when getting in a sticky situation.

Back inside, Adrian tries to impress Edison with his newest endeavor for resisting pathogens in space, but she asserts her team can do it in half the time and with a quarter of the resources. Adrian’s a little cut short, but a mere few feet away, Fuck Tony’s being verbally judo chopped down by Hannah, handing out NDA’s. I think he may be in love (Oh, he’s the type that would dig that.)

Meanwhile, Captain Angela Ali (Tawny Newsome) approaches Dr. Chan Kaifang (Jimmy O. Yang), requesting him to teach her Astro-botany. Apparently, the stoic Chan can be persuaded by $50 an hour.

While Mark flaunts his trophies, Edison butters him up by stroking his ‘innovative’ ego. The tech-wizard wants to hear Mark’s thoughts and certainly won’t take no for an answer. He proceeds to relay this very interesting idea of human-to-human international interaction via cybernetic handshakes. She seems receptive enough to not be giving him straight lip-service, but as one cog in the machine, you can see the other cogs spinning in her head. With a kind word and a handshake, Mark’s been turned.

Reeling over her soft-serve spillage in something worth more than three of her lifetimes, Erin tries to align stories with Duncan. Her story generation, however, does not compute with Duncan as he’s bereft of the ability to visualize. Imagination isn’t Duncan’s strong suit, but I think it a little gauche for the resident country bumpkin to suffer from Aphantasia just to give him more personal agency.

Edison and the crew tour the Space Force grounds, she all to a demonstration of her “Skinny Fuel”, a self-sustaining rosé colored rocket fuel that costs and weighs less in addition to running cleaner to any in existence. Adrian inquires about the molecular structure, as NASA had been trying to concoct one for years to no avail. This trade secret Miss Jaymes won’t budge on, but through a simple gas grill, demonstrates. The crowd seems impressed, but something’s biting at Adrian’s ankles.

He simply is put off by her lack of sharing its composition, but Mark is a visual man. He’s impressed by the sausage, not what lies in the casing. Mark also dismisses Adrian’s concerns as mere jealousy. Jealousy as in that because Mark is smart for being on board with her, she must be dumb. It seems Edison’s buttering up Mark like an English Muffin had sunk into his “nooks and crannies.” Wait, ew… but the metaphor works. Kind of. Well, now that Adrian’s out for the day, Edison has the rest of hers to spend with Mark.

Already late for their session, Dr. Chan finds out why Captain Ali wants this tutelage of botany: for her Astronaut Aptitude Test. She wants to be one and her tutor does get a few digs in, though she is serious. I sense some chemistry going on here. Only that amount of playful haranguing can belie romantic feelings.

As Edison is shopping for Mark’s dapper do’her’well for his next hopefully conjugal visit, operating on a now all too well algorithm, he’s not too keen on the look. Edison knows how with the slip of her silver tongue play to his strengths and make the tiger come emerge?

Meanwhile, as Hannah is tweeting her ass off and Fuck Tony is jealous for her client. As she so eloquently says, “She’s doing Bonobos meets Blue Apron” as well as the rocket fuel- she has like a hundred projects running because “if one thing works, no one remembers a failure.” Operative word: IF.

Back at learning-lab aka lunchtime, Captain Ali clashes with Chan on the machinations of biology. As she asks for a snack break, the romantic tension only grows pricklier, like an aloe vera plant… The key to its soothing properties is that you have to shave it down to get to its soothing point…

Before Mark, Adrian and Edison see the rocket’s inaugural test launch, Fuck Tony defuses the situation. He’s got hot goss from Hannah from a simple inflection. ‘Yeh.’ That’s enough to have Mark and Adrian going on a little excursion.

Once Erin and Duncan’s little walkabout the base has concluded to her with shaking hands, there is one thing we realize Duncan is truly talented at… being charming with being himself and trying… soo hard. I mean, with a face and a body like that, how could you not compare him to the Trent of Daria’s?

In mission control, all hands are on deck and both Edison and Hannah are on tenterhooks. Lift off!

The only thing is that Mark didn’t use any Skinny Fuel. She looked at things with rosé colored glasses while Mark and his team looked at them with coke bottled ones. This was her failure but as Edison said, “for every failure, there is a success… or at least it’s off the books for this one, boys!”

Once all pictures are taken and secrets are buried, Adrian gets his digs into Edison, Hannah gets her lips on F. Tony and Mark gets aide du camp back for a final sartorial say before his big day… but like all good endings, there is a bad one.

It turns out though the satellite has successfully landed on the moon, another did as well… well, a Chinese base had. Slightly bigger than a bread box and slightly smaller than NOTHING.

Nothing they can’t solve… right?

The Mandalorian: “Chapter 10: The Passenger” Reflection

By
Bassam Kaado
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0
Mandalorian and the Child in front of the damaged Razor Crest on an ice planet.
Credit; Disney+

With the second entry in Season 2, the Mandalorian’s journey takes a bumping turn as the Razor Crest gets precious cargo. 

 

Warning: Your ship’s ping states there are spoilers on board.

This season of The Mandalorian has been knocking it out of the park, with a tense episode in Chapter 10, “The Passenger,” directed by Ant Man‘s Peyton Reed.

After an unfruitful trip to Tatooine, the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) has another lead on one of his fellow Mandalorians. The catch is that he has to provide transport for a passenger, the Frog Lady (on-set performer Misty Rosas, voice by Dee Bradley Baker), and her container of eggs. She wants passage to a moon called Trask, where her husband has fled to in order to give his family a better life. When she is there, he will fertilize her eggs. The trip is dangerous because her spawn are fragile, requiring travel without hyperspeed. On route, they encounter a New Republic patrol of X-Wings and are forced to flee to a nearby ice planet. The Razor Crest crashes and the crew are stuck, forcing the Mandalorian to help them survive the extremely cold night.

The episode did as I predicted, in that we got more of the Child. Baby Yoda got his fair share of screen time as he satiated his hunger by sneaking some of the frog babes into his mouth and also ate a random egg on the ice planet, bringing the wrath of ice-dwelling spiders! 

Oh, those spiders! The ice planet they are stranded on gives viewers a flash of Hoth mixed with the horror of an Alien. It is such a relief to see the group finally escape to safety, with the help of the X-Wings from earlier as they face off with the horde of spiders. With this, we are getting more opportunities to see Djiran release that he can’t do everything on his own, whether he is accepting of help or not. 

Another reason I loved this episode, and really appreciate, is the emotional growth of the Mandalorian. Din Dijran made his impact as a cold-blooded bounty hunter, until the Child entered his life, slowly thawing his heart. In this episode, the Frog Lady, a well-developed one-shot character, shows compassion, heart, and resilience. Her presence and motivation is a good foil to the Mandalorian’s “This Is The Way” approach. 

The one thing that was a bit disappointing to me was that the episode didn’t follow up on the tease of Boba Fett from Chapter 9. Though there are plenty of opportunities to incorporate him, I was hoping for something more this week. 

The episode was a fun one, nonetheless. I am super excited to see Chapter 11, and I can only imagine the journey we’ll take!

I have spoken.

‘Truth Seekers’ Review 

By
Christian Angeles
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Nick Frost stars as Gus in Truth Seekers
Nick Frost as Gus in Truth Seekers. Image Via: Amazon Studios

How a Whovianesque Horror-Comedy Turned Into Yet Another Frost/Pegg Lovestory

I am one of the biggest fans of the Cornetto Trilogy. Between Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, and World’s End, the Simon Pegg and Nick Frost team-ups are some of my favorite geek-comedy teams of the past two decades. This is why I was happy to see Pegg and Frost reunited for Truth Seekers, an Amazon original horror-comedy arrived just in time for Holloween. 

 

What Truth Seekers is About

There’s a lot of reasons to watch Truth Seekers. For starters, there are a lot of good horror moments mere minutes into this show, yet somehow, still keeps it all PG-13 levels of scary. Taking a page out of shows like The X Files and Doctor Who, the series does a great job of tackling the paranormal by peppering it with funny moments, all for what is surprisingly low stakes hijinks that wrap up nicely per episode. It also holds onto a season-long arc about soul projection that ties together the main science fiction elements of the story.

In Truth Seekers, we follow two broadband internet installation specialists who moonlight as paranormal investigators. As Gus (Nick Frost), the top IT specialist at the largest internet service provider in England, runs a Youtube channel called The Truth Seeker. Which is a place where he shares his ghost hunts online. For views, but also, mostly in honor of his deceased wife. A woman that was a former paranormal investigator herself before she had passed under strange circumstances. 

One day, Gus’ boss Dave (Simon Pegg), assigns him a new partner, a somewhat awkward man named Elton John (Samson Kayo) who apparently has his own mysterious past. Elton plays a very good reluctant straight man, while Gus plays the enthusiastic and headstrong investigator. Mere moments into their first day together, Gus takes Elton John along a paranormal ride when it’s revealed that, for some strange reason, Elton seems to be attracting certain paranormal activities. While this is all happening, a young woman named Astrid (Emma D’Arcy) is being followed in a hospital. The spirits of the dead seemingly coming after her. 

This is sort of the premise of the first episode which ends up driving the series. Many of the episodes use flashbacks to showcase origin stories for the case of the weeks, but it’s all tied together with a through-line about soul projection. 

 

A big part of the series has been soul Transference

There’s even a Necronomicon-like book about it. There are several iterations of transference showcased in the series, and given that it’s short in format and light tone, it’s a storyline that often gets too quickly to the point. As the show feels like it would have been great as a short horror comic series. 

Yet, transference also holds a certain undying element towards it. From its usage in the show, we get the age-old tropes of ghosts, hauntings, possessed items, and even your occasional cult following. The horror is solid, done mostly with practical effects; though it is albeit redundant at times. As there are just so many times a flaming woman can feel intimidating before it’s just outright silly

 

I do think that what lacks in the show is a compelling hook…

The revealed villains of the series turn out to be a rather overused plot device we’ve seen in too much of the Cornetto trilogy. Like ice cream it’s a delicious treat when used sporadically; yet, when indulged too much can feel a little bloated. Which is sort of the problem with Truth Seekers: we’ve seen all of this type of storytelling before. I think the series is fun on its own, but it’s hard not to compare it to the other Nick Frost and Simon Pegg homages via genre-comedy. 

Likewise, it’s strange but Simon Pegg doesn’t seem all too important in Truth Seekers, which was disappointed initially at first until his role is expanded upon in great fashion by series end. Though the two aren’t best friends, they do have a unique relationship that’s both mysterious yet very dependent on trust. A relationship that leaves audiences with the potential for more if there is another season. 

Still, for the British humor, it’s satisfying. Especially if you’re a seasoned horror fanatic. The casting is also fantastic, and everyone brings an original and oddly nerdy joke to the table, with many homages to conventions and science fiction. Just don’t leave feeling all that whelmed by the series as though it is very heartfelt, it’s not a show you’ll like be gossiping about with friends. You’ll probably just walk away going: that was fun.

I do wonder if the show might have done better if it debuted early Halloween season. Particularly, prior to the Haunting of Bly manor, Halloween weekend, and especially, not before the presidential election. The issue with the show isn’t that it’s bad, but that there aren’t too many stakes involved. Unfortunately, it’s hard to watch now given that Halloween feels like it was ages ago despite it only being a week. 

You can watch Truth Seekers on Amazon right now

 

Supernatural: Season 15 Episode 18 “Despair” Review

By
Norton
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Death comes a knocking
Death sends Jack away while she talks to the boys. image c/o imdb.com

We’ve got quite the horserace going down. Jack’s not dead, The Empty is pissed, and Death’s plans have changed.

Tonight’s episode starts off where the last one left off: Jack’s about to explode. Billie sends him off in hopes of killing The Empty, but that fails. When he returns and she tries to reclaim him for a new plan, Dean takes a swipe at her with the scythe. He knicks her, which sends her running, but they can’t celebrate the victory for long.

Their friends are starting to disappear, at first it’s the apocalypse people, so Sam concludes that Billie must be going through with her original intentions to set everything right. He and Jack gather the non-disappeared at a central location and wards it up only to watch each and every person Thanos-out. Sam doesn’t know what Dean and Cass have learned – that Billie is dying because of that earlier graze and she’s not the one making their friends go bye-bye.

She does want Dean dead though, and even a dying Death is a cosmic level power. So, what’s more powerful then Death? Apparently an angel’s love…er, the cosmic entity that love can conjure. Castiel makes an impassioned speech to Dean in order to reveal his true happiness – his ability to love Sam, and Jack, and Dean – which summons The Empty to Earth. It swallows up both him and Death, thus saving Dean’s life.

But it’s a Pyrrhic victory. Sam and Jack leave the safe-house about to discover that more than just their friends have been dusted, while Dean sits in the bunker well and truly shell-shocked. It’s also one of the few silent Supernatural endings – save for the little bit of dialog between Sam and Jack.

This is a heavy episode, understandably. We’re in the weeds now, down to the final three and shit is bound to get heavy. A final season doesn’t usually conclude with every series regular surviving. As a rule someone’s gotta die. Sadly, the only impactful death is Cass. Yes, Bobby and Charlie have already died way more meaningful deaths before, but Sherriff Donna Hanscum’s (Briana Buckmaster) death should have had some heft to it. Unfortunately, she gets lumped in with the apocalypse world refugees, who I could give a shit about, and the impact of any of their deaths is destroyed by having EVERYONE disappear in the end.

Now, I understand that the scales are HUGE compared to most other shows. This is Chuck’s ending, and with Amara fused to his core he’s got a lot of juice to make it everything he wants it to be. What would Sam and Dean fight for if everyone is gone? That’s a decent question. But what answer is Chuck going for? Does he want them to give up? Is he hoping that pushing them to the brink will bring them back to him? How, as a father, do you deal with wayward sons?

Lastly, and not leastly, is Cass really dead? As I mentioned earlier that’s the cost of a final season. Granted, the most recent final seasons I’ve seen haven’t exactly adhered, but I feel like Supernatural might make good on the tradition. Not that they can’t find some way around death, it’s kind of the running gag of the show after all, but still I’d respect them a lot more if the Winchesters’ bill came due for once.

Also, also, because I can’t help myself, how could you kill Cass but keep stupid fucking Jack alive!? Jack!? Really!? In case it’s too subtle to pick up on, I hate Jack. I’ve hated him since his introduction and I will hate him until the closing credits on episode 20. It’s not Jack’s fault. He’s just…the symptom of a larger issue. A long running series often makes the mistake of not using the beautiful bounty that is their past mythology. Sometimes this is because actors die, or don’t want to come back, or are maybe doing something else and can’t come back, but most of the time I think it’s because they just forget (the show runners, not the actors). It’s the cardinal sin of a long running series and one of the many reasons I don’t believe any show should go on for more than 5 or 7 seasons.

Supernatural has had ten years to make good on some of the build-up of their past dangling plot lines, instead they kept building new mythology and twisting it to fit. Now, I understand that it’s not entirely their fault, the show has been on the bubble a number of times and some seasons following the fifth were set up in ways that allowed them to serve as a series finale just in case, but that’s part of the problem. The show had a final season. It had a series finale. It did not need additional seasons. And, I know that keeping a show running employs a lot of people, not just the main faces you see on screen, but all the behind the scenes workers. I get it.

Still, can we please all agree that a rabid fan-base and stable ratings should not be the only determinates for keeping a show on the air? Can we finally embrace shorter, more straightforward seasons (I’m looking at you, Netflix season lengths), and less seasons?

Ok, rant over. Let’s see how next week goes, yes?

The Mandalorian: “Chapter 9: The Marshal” Reflection

By
Bassam Kaado
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The Mandalorian rides on speeder bike on Tatooine.
Credit: Disney+

Disney+’s hit show returns with the premiere of Season 2, picking up the journey where it left off.  

 

Warning: I have information that there are spoilers in this article.

I want to start this off by giving you some insight to why I love this show. Growing up a Star Wars fan and loving the Western genre, Jon Favreau’s creation is a perfect union of my passions that entertains me on multiple levels. I was always fascinated with the Mandalorian bounty hunters, loving their aesthetic and mystic. The show seemed like it was pitched to appeal to me, and I fell in love with the first season (of course, I’m obsessed with Baby Yoda as well). So I plan to write about my thoughts about every episode this season. Also, we have a podcast (See above)!

This leads me to “Chapter 9: The Marshal” (the first episode of season 2), which I felt was a strong opening. In the beginning of his journey to find the Child’s race, the Mandalorian (Pedro Pascal) wants to use the network of his people and gets word that there is another Mandalorian on Tatooine. This gives us another healthy dose of franchise nostalgia and a little bit of Amy Sedaris, which is a joy. What this episode really delivers is a dive into a fun Western story.

Even with the name of the episode being the Marshal, Favreau set the tone for how this episode will play out. The episode is a nice insulated story revolving around an old mining town, Mos Pelgo. Deep is the desert of Tatooine, the people live isolated, under their own authority. The Western vibes are painted all over the screen, as Mando rides into the town on a speeder bike. The town folk look at this stranger slowly make his way in, emulating the iconic moments of a weary outlaw riding into town on his steed. Naturally, he ends up walking into a saloon.

This is where the aforementioned Marshal is, a cowboy/Han Solo-esque character named Cobb Vanth (Timothy Oliphant) that happens to have Mandalorian armor (Boba Fett’s!). His character is fun to learn about: a barsh, confident man with a warm heart. His backstory could be its own Western story: a regular man that needs to fight against imposing forces to save the town he loves so he goes through hell to do it. Now he wants to save the town from a Krayt Dragon, a gigantic san reptile (think a gigantic Dune worm). If the Mando can help the Marshal, Vanth will give the armor to Djarin. It’s a simple plot device, but it is effective in a few ways. The Mandalorian, who holds his creed close to his heart (even never taking off his helmet in front of others), wants the armor to be in the hands of his people. Even though Mando is not longer in the bounty hunter guild, which has defined his people for years, he has found his own way of preserving his tradition. It’s a great character detail that I appreciate. 

The biggest takeaway from this episode honestly is how the show revisits the Tusken Raiders and expands on who they are. When George Lucas created them, they were mostly just a world building race of people that serve a singular story purpose here and there. What Favreau has done is expand on them and give the people more depth. Within this episode, they also have been victim to the Krayt Dragon. We find this out through the Mandalorian, who he communicates with the Tuskens by grunts and hand motions/sign language. The detail shows how worldly Mando is but also how he is willing to and effective in diffusing situations, which plays well in contrast to the reputation he has as a killer. Through him being our guide, we get more insight in their customs and traditions but also their pains and history. This leads to a moment, where, in order to defeat the Krayt Dragon, the town and the Raiders have to work together and put aside their mutual hatred for each other. The Mandalorian gives a concise but important speech to convince the town folk to help, which involves some truths: though the Raiders are brutal, they need to be. The raiders have lived in the desert for thousands of years and know the sand better than anyone. What Mando also says is that the Raiders are good on their word. If the town folk help and leave the carcass of the Krayt Dragon for the Tuskens, the Raiders will vow to never hurt the town, unless a townsperson attacks them first. The moment is a sobering one that lays out the world in front of the people and the viewers. The world is tough and harsh, a theme that serves as the background of Westerns (hence the Wild West). When alone and faced with the realities of an unforgiving world, things aren’t black and white. It causes us to be selfish and possibly hate others. Understanding other perspectives and motivations can help bridge that gap. For the townsfolk and the Sand People, the bridge is surviving in the Tatooine desert and providing for their kind. 

The final battle against the Krayt Dragon is fun and visually intriguing, especially due to the manipulation of sand. The biggest weapon the people have against the Dragon are explosives, very reminiscent of Western’s use of TNT. The folk fight hard to execute the plan, which is to detonate the explosives underneath the dragon’s belly (its supposed weakness), but the plan ends up not working. This causes the Mandalorian and the Marshal to go fight it directly. It forces the Mandalorian to call an audible to pull off the age-old plan of getting the explosives inside the Dragon. A seemingly-devoured Mandalorian is able to escape the beast just in time, using his pulse rifle, before it’s blown up from the inside. 

The deed is done, the day is saved. The townsfolk and the Raiders are free from their threat, and Mando and the Child are on their way to find the next piece of their puzzle. As the Mandalorian rides off into the twin sunsets, we see a shadowy figure watching from a sand dune overhead. Armed with Tusken Raider weapons and an old cloak, it’s revealed the man is Boba Fett (Temuera Morrison)!!!!

I really enjoyed this episode because it gave us a solid, simple story that provides the audience time to readjust the world of the Mandalorian. You get the beautiful world of Star Wars and the fun adventures like the tales of the Old West. The reveal of Boba Fett towards the end was a great final twist to keep us hooked for Chapter 10. Also, keeping Baby Yoda to a minimum this episode was a smart move in my opinion to help establish the rest of the world without giving in full into the hype train.

I have spoken.

Supernatural: Season 15 Episode 17: “Unity” Review

By
Norton
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Sam, Dean, and Jack
Fun times with the Winchesters and friends. image c/o imdb.com

The third to last episode of Supernatural unfolds in Rashomon style. It also happens to be one of the few really good episodes this season. Not entirely surprising since we’re just about to the finish line!

One of the things I’ve always hated about shows that deal in the supernatural, especially where divine beings are concerned, is how weak they turn out to be once the heroes need to face them. You never have a god doing something enormously powerful to prove it is in fact a god. The heroes always seem to find some convenient Achilles’ Heel and that’s that. The god is basically nullified.

Now, for many seasons Supernatural has committed the same sin. It’s one of the reasons I really loved the episode where Michael returned because you got to see how truly powerful not only he is, but Lilith. These are cosmic beings but we rarely get to see them act that way. This episode demonstrates once more just how ridiculously juiced God really is, and I loved it.

Here’s a brief rundown for you: In the Rashomon style you’ve got Amara, Dean, and Sam:

Amara’s story follows her efforts to convince her brother to change his mind until she realizes he’s the first narcissist and decides OK, I’ll help the Winchesters cage him.

Dean’s story follows his and Jack’s journey to complete the nephilim’s conversion into a god-killing machine. This leads them to Adam, as in first man, Adam (Hey, Alessandro Juliani!). Turns out the prototype isn’t too pleased with his creator, and we learn it was really Adam’s plan to kill God this whole time.

Despite this being Dean’s side of the story, we do get Jack’s viewpoint as well since he’s taken into the back with Adam, but all-in-all this tale does provide some fodder for questions. Like, who is Serafina (aside from Carmen Moore, who plays her)? Where is Eve? Has Adam never told anyone else about his plan to kill God?

Anyway…Sam’s viewpoint is last. He and Cass work on an alternative solution to the God problem, and Sam’s main hang-up just seems to be that Billie didn’t talk to him. Remember what I said in my rant last review? That Dean is the one everyone talks to? Sam’s finally getting this, and he wants in on the divine hotline. Though, he winds up with a little more than he bargained for when he and Cass find a key to Death’s door. It’s a cute throwaway scene, with the younger Winchester and the fallen angel manhandling a few movie-level divine objects until discovering said key.

Sam goes through the door to get to Death’s library and comes across dead reapers. Meg is responsible, well, The Empty using Meg’s body. Sam’s quick thinking results in him not dying, and also getting some rather valuable information. Looks like I was right, this was The Hunger Games after all. Billie wants to kill God so she can become the new God, and once she’s in charge, she’s going to reboot the whole series. The Empty is a fan, but like Sam, it’s not entirely sure it can trust Billie’s word, so it’s been killing reapers to lure Death back home for a chat.

Our episode climaxes with Jack being ready to blow, Sam trying to stop his brother and the nephilim from killing Chuck, and Chuck telling Amara he orchestrated everything! Not gonna lie, that was hands down my favorite moment from the past couple of episodes (obviously save for Michael killing Lilith, which was amazeballs).

Chuck says the thing I’ve been thinking this whole time: What part of omniscient do you people not understand? I mean, if you’re going to build up an entity, and claim it is all-powerful and all-knowing, then doesn’t making a secret plan to destroy said entity work out to be impossible? But, Chuck shares some things in common with his Pagan brothers and sisters, he likes the drama, he likes the pageantry. I’m guessing it’s why he allows things to continue on the way they do. Still, to see Chuck put his foot down is impressive.

I was a little sad to see him absorb Amara. Does he actually plan to leave Earth entirely and make something new with her? Also, if it’s a balance, why does he get to be the face? I’m not gonna go into another sexism rant, but…this episode is really pushing my buttons. And yes, I get that having Chuck face the Winchesters is more meaningful because he’s been there since season four, while Amara only got introduced back in season 10.

I am eager to see how this plays out. Chuck leaves Sam, Cass, and Dean with Jack all fuse lit and ready to blow. Is he just waiting to see if they finally die? And, what is he going to do with Billie? That’s a fight I want to see.

Blood of Zeus is Entertaining Enough But is Nowhere Near As Good As Castlevania

By
Christian Angeles
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blood of zeus

The new Netflix anime series mimics the later’s aesthetics but is far too distracted in emulating style over substance

From the makers of the Castlevania Netflix series comes Blood of Zeus, the story about a bastard son of Zeus who is destined to become a great leader, who is caught front and center, during an age of magic, demons, and war. 

This new Netflix anime series debuted three days ago this week, and thus far, has had high acclaim amongst critics. Sitting at a whopping 100% fresh rating on Rotton Tomatoes. Why, however, I’m not entirely certain, as after having binged the series, I will admit that while entertaining it’s also absolutely flawed. With only maybe a sliver of its potential met in telling a Greek Mythology tale. 

The problem is that the series does a really great job with the beginnings of Greek Mythology origins but then seems to pivot heavily away from their tales. We want more Gods! But get something else entirely. Instead, the show obsesses over this bizarre demon plot created for the story which has nothing to do with Greek Mythology. A choice, which episodes in, is pretty obvious just a reason for the development team to utilize their skills that they’ve developed while drawing Castlevania. A show about vampires and demons, which in fairness, they do a fantastic job of animating. 

Now, if you’re entering this for Greek myths you’ll like only half of what’s presented only because the show pivots with this demon story. Worse, is that a lot of the Goddesses are not featured in this show at all. No Artemis, Athena, or even Aphrodite, which is strange as the Greek Gods absolutely indulged in open sexuality. Instead, Blood of Zeus focuses mostly on Zeus and his poor relationship with Hera, along with their intermeddling with human affairs. A plot that sounds like the one in Hercules: The Legendary Journeys. Atop of this, the story’s main character, Heron, is a Bastard whose destiny is to rally the people for an inevitable war to end all wars amongst the Gods. 

If this sounds a lot like Game of Thrones, this also was probably intentional, as this series takes a whole lot of liberties in outright copying many plot-threads and design choices from other popular large-scale stories. Numerous references are outright stolen from Star Wars and Lord of the Rings. Like the lightsaber, Minas Tirith,  and Yoda Jedi training. All stolen and featured in this show with just a tiny new table for copyright protection. There is even the use of the lightsaber humming sound effect.

I have no idea what happened to this show. Where Castlevania was brutal but at least an original in storytelling, the writing in Blood of Zeus just feels outright lazy. Perhaps it’s because unlike Castlevania, the show obviously lacks a Warren Ellis type to guide and accentuate the voices within the story. And though yes, Warren Ellis is marred in scandal and is an absolute piece of shit to work with (though one whose works I still respect), the work does speak for itself when it hits. This show misses. A lot. It’s promising in its reinterpretation of Greek myth, but bad in the sense that it loses its character’s motivations, and then suffers from its own rehashing and oftentimes plagiarism, of bigger series who’ve told epics before. 

However, it is stylistically very engaging to watch. Its design is suburb and its cast does a good job with its material. It’s really just the writing that ruins this show.

 

The Take

blood of zeus

It’s nowhere near as good as Castlevania. It has all the style but none of the substance. Watch if you’re bored or want background fight noise.

Supernatural: Season 15 Episode 16: “Drag Me Away (From You)” Review

By
Norton
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0
Not the goonies
Not the goonies. image c/o imdb.com

No, Dean, this isn’t The Goonies, it’s more like…well…It.

Tonight’s Supernatural revolves around dual stories of Sam and Dean that tie into each other by way of flashbacks.

As with most flashback episodes, this one is trying to give us a juxtaposition of how far along the boys have come in their relationship. The problem is, as far as I can see, it kind of shows how little their relationship has evolved.

We start the episode with Dean lying to Sam about why Cass skipped town as they are on their way to see an old friend (who died in the opening minutes of the show). In the flashback sequences, we see Dean lie to Sam and everyone else around him. He takes on the role of leader believing Sam to be too “soft” to help out. He also clearly resents Sam’s hidden ambition to go to school and live a “normal” life. By the end of the episode, there is this weird line that Dean throws out to Sam about how they make a pretty good team, but from everything that happens, this line isn’t accurate at all.

See, Dean has Sam stay behind with Travis (Liam Hughes as a young boy, and Ryan Alexander McDonald as a disturbed young man), because he doesn’t trust Sam as a hunter. Meanwhile, he and Travis’ sister Caitlin (Elle McKinnon as a young girl, and Kelsey Crane as a mourning adult) go to investigate the monster’s nest. It works out nicely that when the Baba Yaga attacks Travis, Sam is there to help, even though he doesn’t actually do much and Dean and Caitlin show up shortly after with Dean quickly dispensing of the threat.

But there are two ways to interpret this. The obvious one is that Dean uses the line to guilt his brother into staying in the life, remember he starts out by acknowledging Sam’s school aspirations. The other one is that the show just wanted a feel-good close to their final flashback.

The end of episode finds Sam at odds with his brother once Dean reveals the truth to him – all of it. That Billie visited him with the news that Chuck is done destroying the other worlds, that Jack is going to die to end things, and that he didn’t tell Sam because, once again, he didn’t think his brother could handle it. He also expresses his reluctance to face Sam’s moral judgment.

Sam, for his part, is understandably frustrated and angry. As he had once butt heads with their father for being the questioning son, he now butts heads with his brother for the same reason. Dean isn’t interested in the details. He wants to know the fix, and once it’s clear what that is, he’s willing to do whatever it takes to make sure it happens – unless of course, the fix is Sam dying. Sam, conversely, if always trying to find another way, regardless of who’s life is on the line.

Overall this was another middling episode. Nothing fantastic, nothing terrible. It moves the main plot along just barely and gives us a little more for the Sam and Dean history books. It does have some good moments:

When Sam is trying to find the Baba Yaga and sees smoke under a doorway only to discover the hotel’s front desk clerk (Bernadette Beck) smoking pot, I definitely giggled.

When Dean chides Caitlin for wanting to go on a monster hunt by declaring “this isn’t the freaking goonies” he’s absolutely right. This is way more like It. A trail of dead children, a monster that feeds on the fears of children, and keeps a nest!?

Also, since we’re on the subject: Sam and Dean got back to stopping a more popular monster! The Baba Yaga is a biggie as of late (thanks, John Wick). She’s as well-known as Bloody Mary, or the Woman in White, and yet this is the first time we’ve come across her. Nicely done, show.

And finally, a fun fact: The actors portraying young Sam (Christian Michael Cooper), and young Dean (Paxton Singleton), are actually the last in a long line of childhood actors giving life to the Winchesters in flashbacks – bonus fun–fact: Dean has the most with a total of seven actors taking on the mantel!

Next week looks interesting, we’re going back to biblical lore with Adam. Is Eve going to be there too? They have featured the garden, albeit briefly, but I don’t think that will come into play.

 

‘Supernatural’: Season 15 Episode 15 – “Gimme Shelter” Review

By
Norton
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0
It's all about Dean
Dean's in the foreground for a reason. image c/o imdb.com

It’s the fight of the century: Faith VS Family! But who will win!?

Fun fact: this episode was directed by Matt Cohen who played the young John Winchester! Maybe that’s fitting for the theme we’re exploring, since Matt not only played John but also Michael possessing John. He’s had the duel perspective.

The way this episode is set up you think you’re looking at two simple stories: You’ve got Pastor Joe (Steve Bacic) and his daughter, Silvia (Nicole Muñoz), and then Amara and Chuck. But pay close attention and you’ll find Dean, Jack, and Cass all thrown into the mix.

Where’s Sam? Allow me a brief tangent while still saying mostly on point. Sam and Dean are symbolic figures in this series. When the story focused on their respective counterparts (Lucifer and Michael) it teetered between the brothers. Lucifer heavy episodes favored Sam, while Michael centered episodes leaned towards Dean. Specifically, Dean’s conflict about how to deal with Sam. Way back at the start of the series, John pit his sons against one another by telling Dean he might have to kill Sam one day. John, in the beginning, was as close to God as we were gonna get. Then actual God entered the picture, or, at least his army of angels. The angels then pit Sam and Dean against each other again. Mind you, “pit against one another” isn’t even a good way to put it. From the get go it always seemed to be Dean against Sam. Dean was the one who had to make the choice to kill his brother. Sam had a few instances where he clearly went against his brother (thanks a lot Ruby), but overall its been mostly Dean being told he needs to kill Sam. Finally, you’ve got Chuck and Amara.

Amara, conveniently a lady, is tied to Dean. Dean, while being extremely loyal to their father, always lamented the loss of his mother, which Amara knew due to their bond. It’s part of the reason why she brought Mary back from the dead. Sam, conversely, never knew their mother that well – being a baby when she died – so while having her back gave him a chance to form the bond he’d never been able to, I feel like her death didn’t devastate him the way it did Dean. Now, Sam is tied to Chuck. Literally, they were bound once Sam shot God with the equalizer.

I find this setup very interesting given the boys’ relationship to their respective parents. Sam loved his father but didn’t agree with him in many ways and had more or less left the family. He didn’t view his father in the same way Dean did. Dean, on the other hand, loved their father deeply and (according to Sam) followed his will blindly. See where I’m going yet?

Sam has, roughly, no strong connections left in the series save for Dean. Dean, has all of the connections. Dean is tied to Cass, Jack, Chuck, Amara, and Sam. Dean is the star of the show right now. Not that Sam doesn’t matter or isn’t important, but his major contribution was to be a moral quandary for Dean. If his baby brother was the monster, would Dean still follow the will of his father? Only now, we know Sam isn’t a monster. We know Lucifer is dead, which means all of Sam’s future “monster” potential is gone. Chuck showed Sam a hypothetical where it’s brother vs. brother, but I think he ultimately gave up those conjectures because he sees what we all do now: Sam isn’t a threat. Sam’s off the board.

Even in this episode Sam’s major input was to stir up doubt about their plan to kill Amara. Dean’s the one who did all the talking when they actually met up with her, which makes sense since, again, he’s the one who has the strong connection to her. He’s also the one who goes back to fully convince God’s sister to betray him.

Which brings us back to my original point: family vs. faith. Will Amara choose “family”? Or, will she have faith in Dean’s promise not to harm her in order to stop her brother’s reckless destruction? How’s that for irony, eh? The darkness is trying to save people. We know that Silvia, Pastor Joe’s daughter, ultimately chooses faith over her family. She resents her father’s non-committal form of worship, going so far as to gank John Doe’s style in Seven. Finally, there’s Cass and Jack. Cass is extremely pro family, given that his faith has been ripped apart and exposed as the whims of a cruel and petty god. His speech to the Pastor’s followers that being a “father” allowed him to find himself again is what makes Jack’s confession later so painful. See, Jack has faith in the plan. He loves his family, but he understands that the best way to save them is to sacrifice himself. He also feels like he owes Sam and Dean his death, as recompense (thanks Avengers!) for killing Mary.

I’m wondering if this is shaping up to be a Hunger Games situation, where the new guard will be just as bad as the old guard. Why is Billie so keen on killing God? Does reaping God have the same side-effect as reaping Death did? Will Billie become the new God? And what happens to a world without darkness or light? I get the idea of cutting the puppet strings, but despite Dean’s resentment, didn’t he live his life as if there was no god controlling his actions anyway? And, when he did find out there was a Heaven what did he think that meant?

Most people are pissed because they think God is too hands off, Dean Winchester is mad because God is too hands on!? Ha ha ha, and we close with The Prophecy.

Next week’s episode looks pretty cut and dry, but who knows. One of the best parts of final seasons is that a lot of shows will really take chances and do wacky things. Unfortunately, one of the worst parts of a long running series is that they’ve already done that. Still, Supernatural has had some real gems over their fifteen seasons, I find it hard to believe they won’t have at least one in these last five episodes (and yeah, the Last Holiday, definitely showed promise).

 

‘Helstrom’: Who is Caretaker and the Blood?

By
Nicole C
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0

The Caretaker (Robert Wisdom) is a mysterious figure in Marvel’s Helstrom whom we first meet in the pilot episode with ties to Ana Helstrom (Sydney Lemmon).

We find out that his character is a member of an enigmatic group called the Blood. According to Marvel, they are “a mysterious race who allegedly supplied the first Earth-born Sorcerer Supreme over 20,000 years ago.”

WARNING: Spoilers for Helstrom season 1 ahead

The Blood’s mission was to protect the Earth from supernatural threats. They were mostly focused on defeating the demon Zarathos. Zarathos was after a magical talisman called the Medallion of Power. In this fight they were joined by powerful beings known as the Spirits of Vengeance and they sacrificed themselves in order to triumph over the demon. The Blood became the guardians of the medallion in the aftermath and Caretaker broke it into four pieces and gave them to two human families since the object was too powerful. A male and female from each would inherit a part and Caretaker would watch over them.

On the show, the group still appear to keep their core mission of demon hunting. One way they contain the creatures is by sedating their human hosts as a means of prevent them from inhabiting another body. They are kept in hotel rooms converted into a medical facility. Caretaker takes Gabby to one of these buildings after he rescued her from a possessed priest. While there he reveals that his family has been a part of this entity for seven generation, it’s in his blood so to speak. Unfortunately later on, everyone in that hotel is killed by the demon released in the first episode.

We learn though that the Blood are a very dedicated and organized entity who will do whatever it takes to rid the world of demonic presence. One of their leaders, Esther, essentially kidnaps Caretaker after his loyalties are questioned. They felt that he cared too much about Ana and were there to find her father’s blade. He refused to provide though and said that he had buried it a long time ago. In a flashback Ana had wounded her father using the weapon and had fled from him. Unfortunately he caught up to her and buried her alive but eventually Caretaker found her and freed her.

Esther has her minions test out different blade against a scar on Caretaker’s chest that was apparently made by that special knife. She eventually is able to find it and when puts it his chest it burns the mark. Important to note that his scar seems to look different from Daimon’s scar that was also made by the same blade. Later on Esther has one of her men try to use it to kill the elder Helstrom sibling but fails. He then encounters them again when he retrieves the other half of the knife from his old house with Gabriella (Ariana Guera). Daimon (Tom Austen) says he forgives them for essentially being dicks and trying to kill him.

We next see the Blood after Gabby escapes from a second attempt by Kthara’s goons by taking refuge at a local parish. She asks the priest to contact them in order to seeks answers about the demon baby growing inside her. Kthara had inhabited the Vatican agent’s body and had another demon possess Daimon and used the two to make a fast growing super demon baby that would be her new vessel. The Blood are ready to fight when the demons arrive but Gabby doesn’t want bloodshed inside the church so she leaves willingly. After she ends up giving birth to Kthara, her entire belief system is shattered and decides to join the Blood.

Meanwhile we first meet Caretaker after he contacts the younger Helstrom sibling about the tomb in Colma and then cleans up the site in the aftermath of the demon escaping from its prison. He’s clearly very knowledgeable of the occult and knows ancient languages. Caretaker procures items for Ana that she then sells off at her auction house. He is able to tell Chris Yen (Alain Uy) that the axe in their possession is fake.

Caretaker seems to care a lot about Ana as he follows her to Portland after he previously told her that the remains they found were from St. Teresa’s. When they see each other at the lobby of the hotel she’s staying at, Ana reveals that the evil they are facing is her father and that the creature in her mother confirmed it. Her plan is to track him down and kill him but he states that it’s not that easy and her father is an incredibly strong entity. Ana doesn’t care though and doesn’t need his or anyone else to help. Caretaker says that she’s the closest thing to family he has and that she shouldn’t let pride get in the way especially when it comes to this. She counters that this isn’t pride but rage.

Later on he goes to see Dr. Louise Hastings (June Carryl) at St. Teresa’s and we learn that the two are old friends. In the past they had decided to keep the siblings apart believing it was for the best. While we discover that Hastings could have taken Ana in, she didn’t because she was scared of the young girl and Caretaker felt that he couldn’t either because the Blood aren’t exactly tolerant of half demon children. But in his own way he made sure that she was alright though he was absent a lot while she was growing up. In truth though he admits to Ana later on that he was scared of getting too close because he did not want to loose her like he had lost the rest of his family. While he had lost his own family to demons, he doesn’t share the beliefs that some in his order have regarding the Helstrom siblings.

His next closest relationship is with Hastings. After he escapes from being taken by the Blood, he goes to see her and proposes that they take a little trip. She says that she can’t just yet because she’s going to seek treatment for her cancer. When she gets stabbed by one of Kthara’s minions to protect him he stays in the hospital the entire time waiting for her to wake up from surgery. In the aftermath, he takes care of her as she recovers and stays in Portland.

In the comics, Caretaker is quite ancient having existed even before Atlantis. As member of the Blood, he ages very slowly and is immune to conventional diseases. He also skilled in hand-to-hand combat, possesses superhuman strength and durability, and is able to teleport. In the show we haven’t seen him display any supernatural abilities but he appears to be able to handle himself having travelled all over the world collecting rare artifacts and likely demon hunting.

Previously the character appeared in 2007’s Ghost Rider portrayed by Sam Elliot. The character was actually an amalgamation of Carter Slade and Caretaker and served as a mentor to Johnny Blaze/Ghost Rider.

This Day In Good Vibes: Chika’s “U Should” Music Video

By
Robert Kijowski
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0
Chika

The world may be headed for a collision, but Lo and Listen, a voice of hope emerges from the fog like a Lighthouse of Love. Let her siren song serenade you.

 

It feels increasingly stressful that the sinking world and the souls on board are headed for impending finality. Maybe in a few weeks, some shit can truly be turned into jetsam and we can start plugging up some holes to get back on course. Until then, I suggest as we try everything to not meet a watery grave, we turn to music, as it’s a clever distraction from the laborious tasks we are doing and have yet to do- and among the deckhands, I’ve come across one doing everything in her power to help get through this. Her name is Chika and I truly believe in this storm, at least for the moment, she may help us maintain whatever bilge that’s accumulated.

This multi-hyphenate talent comes to us in this blighted land by way of the Red Tide state of Alabama… and trust me, the fucking drip is real, so if you’re sleeping on her now… she’s about to wake 2021 the fuck up!

She garnered notoriety through Instagram for not only clowning Trump’s 2016 win, as well as a savage freestyle aimed at Kanye for his execrable support of Trump over his own beat, no less. This lady isn’t taking any shit and she’s sure as fuck not up for cleaning yours either. Facts.

Sonically, she’s no stranger to sticking up for what’s going down. She’s flipped the script Ed Sheeran’s “Shape of You” for her Pride-theme. At the behest of uber talented screenwriter/actor Lena Waithe, she performed “Richey vs. Alabama” on Kimmel, spotlighting her state’s 2019 abortion bill. If that weren’t enough, however, ya girl can fucking spit!

We thusly arrive at her newest COVID-19 era joint. Premiering on the ever hard-hitting, side-splitting Desus & Mero (Showtime), “U Should” is an aural loom work of velveteen vocals, intoxicating instruments, and radiant rhymes. The elocution in her bars in and the way she seamlessly transitions to the chorus and another verse and back to sinfully catchy chorus makes this song an official banger and a well-needed shot in the soul.

These days, anything, even palliative that can transport ourselves to that place of happiness, however ephemeral is welcomed and if Chika is a sign of things to come, I can say with some assurance that there will be the illumination, much like those tiki torches in her video (which we’re taking back,) in the face of darkness. Oppression has no room to breathe when this bop is on your speakers!

So crack open a cold one or pop that cork on a cool night, take it out to your nearest fire pit (should you be in possession of one), and decompress and destress in quiet solitude to this newest drop. Let her buttery vox flutter and fall in firey notes around you like deciduous leaves on an Autumnal night… and know that in this in this stormy weather, there’s still a crew on deck, waiting to make it to land ho.

ROLL TIDE!

‘Helstrom’: What is the Mark on Daimon’s Chest?

By
Nicole C
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0
Young Daimon on Hellstrom

Daimon Helstrom gets a traumatic mark as a child but what is it exactly?

In the pilot episode of Marvel’s Helstrom, Daimon (Tom Austen) ends up getting a tattoo after he reaches out to his sister Ana (Sydney Lemmon) and doesn’t get a response via text.

WARNING: Spoilers for Helstrom season 1 ahead

He then heads to a tattoo parlor where the tattoo artist comments that the ink never seems to stick with his scar, it just fades. Daimon tells her it’s ok and to just keep trying as he remembers events in his childhood on how he received the mark. In the meantime Ana in San Francisco was also remembering the same event from her perspective.

The siblings look quite young at the time and while Ana was hiding in a corner trying to block out the horrific sounds, Daimon was on the ground with blood all over his shirt. He looks at his sister helplessly as their mother is pushed to the ground by a man who is probably their father. It’s also likely that it was their father who carved out Daimon’s chest.

Audiences aren’t given a full clear look at the scar as the lighting in the parlor is fairly dim. We get more glimpses in scenes when Daimon is shirtless throughout other episodes and it could resemble an upside down star. It would make sense as in the comic books he had an inverted pentacle pentagram-shaped birthmark on his chest.

The fact that he’s been unable to successfully cover it up through ink shows that there is something different about this emblem. In the comics his birthmark was significant because it allowed Daimon to physically manifest his Darksoul, a demonic counterpart to his human one. His Darksoul gave him numerous gifts including super strength and the ability to cast soulfire/hellfire.

Earlier in the episode we already saw Daimon briefly manifest a circle of fire inside the room of the young boy pretending to be possessed by a demon. He also has telekinetic abilities as he was able to move all the furniture in the space, but we don’t know if he’ll also possess superhuman strength.

Ana in the meantime has shown different abilities from her brother. She seems to be able to drain living creatures of energy and can read people and objects. In the comics, Satana Hellstrom was also able to summon soulfire/hellfire. We see a little bit of that when Ana is required to re-forge her father’s broken blade in order to save Daimon from demonic possession in the series.

The mark first lights up when members of the Blood attack Daimon and Gabriella. He gets shot and the scar activates and burns through his shirt as two attackers erupt in flames as well. It seems that when he’s under extreme duress and has to use his abilities intensely, the symbol is triggered. That would make sense if he is generating hellfire through his Darksoul. This happened again when he tried to exorcise the demon from within his body and was essentially internally combusting. Unfortunately though the creature did not die.

We also learn that the scar is the only thing that Daimon has never been able to heal from. Though why was only Daimon given it and not Ana? But perhaps she does have one herself given during the time she was with her father. While it’s a slim chance that Helstrom will have a season two, that’s a question that could have possibly been addressed. If anything we likely would have learned more about the scar itself.

‘The Sandman’ on Audible – Review

By
Christian Angeles
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A Story About Dreams, Myths, and Stories, The Sandman on Audible is a perfect adaptation

For those unfamiliar, The Sandman is an epic about Dream of The Endless, the anthropomorphized personification, source, and inspiration of dreams. A tale about the essentiality of a dream’s function to the waking universe, this Audible edition serves as an introduction to the comic series. An expected part one of three. 

What I can say about the audiobook is that it’s nothing shy of fantastic. A compelling translation of Neil’s original comic scripts, with a talented voice cast, masterful editing, and a talented narrator voiced by none other than author Neil Gaiman himself. It’s thus far, also been the number one best selling audiobook on The New York Times list since it’s debut. In fact, the only negative thing I personally have to say is that it, unfortunately, doesn’t feature some of the beautiful groundbreaking art featured in the comics. But that’s what the comic is for, as this audiobook has done everything it can to translate a vividly detailed story about dreams into a captivating audio drama. 

Though bear in mind, the story is a direct 1-1 translation. Some critics, seeking a modern adaptation, felt that the story was perhaps a little too dark for the times. Regardless, this is the original Sandman’s story. And the Netflix adaptation, from what I hear, will be a modernization set in the present day. Which Neil confirmed will begin shooting in a few weeks. 

Now, The Sandman was a book that changed everything about my life. It was the only thing I read in my darkest moments and in fact, is the entire reason I personally became a writer. The comic itself is a brilliant thought piece about life and death, joy and sadness, stories, and moments that make you feel alive.  Thus, I highly recommend it to everyone.

Recently, at New York Comic Con’s Metaverse, both Neil Gaiman and Dirk Maggs had even gotten into the process of how they had recorded their unique approach to audio, along with the transcripts to Neil’s original scripts. You can check out the panel below, along with the cast of characters featured in the audio play.

 

 

 

Supernatural: Season 15 Episode 14: “Last Holiday” Review

By
Norton
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0
Good times with the Winchesters
Good times with the Winchesters! image c/o imdb.com

So Jack is back and nobody cares, well, someone does but not in the good way.

Procedural television 101 tells us that any new person who suddenly appears on a show is almost certainly the bad guy, and while Supernatural has occasionally shirked this rule, tonight’s episode definitely followed it. Meet Mrs. Butters (Meagen Fay), aka Mrs. B, aka a Stockholm victim left over from the Men of Letters days who was magically on “stand by” since 1958.

In general, I’m not a fan of long running series that abruptly decide to add a new layer of mythology to an already well-crafted mythology, mostly because it is so obviously shoehorned in it’s damn near painful. The amount of plot twisting needed to make these additions work is ridiculous, but again, this show is on its fifteen season so I can’t really blame it.

Mrs. Butters is great at first – she’s a wood nymph who “adopted” the Men of Letters as her family and their bunker as her home – she’s the mom Sam and Dean, and Jack, never had. No offense to Mary Winchester but goddamn is Mrs. B crazy maternal. Though, it is a credit to the show that both of these women are a clear product of their times (assuming of course you accept that wood nymphs understood 1950’s human gender politics, however the argument could be made that Cuthbert Sinclair played by Kavan Smith, schooled in her in the “proper” way a lady should behave). Mrs. B is sweet, loving, subservient, and yet takes her responsibility as the head of household very seriously – on a scale from stern warning to downright execution. Mary, on the other hand, is extremely independent. When she returns to find her sons grown men, she doesn’t bother catering to their needs. She takes care of herself first and foremost and once she’s worked her shit out, then she tends to her boys. She also weirdly seems to understand the concept of “not all monsters = bad”, which is pretty fascinating given her background as a hunter. Meanwhile, Mrs. Butters went and chugged the Kool-Aid that the Men of Letters sold her, which, again, depending on the level of “conditioning” she went through makes sense. To her, all monsters must be destroyed. Though as different as these ladies might seem, they are both willing to go to extreme lengths to protect their families. Mrs. B and Mary are fully capable of killing to keep their loved ones safe.

This is a fairly light episode, both in terms of plot and significance. Not much happens here that really matters. Sam and Dean get the home life they’ve never known, with Jack along for the ride while they all get to experience Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, hell, Sam even goes on a date! Side note: Sam seems to enjoy Halloween! They get real regular meals for the first time, laundry, a clean bunker, and everything is working fantastically. That is, until, it doesn’t. Naturally, the good times can’t last and Mrs. Butters believes that Jack needs to die – because for some reason Jack still hasn’t learned his lesson that sometimes lying is a good thing and tells their new “friend” that he’s the son of the Devil. Ug. Did not miss that kid at all. Dean’s reaction to finding out Mrs. B wants to kill Jack is priceless, I mean, he at least tries to stop her. So does Sam by the way, but all efforts fail until the plot requires them not to. Seriously. That’s literally how this goes down.

Sam, Dean and Jack are 100% fucked, when Sam makes a plea about how Mrs. B’s logic isn’t foolproof, and that the men she loved so dearly probably did her dirty, and it works! She’s totally willing to do a complete 180, we know this because at the end of the episode when she leaves she tells Jack to “go out and save the world!” in the way a proud mother would.

For all its lack of importance this episode isn’t necessarily bad. Its immensely satisfying to see Sam and Dean enjoy hunting when it is assisted by stable food, monster radar, and time set aside to celebrate birthdays and holidays. Though there is the moral question of just blindly hunting monsters without actually seeing if they are bad first (something radar can’t provide, and the Men of Letters never even considered). The loss of Mrs. B results in any of the changes to the bunker being reverted. Her magic goes, and with it goes the monster radar and the inter-dimensional telescope, and with her goes the regular meals, laundry, cleaning, and of course regulatory celebration of special occasions. I’m convinced that Jack birthday cake was a short term habit.

There are brief mentions of larger plot issues – where Cas is, the fact that the telescope isn’t showing any other worlds, anything about Jack – but overall this is a fun little side episode. The deepest things I get out of it are the feminist differences between Mrs. B and Mary W., and the mistreatment of Mrs. B as a lesson about the perils of xenophobia.

At one point in the episode Mrs. Butters says a very specific line in defense of her actions: she is “making the bunker safe again”. Couple that line with the Men of Letters belief that anything different is bad, and I got a distinct feeling this was a jab at the concept of xenophobia. Not to mention the hypocrisy of people who claim anything “other” is bad or lesser.

The Men of Letters say that all monsters are bad, but then Sinclair decides to “keep” Mrs. B because she proves useful. He proceeds to torture her until she is indoctrinated, which leads to her allowing herself to be tied to the bunker to the point of enslavement. So, despite being a “monster” herself, Mrs. Butters adopts the twisted mentality that all monsters are bad and must be killed. My guess is Sinclair used her own forced actions against her (when they make her kill a nazi by lying to her) in order to solidify the idea that monsters – which she is by definition – are bad, and she is lucky that they made an exception for her. However, when Sam and Dean explain that Jack is a good guy, she at first blindly accepts this. She is only swayed when Jack confesses he’s not all good, and in a moment of projection her own self-hatred is aimed at Jack. She knows what monsters are capable of and she won’t allow Sam and Dean to be at risk. It’s interesting if you make the effort to overthink it (which I have a bad habit of doing).

Otherwise, like I said, this episode is just a fun little aside that has no real importance on the rest of the season. It’s a shame Mrs. Butters leaves because honestly her decision to return to the forest isn’t believable by the episode’s end (me doubts however many years of conditioning could be undone so quickly), but you gotta put everything back to the way it was, right? Technically, it’s your final season, so you don’t, but as Dean observes, they can’t have nice things. Oh well.

The only other thing I’ll note about this episode is the lack of Cas, but frankly, I’m not bothered by it. A lot of final seasons tend to have some stars fading in and out. The 100 just ended and Bob Morley who was a huge main character on that show wasn’t heavily featured in the final season. This goes better if the cast is bigger, but unfortunately, since season four, Supernatural has been a three man show. The fans definitely took notice and they are not happy, but the fact is this episode comes after an unplanned hiatus, so Cas was going to be gone anyway, it’s not some fuck you to the fans. He’ll be in next week’s episode, so let’s all sit back, relax, and see where the final six takes us. Ok?

NYCC 2020 Metaverse: Bringing the Grishaverse to Life

By
Nicole C
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0

One of the most highly anticipated new upcoming shows on Netflix is the Shadow and Bone adaptation based on the Grishaverse novels by Leigh Bardugo. The series will heavily take from the Shadow and Bone trilogy and the Six of Crows duology with Bardugo serving as Executive Producer along with Eric Heisserer.

The duo had a virtual panel at New York Comic-Con this weekend and while they weren’t able to talk much yet about show specifics, they did speak about the challenges they faced getting the series made. In addition as a treat to fans the Grisha score for the series was revealed and it’s a beautifully haunting but intense piece of music. The two also chatted about casting, props, sets and much more. Read on for the most important nuggets in their conversation.

  • Leigh Bardugo had first come across Executive Producer Eric Heisserer when he Tweeted that he was reading her novel Six of Crows. Heisserer goes on to add that it all started for him with a New Year’s resolution to do more pleasure reading and he had a friend who recommended the book as an Ocean’s 11 in a Dickensian Game of Thrones world.
  • Leigh also mentions how she and Eric met at a delicious Italian restaurant to talk about how they were going to adapt Shadow and Bone and Six of Crows together and she tells fans that she thinks he did a really good job.
  • Eric asks how it’s been for Leigh with lots of people wanting to adapt her work. She responds not great honestly. Leigh comments that most writers dream about their works being adapted because it means they will reach a much wider audience and what they all want is their stories to be read. Her experience with Hollywood though has been that in a lot of meetings it seemed that most people hadn’t even read the books or had their assistant read one of them and then had it described. Then came a meeting with Netflix whom she had previously met with when the rights to Shadow and Bone belonged to a different company. The folks at Netflix understood that it was important to tell the stories of young people honestly.
  • She’s also very grateful that they (she and Eric) ended up being in the same page in terms of inclusion, how to staff the writing room, and in terms on what mattered to them regarding the story meant a lot to her.
  • They got really lucky in casting fantastic people who are genuinely caring to one another and that is apparently a rarity.
  • Eric said that there was a moment that the project became very real for him was when they were in the Crow Club and he was teaching one of the dealers how they would count money in Kerch and he got goosebumps.
  • For Leigh to come onto set to see everything fully realized she cried a lot, especially when she saw Jessie (Mei Li) and Archie (Renaux) in full costume. The two play Alina Starkov and Mal Oretsev. She also had two sides operating at the same time, one who felt the childlike wonder of a dream being realized and the other is the critic analyzing everything she sees. Leigh though loved the moments when her critic side got shut down and notes that this happened when Ben Barnes and Zoe Wanamaker did scenes together. Also it was pretty great for her to be able to wear a kefta.
  • Eric’s favorite Grisha quote is, “Fine, make me your villain.” He even has a mug of it somewhere! Leigh adds that the first day she was on set Ben (Barnes) wasn’t shooting that day but he came by and he scared the crap out of her by coming up from behind and saying the line.
  • Leigh reveals that her favorite moment on the show involves a book being thrown at someone. Mmmm now who could that be?
  • Eric answers a question that there’s a lot of challenges adapting a series that has a lot of fans. They are trying to carry a torch for the things that mean a lot to everyone but different people will have different favorite characters and relationships.
  • Getting fantasy made is really challenging because it costs so much money to make it look good. Even to make it look bad costs a lot. There’s a lot of decision makers involved to release anything.
  • Leigh’s favorite prop on set was the book she mentioned earlier but also seeing Kaz’s cane was a big deal for her. Personally it was meaningful because she wrote Six of Crows when she was coming to terms with having to use a cane for the rest of her life because of chronic pain. She had to come to terms with internalized ableism on what it meant to be a woman walking around with a cane The cane became a symbol for danger, strength, and power, meant a lot to her.
  • Eric talks about how with Jesper’s guns, they had so many people in the art department infatuated with Leigh’s books that they went the extra mile. There was a Hungarian gunsmith who came in to do custom etchings on the guns and they looked like they were gifts from an embassy and should be in a museum.
  • Leigh also says that to see the Grisha First Army camp come to life was pretty extraordinary since it is the first scene in the book.
  • Eric says that the other reason they can’t share anything is because they aren’t finished yet. Because of current conditions with the pandemic getting visual effects done takes so much longer. He’s holding on to his promise that he isn’t going to rush that and they want to get it right.
  • Leigh hopes that the series will feel like a gift or a treat, something that speaks to the same emotions as the books but also gives readers something completely new and different that doesn’t exist on those pages.
  • On casting, Leigh saw a selection of audition tapes but says that for finding the right actor for the role was instinctive. For casting Alina, she was sent five clips and she had seen three of them and the third was Jessie. She didn’t bother watching the other two and she texted Eric right away. Her text had been, “WE MUST GET JESSIE.”
  • The Darkling was a tough part to cast and initially they had seen younger actors but they had lacked the gravitas of portraying that they had lived very long lives. They got really lucky that Ben is believable as a military leader, you believe him as somebody who has endured a lot over the course of time. He brought a tremendous sympathy to the role that’s really important.

Shadow and Bone stars Freddy Carter (Kaz Brekker), Jessie Mei Li (Alina Starkov), Ben Barnes (General Kirigan/The Darkling), Amita Suman (Inej Ghafa), Danielle Galigan (Nina Zenik), Kit Young (Jespey Fehey), Sujaya Dasgupta (Zoya Nazyalensky), Archie Renaux (Mal Oretsev), Daisy Head (Genya Safin), and Calahan Skogman (Mattias Helvar).

There is currently no release date yet still for the series but certainly fans of the Grishaverse novels like myself will be eagerly awaiting it.

Watch the full NYCC 2020 panel now:

NYCC 2020 Metaverse: Behind The Magic of ‘A Discovery of Witches’ Season 2

By
Nicole C
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At this year’s virtual New York Comic-Con fans of A Discovery of Witches were treated to an online Q&A with cast members Teresa Palmer (Diana Bishop), Matthew Goode (Matthew Clairmont), Steven Cree (Gallowglass de Cleremont), Ed Bluemel (Marcus Whitmore), and Adelle Leonce (Phoebe Taylor) on all things season two.

 

Along with author Deborah Harkness (who wrote the All Souls trilogy that the series is adapted from) and Executive Producer Lachlan MacKinnon, the cast greets fans from the set of the congregation in Wales where season three is currently being filmed.

In season two, Matthew and Diana time walk to Elizabethan England where they try to track down the Book of Life and find a mentor to teach the witch to control her magic. There they meet a whole new cast of characters including Matthew’s father Philippe de Cleremont (James Purefoy), nephew Gallowglass, Kit Marlowe (Tom Hughes), Goody Alsop (Sheila Hancock) and many more.

The panel began with a teaser trailer followed by MacKinnon and Harkness speaking about the costumes, props, and set design done to make season two as authentically close to the Elizabethan time period as possible. The teaser gave us a look at some of the characters mentioned earlier as well as a darker tone in this adaptation of Shadow of Night, the second book in the All Souls trilogy. We got to see the beginnings of Diana learning to harness her magic through Goody Alsop’s mentoring, the hunt for Ashmole 782, and even a shot of Matthew’s sister Louisa de Cleremont (Elaine Cassidy).

During the introduction, Harkness explained that one of the most challenging aspects of season two was recreating Elizabethan London because very little from that time of the city survives to the present. MacKinnon adds that one of the first things they did was to have the production crew come to London and Harkness gave them a tour of the old city. Some of the places they visited was by the riverside near St. Paul’s Cathedral. Another key element was reproducing details from the period including an Austrian automaton originally made in the sixteenth century. Another important recreation was of course Ashmole 782 aka the Book of Life.

In the meantime, the cast members were filmed on the set of the Congregation’s headquarters. The Congregation is a governing body of government for creatures in ADOW, comprising of three witches, three vampires, and three demons. Palmer asked her fellow actors questions from show fans sent via Twitter. Here are some interesting tidbits we learned:

  • Matthew Goode’s nickname on set is Goodie or MG.
  • Adelle Leonce had no idea how big the ADOW fandom was. She had also not researched for her role initially.
  • Ed Bluemel says that Marcus is very horny this season after spending a majority of season one looking at blood work in the lab.
  • Bluemel cheekily said that his favorite character apart from his own is Phoebe Taylor because she has great taste in men and he has a lot of respect for her because of that.
  • Steven Cree talks about a very challenging scene to film that he remembers because it was very hot, he was wearing a lot of leather, and he was expected to row a boat in a moat full of lilies. It was very difficult!!
  • Adelle really liked that Phoebe had a sassy personality and had a lot of fun playing that. However she does not have a love of antiquities like Phoebe.
  • Teresa Palmer’s favorite costume was one she more when her character was meeting the queen because of how beautifully elaborate the neckline was. Her least favorite were the enormous cloaks they wore because it was so challenging when mud got into them while they were walking at times.
  • Matthew Goode joked that he tried to get the writers to approve that his character had a passion for golf because he does he in real life.
  • Steven also tells a funny story of how he landed a part in the sequel of 300 where he thought he had gotten a lead role but instead got “decapitated Greek marine.”
  • Matthew shares a behind the scenes story of where they were filming a scene in a Greek temple and James Purefoy is saying his lines in Greek when one of the crew is holding a smoke machine as if it were coming out of his nether regions while also holding a goat head. Teresa adds that this was all in their line of sight and James did not break character. She and Matthew were on the side uncontrollably laughing.
  • Ed mentions how he had a particularly challenging time once where he couldn’t remember his lines for the life of him and it just kept getting worse and worse. His favorite behind the scenes moment though was from filming season one where Matthew kept sliding off his chair in the lab. His favorite moment of season two though was when he learned that his best friend Jacob Ifan was cast as ultravillain Benjamin Fuchs on the show.
  • Teresa says that it was challenging to adapt source material with lots of amazing information, loads of back stories, and wonderful engaged character arcs because you lose so much of that on screen.
  • Her favorite thing about adaptations is having the ability to connect with the author of the books directly. She loved having Deb Harkness on the end of the phone to answer all her questions about the character because there are so many parallels between Diana and Deb’s life.

Season two of A Discovery of Witches is being released in the UK on January 8, 2021 on SKY and January 9 in the U.S. and Canada on Sundance Now and Shudder.

NYCC 2020: “What We Do In The Shadows” Panel

By
Robert Kijowski
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0

There is something about October. The air is crisp and the moon is bright. There is something about October. The costumes are formed and the lawns are decorated. There is something about October. The vampires are out and the thirst is real. There is something about October.

There is something about a familial construct of not one, not two but a quadrant of blood-suckers… and Guillermo, and a lot of humor that is fun to play around with. This New York Comic Con, we are met with the cast and crew of What We Do In The Shadows (FX).

Joining the conversation is Matt Berry (Laszlo Cravensworth), Kayvan Novak (Nandor the Relentless), Natasia Demetriou (Nadja), Harvey Guillen (Guillermo de la Cruz), Mark Proksch (Colin Robinson), Paul Simms (co-showrunner), and Stefani Robinson (co-showrunner).

During the time of COVID, Kayvan thinks that Nandor would order a lot of Amazon and take out the drivers. According to Matt Berry, they don’t even watch a ton of news in the abode, so they wouldn’t necessarily know there’s a pandemic. According to Natasia, they’ve been through so many pandemics, it’s almost passe to the crew.

In terms of Guillermo and his infatuation with his boss, Nandor, Harvey revealed that early on he made the choice to keep his character very emotional and toeing the line of what’s appropriate.

With Matt and Natasia and their musical episode, Matt had a lot of fun with it because he is a musician. Natasia had a gas singing the songs. Unfortunately, allotted for time, what we didn’t see was Mark Proksch was invited on stage to sing during the episode. According to Paul Simms, as an NYCC exclusive, the next season we may actually hear Colin Robinson rap!

As for this upcoming season, Harvey is looking forward to doing more action scenes. Kayvan loves the house meeting scenes. Natasia loves doing talking heads with Matt, doing anything with Mark and Kayvan because they always make her break character. Matt loves watching stuntmen doing the stuff his character’s supposed to do. Mark loves how the writers on the show giving the cast leeway with improvisation.

As a bit of a welcomed surprise, we are also joined by have Nadja’s doll join the festivities!!

According to Stefani Robinson, in the writer’s room, there are debates about what mythical creatures can be shoehorned in the series and still keep the world grounded. According to Paul Simms, as another exclusive, there are about 3-4 creatures we will see next season in addition to the house Hellhound. Ostensibly, leprechauns cannot exist in the world of What We Do In The Shadows, as creator Jermaine Clement was vehemently against it, so those were creatures that didn’t make the cut.

As per Paul in terms of a few spoilers, we will soon see there a road trip episode, a big Colin Robinson birthday episode, a throughline of Nandor looking for love, we’ll catch up with some old favorite characters (including the next-door neighbor.)

As a bit of fan service, the panel ends with a commercial from sponsor Lucky Brew’s starring the man, the myth, the legend, Jackie Daytona!

Overall, though the panel didn’t massively deviate from this past summer’s SDCC 2020 outing, there were just enough tidbits from the cast and showrunners to keep the blood pumping through the conversation. The few NYCC exclusive reveals were a real treat for fans and just enough to keep them salivating until next season drops. Though the running time was strictly enforced to a paltry half-hour, the banter betwixt the cast was something to behold, so I give it two fangs up.

 

 

 

 

The Boys Season 2 Episode 8 Review: Girls Get It Done

By
Christian Angeles
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0
credit: Amazon

In the Boy’s Season Finale, It was the ladies that saved the day

The best thing about The Boys, and it’s aftershow Inside The Boys, is that it’s not afraid to cause a commotion. This season, was most definitely an attack at rightwing extremists, corporations, but also, the far left. As revealed at the end of the finale. With so much built up towards this season finale, it’s refreshing to see that it was the women of the series that more-or-less actively resolved every issue this season. 

Now, everything about Season 2 has led us to this moment of The Boys thus far. In “What I know”, Becca seeks Billy’s help to get her son back. Right as everyone makes their final moves against Vought and the Seven. With Government officials terrified after last week’s congressional hearing assassinations, almost everyone is in a state of panic and seeking Vought’s compound V as a solution. Though not all is as appears. As every character in this finale has a hidden angle. 

 

Warning Spoilers inbound

Poking Fun At Right-Wing Militarism

 

The episode begins with a parodic instructional video about what to do during a Supe terrorist crisis. As students take cover while teachers grab their designated handguns. What’s horrifyingly funny, is that according to showrunner Eric Kripke (On Inside The Boys, The Amazon after show to watch if you like the series), it’s based on real-life videos. All they did was swap the word gunmen with Supe terrorists.

Atop of this, we also have the ‘Stormfront is a Nazi angle’ brought to light in this episode. Her desire for a Homelander led Aryan race of Compound-V empowered supermen doesn’t go according to plan. Especially, because not everyone at Vought is white. Chief director Stan Edgar for one, and of course, A-Train. Whom in a bizarre turn of events turns the tide in The Boys favor by stealing Stormfront’s Nazi records kept by The Church of The Collective.  

It’s a beautiful metaphor for modern life. That bad guys don’t lose because of goodness. They lose because of personal and corporate interests. And A-Train is a celebrity brand of capitalist. A man who’ll do whatever it takes for money and fame.

 

Not Your Nazi

 

In Homelander’s American Dream, he would be dad, Stormfront mom, and Ryan the chosen son. In reality, the Supes lavishly run out of bribes for the kid, and so a scared shitless Ryan wants his mommy back. 

Now to be fair, the trio tried to be a working family. But Stan Edgar made a deal with Billy Butcher, that Vought takes back Ryan as their primary Homelander deterrent, and Billy gets his wife back. What nobody expected was that Billy would grow a heart. Both caring for and sparing the boy. This, combined with A-Train’s information that The Boys released, effectively outed Stormfront as a Nazi. Ending her career.

Which leads to our inevitable final confrontation with Stormfront. Though she proves to be incredibly powerful against the entirety of The Boys team, including Starlight and Kimiko, it turns out to be Queen Maeve of all people to pull a Han Solo and save the day. Stopping both Stormfront (physically, along with Starlight and Kimiko in a beautiful #GirlsGetItDone moment), but also Homelander, by threatening to share his abandonment of passengers in a plane crash that they were involved with last season.

The Stormfront finale is definitely one of the series’ most epic battles. But it does see some tragic losses, where Stormfront does her best Thor Ragnarok impression (by also losing an eye) before going full-on Anakin Skywalker. Something an angry Homelander was not happy about. 

 

With Great Power, Cums Great Irresponsibly

The most powerful being in the world is now alone. With no one to love except the fans who worship the false image, he’s sold to them. The only thing he has left in the world, or so Queen Maeve has proven. And so with no remaining fucks left to give, Homelander jacks off into the wind amongst the backdrop of the city. Proudly realizing, he can do whatever he wants.

As for the rest, Stormfront gets blamed for the Washington attack. Maeve, Starlight, and even A-Train are let back into The Seven. As the distribution of Compound V to the wider audience is indefinitely put on hold. Everyone gets a bit of what they want except for Vought and Homelander.

Billy hands Ryan off to the CIA as a Homelander deterrent and is possibly recruited into Mallery’s new team at the office of Supes affairs. A-Train is brought back into The Seven by the Church, who in turn, screws over The Deep leaving him with nothing. Even Starlight and Hughie seem to be a couple, as Frenchie and Kimko get close, and are at the least, really good friends. Even Mother’s Milk gets to see his family again. Everyone is happy.

Which is why I really liked the Victoria Neuman angle. The series’ resident AOC impersonation is revealed to be the head exploding Supe killing and manipulating people behind the scenes. All while utilizing extreme left-wing accountability politics in order to gain a following (Like a left-wing version of Stormfront). It’s horrifyingly brilliant in that it reaffirms that no one can be fully trusted. And oftentimes, people too good to be true, usually just are. 

The Take

This is an unpopular opinion but I thought the finale was just okay. Definitely funny and exciting for the moment, but I don’t really think The Boys brought much to the conversation this time around by the season’s end. Where season one was genuinely shocking in subverting the superhero trope, with moments where we watched Homelander let people die, or A-Train casually murders Hughie’s girlfriend by running through her, I don’t really see that same type of conversation being had. 

Instead, this season’s inspiration has mostly been a parody of events in real-life America. As places like Breitbart news proliferate propaganda for white nationalists in a similar fashion to Stormfront. Or the Disney corporation, which has sold the dream of the superhero mythos to push products not unlike the Vought corporation. And while parodying real life was funny and compelling at first, it ultimately felt lax because, as strange as this sounds, real-life was just that much crazier. This week alone was a viral outbreak at the white house, the president possibly turning mentally unstable over a series of what’s likely steroid treatments (mentally unstable enough to call on the 25th amendment), and an assassination attempt of a Michigan Governor by rightwing extremists. 

The issue with this season wasn’t that the show ultimately poked at the flaws of the American people and its pop culture superhero idolatry. It’s that by embracing so much parody and trying to force the conversation, it ultimately didn’t go far enough. I’m hoping Season 3 either steers clear from parodying real life political events, or better yet, doubles down hard on them. Because, maybe it’s just me, but I think Nazi sympathizers (including Stormfront and Vought) deserve a much harsher and crueler fate than simply outing their identities. This show is in desperate need of a moment of evil getting punished. Something beyond just how unbelievably pathetic The Deep has become. 

I will celebrate though, that where this season works best is in getting to know its cast of characters. Delivering quality storylines to audiences while juggling a large ensemble. Yet as strange as it sounds, it’s hard for me to feel any real sort of real shock value from this season. Even an elongated dick choking Mother’s Milk, while hilarious, doesn’t elicit as strong a response as it used to.

Or perhaps I’m just suffering from too much of the 2020 blues.

 

 

 

NYCC 2020 Metaverse: ‘Resident Alien’ is Set for January 2021 

By
Christian Angeles
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0
Alan Tudyk as Harry
Credit: Syfy

The Resident Alien panel showed a sneak peek of the pilot episode and talked about what it was like to resume filming

Resident Alien is officially set to make its series debut in January. After over a year of delays in filming, the show’s finally putting on its finish touches and is expected to air January. Having showcased at NYCC last year, this year’s panel replayed the first ten minutes of the pilot with newly minted digital effects. The preview, being just as funny as the first time around but this time. Likewise, the special effects have been highly upgraded since the original pilot. With a more intriguing looking ‘Alien’.

Resident Alien is a comic book adaptation. The story about an Alien who comes to Earth on a diabolical mission, Resident Alien stars beloved actor and convention star, Alan Tudyk. He plays an alien forced to assume the role of doctor Harry Vanderspiegel while hiding away in a small Colorado town. It’s someone that Tudyk himself has taken pride in portraying. A person unfamiliar with walking. Whose human emotions he’s trying to understand. 

 

We Got to Interview Comic Creator Peter Hogan About His Comic Resident Alien Last Year

The production on the series had officially resumed, after having only initially shot one and a half episodes before the Covid shutdown. Yet in delays come blessings. As the break, led to a more character centered approach as each actor felt they had more time to prepare. 

Several cast members have agreed that Chris Sheridan, the series showrunner, greatly trusts the cast’s ideas. With everyone bringing something special to the table for a show with a dry tone to the Science Fiction hijinks that’s still somehow oddly grounded. It was also revealed that there would be guest stars who’ve had experiences with Aliens (as in working on alien productions… I hope). Linda Hamilton has likewise, confirmed to be guesting.

 

NYCC 2020 Metaverse: ‘American Gods Season 3’ Finds A Better Sense of Direction

By
Christian Angeles
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0

During the American Gods panel and the follow-up Q&A, we heard an incredibly in-depth discussion over details of this upcoming season.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CCfgdzBjJT0

With an emphasis on love of the new showrunner, Charles Eglee, the American Gods panel went underway without a hitch for NYCC metaverse online. As Ricky Whittle shared that he was excited that he got to be in scenes with other actors this season, and Neil Gaiman spoke about the Lakeside portion of the book that they’re adapting to come. Details about each shot of the show that was showcased, being nothing shy of magical. 

Season 3 from what we gathered, seems like an almost fresh restart of the series. With an emphasis on Charles Eglee and Neil’s collaboration on having a lot to do with the new storyline. It was said by Neil, that this season is seemly moving about more like a tightly wound machine. A story that’s finally going somewhere. Something which he hasn’t seen since early on in season one. Overall, the consensus during the panel was that the pacing is better and the series is less of an anthology and more of an actual story from beginning to end this time around. 

Likewise, it was revealed that newcomer Ashley Reyes will be playing a brand new character named Cordelia this season. She’s someone who is a little good at technology, which Wednesday thinks is brilliant, and so hires her for their war ahead. Cordelia is meant in many ways to play foil to Shadow Moon this season.  

From what we gather, Shadow is also on the run now. Done with Wednesday. Done with the war between the Old Gods and The New. Living as a lumberjack named Mike Ainsel. Meanwhile, Laura goes from being dead to becoming even more dead this season. Unable to cope with the idea that perhaps Shadow and her will forever be worlds apart, her character is going to delve a lot more into her own trauma. Perhaps figure out why she was so difficult as a human being. 

Overall, the general consensus was that there’s a lot more going on than previous seasons, and so is being more heavily promoted. It should also be noted that this was also the biggest planned panel of the online convention. With a live Q and A that followed afterward which you can see below.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpFReEjhm-4

Season 3 Is Set to Release Early 2021

 

NYCC 2020 Metaverse: ‘Ready Player Two’ Synopsis Revealed

By
Christian Angeles
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0
Ready Player Two

Ready Player Two is about Halliday’s hidden quest for his successor as Wade sees the stakes for humanity’s future raised yet again

For those who loved the Steven Spielberg movie, the Wil Wheaton narrated audiobook or even just the homage to classic gaming paperback, Ready Player One is set for a sequel called 

Ready Player Two. Set for release everywhere in the world where books, ebooks, and audiobooks are available, November 24th.

The book synopsis was revealed during NYCC 2020 Metaverse and was read by Wil Wheaton and is transcribed below: 

“An unexpected Quest. Two Worlds at stake. Are you ready?

Days after OASIS founder James Halliday’s contest, Wade Watts makes a discovery that changes everything. Hidden within Halliday’s vaults, waiting for his heir to find, lies a technological advancement that will once again change the world and make the OASIS more wondrous — and addictive — then even Wade dreamed possible. With it comes a new riddle and a new quest, a last Easter egg from Holiday, hinting at a mysterious prize, and an unexpected, impossibly powerful, new and dangerous rival awaits, one who will kill millions to get what he wants. Wade’s life and the future of the OASIS are again at stake, but this time, the fate of humanity also hangs in the balance.”

The panel also delved into Ernest’s humble origins as a broke tech specialist who lived in a trailer park. Experiences that translated directly into Ready Player One.

The original novel followed the story of Wade Watts, a trailer park kid growing up in the Stacks (the slums) Ohio, with no real friends, no money, and no real hope in mind. Whose only escape was the VR reality known as the Oasis, a videogame meta-haven incorporating every form of pop culture related entertainment, along with societies most prosperous businesses and living currency, and the final paradise of an environmentally ravaged and resource-scarce Earth. 

After a final Easter Egg challenge left by the Oasis’ creator, Wade goes on a quest that ultimately leads him on a journey of discovery, finding friends, paying homage to his favorite creator, and even, something more. There are also loads of 1980s pop culture references in ready Player One, along with a small homage to the evolution and history of gaming. It’s one of the most thoughtfully crafted adventures, and its massive fanbase, including myself, are more than excited to read the sequel.

 

NYCC 2020 Metaverse: ‘The Boys’ Hilarious Panel Is All Answers

By
Christian Angeles
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0
The Boys Season 2
Credit: Amazon

In this Q&A Panel, Showrunner Eric Kripke Went Straight to The Questions in a Fun Ensemble Panel. 

The Boys has been one of the most delightfully offensive shows that I’ve had the privilege of covering. Which is why I was happy to say that its panel, featuring the largest cast ensemble, was the most genuine convention experience this year. Including both San Diego Comic-Con and DC FanDome. 

In a zoom pane for NYCC 2020 Metaverse, The Boys A and Q gave us a lot more A’s than Q’s. As showrunner Eric Kripke did a masterful job of talking with fans and the cast was genuinely down to earth and interactive. All in funny ways. With some of the actors even dressed up incredibly well for the occasion. 

That said, the panel did an excellent job of spreading the wealth of its answers. As fans had plenty of questions for each cast member. The actors touched on rough topics regarding all of their characters, like Aya Cash’s Stormfront being a Nazi or Karen Fukuhara’s ‘The Woman’ and her use of Canadian sign language. What was refreshing was that the cast also had a lot of fun with it. With gems like what would their reaction be if Mother’s Milk’s name ever ran by and was learned in relation to Mr. Breast Milk drinking Homelander. Or, what it was like for Mother’s Milk to bite a giant love sausage… penis.  

The biggest surprise of the panel was a cameo by Shaquille O’Neal in a hilarious, extended, many-takes appearance. Asking the question about who was the biggest prankster on set. All, while showing off his own ‘superhero’ skills, in a request to be in Season 3 (who knows. Maybe Shaq will be able to).  It’s also said that the season finale, which should be airing in only moments, is going to be a tearjerker. One where you might need therapy.

NYCC 2020 Metaverse: ‘Invincible’ Confirms Michael Dorn as Battle Beast

By
Christian Angeles
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0
invincible
credit: Amazon

The Walking Dead’s Robert Kirkman talked about expectations for his new adapted comic series, Invincible. 

During a short panel at NYCC 2020 Metaverse, Hector Navarro moderated a question and answer panel about Robert Kirkman’s new animated series, Invincible. The story about a son who’s inheriting his father, Omni-Man’s superhero legacy. That and of crouse, the craziness behind the scenes of the life of a superhero.

Created by Kirkman, Ottley, and Cory Walker, it’s revealed the creators are working closely on the series to keep the comic as close to the animated show as possible. With all of the creators working on the series in some fashion. Likewise, the violence is revealed to actually be more intense than in the comic series in a surprise reveal. While there have been many confirmed A-list casts of characters, Robert Kirkman actually confirmed on the live panel that Battle Beast is revealed to be on the show. With Michael Dorn, from Star Trek, The Next Generation confirmed to be voicing the character. 

Invincible is coming in 2021

NYCC 2020 Metaverse: ‘Truth Seekers’ Debuts New Trailers

By
Christian Angeles
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0
truth seekers
credit: amazon

The Amazon original created by Nick Frost premieres Friday, October 30th

When we first covered Truthseekers at SDCC 2020 this summer, little details were known about this Nick Frost helmed comedy. But during this comic-cons Truth Seeker’s Panel, we saw a lot more revelations along with a brand new trailer of some video exclusives.

An Amazon Prime original, Truthseekers reunites Simon Pegg and Nick Frost into the realm of the supernatural. A supernatural comedy, the series is more ghosthunters than ghostbusters, with a little bit of X-Files inspired comedy sprinkled in between. What’s unique, is that the show is equal parts horror and comedy, not unlike the Cornetto trilogy. 

In Truthseekers, Nick Frost’s Gus goes on debunking myths in a search for truth. He has lost his wife several years ago and wants to wipe out the last vestige of hope that he will ever find her again, in this life or the next. He then meets Elton John (the in-show character not the singer) and his whole world changes, as the paranormal and the afterlife, are possibly real.

The cast shared their experiences of what it was like to audition for the series, with Nick Frost, overseeing casting personally. He also liked to begin the day with a big good morning hug, as the panel also revealed. 

The cast shared their own supernatural experiences in their own personal lives. Experiences with mermaids, grandmother spirits revealed to be squirrels, and of course a ghost: Simon and Nick Frost’s old roommate in their 20s. Apparently, the duo had some close encounters and often went off on supernatural investigations of their own as young single men. 

Malcolm MacDowell also revealed that he absolutely loved the scripts. He sought to work on this project, shot in England, despite not having been there in 20 years. The takeaway from the panel was that the cast really likes working together.  There was also, surprisingly good chemistry reported between each member of the cast. And though the series looks surprisingly scary, it was also very nostalgic. And surprisingly kind. 

“I think it was one of the only things that I watched where I didn’t cry because I didn’t hate it immediately.” 

 

‘Space Force’ Episode 6 Review – “The Spy”

By
Robert Kijowski
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0

With our actual Chief in Commander going more off the rails from his tweets, what more a fitting episode than this?

Keep digging deeper.

Coming off of that big-time win in the last episode, wherein Team Space Force trounced Team Air Force to overtake the contact for bionic exoskeletons in the face of enemy opposition, this episode of Space Force (Netflix) titled “The Spy” clearly spits in the face of a well earned victory through cunning in exchange for internal espionage. “There’s some Moles in this house, there’s some Moles in this house!”

General Mark Naird (Steve Carell) has yet to be privy to this news, however, as he is still riding and talking to the military press under the horrendously misjudged watchful eye of Fuck Tony (Ben Schwartz). It matters none, however as Steve gives proppers to Dr. Adrian Mallory (John Malkovich) for helping him make the papers and by proxy, getting him a conjugal visit by POTUS.

Highs are ephemeral today, though, as Mission Control is floundering due to India launching their new rocket with Adrian noticing their Pegasus Fin System, which is proprietary to Space Force being a key component in the successful launch. No time to speculate for Mark, however, for he has to make his “dentist” appointment. On his way out, General Naird notices Major Lee Baxter (Jamison Webb) recording the entire event on his phone. That may be a tooth that needs to be pulled.

On the helicopter out, Captain Angela Ali (Tawny Newsome) inquires and Mark cuts to the chase. This “mission” is special to him and as he chews the ear off of Captain Ali on how long he’d be willing to negotiate the visit to last, the rose betwixt his legs says it all, however, once outside of the plane, the actual flower is blown to bits by the ‘copter’s blades. A portent of things to come?

Yup. In the text from POTUS “sex is for winners.” The blades go full steam ahead as Mark is steaming…for getting no head.

Being reamed about by John Blandsmith (Dan Bekkedahl), both Mark and Adrian have their work cut out for them, as it’s the President’s B-Day. Adrian suggests launching the Climate Orbiter as a gift, but that is shot down quicker than Mark’s hard-on for success… but ohhh, Fuck Tony’s been eavesdropping and his about to make it rain confetti for the POTUS.

So who makes the shortlist of the long-game? Well, Yuri Telatovich (Alex Sparrow) for one. Baxter for a second. Mark puts Dr. Chan Kaifang (Jimmy O. Yang) on the list, but because he’s Adrian’s aide de camp, Adrian puts up Mark’s assistant Brad Gregory (Don Lake) for consideration. Let the line of questioning commence.

Chan slips up Mark by telling him about his search history concerning BWAM (with makes for a WAP), Brad slips up Adrian by being as vacuous as space, though not as deep. The Force isn’t strong with them.

Who it IS strong with though is Fuck Tony as he’s trying to rope an uninterested Chan in planning a gift for the Leader of the Free World’s born day…

Elsewhere on base, cadet Duncan Tabner (Spencer House) “attempts to make contact” with Mark’s daughter, Erin (Diana Silvers) at Meal Armstrong. He’s certainly left an impression on her, though her mission control is attempting to say ‘no signs of life acquired.’ Something landed in her brain, that’s for certain.

Onto the trail of fears we proceed, with Major Baxter coming to bat… or just a plain wrest his cellular. This amounts to nothing other than someone trolling him through social media… but is it enough to be believable? Well, Adrian has fun with posing as Baxter, but Mark transfers his post to an island that basically submerges at high tide.

Last on the list is Yuri, who is “smoov as a kookumber”, shall we say? This confident cutie pins the blame on the civilian contractor, Kelly King (Jessica St. Clair). While Adrian is objective, Mark’s feelings naturally hinder the process going forward.

With the drain trust, (as this is depleting U.S. taxpayers dollars) of F. Tony and Dr. Chan are trying to come up with a POTUS gift, and the only thing they can generate is who incompetent they both are.

It is now though the time for the General of a certain team to speak with the General of her certain team. After a deep stare in the oculars, he knows it was clearly her. This can’t possibly be a misjudge on his part, right? I mean a four-star general can trust his own gut, right?

Outside of here, Brad makes suspicions known after Dr. Mallory as being the leak in the pipe through double-encrypted emails. So after all of this time exploring their other Chanel No. 2’s, they’ve not explored the actual shit that was sprayed between them.  I SMELL A FIGHT!

As Fuck Tony and Chan present their gift to the Blandsmith, a star naming with zero results.

As General Naird decrypts the emails, he basically outs his aide-de-camp. Adrian had a crush on (musically) one of the test subjects on the Lunar Habitat, Jerome.

This would be the time in Rockets where we leave.

This wasn’t a breach of privacy but rather a breach of true trust. That is something that General Asshat has to come back from. Making someone vulnerable among his colleagues was enough… but what’s more pressing is the fact there was no spy. It was simply them.

While Fuck Tony and Chan still in a constant effort try to release the Kraken through a B-Day cake, they realize they are just a cog in the machine but will have the last tock, as he as horny for vengeance as he is horny for cum-uppance.

I didn’t spell that wrong.

What We Know About Army of The Dead And Its Spinoff

By
Christian Angeles
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0
army of the dead

All We Know About Zack Snyder’s Spiritual Sequel to his First Movie Hit: Dawn of The Dead

A zombie hand holds a bloody playing card with the words "Army of the Dead" written on the back.
Photo Credit: Netflix

With the Snyder Cut underway and a green lit Netflix series, Zack Snyder is making some heavy productions on the digital front. His upcoming Netflix original series, Army of the Dead, will be Zack Snyder’s spiritual successor to his Dawn of The Dead, his remake in 2004 of the George A. Romero classic.

A Zack Snyder original screenplay, much like his movies Sucker Punch or 300: Rise of An Empire, Army of The Dead is the story about a group of mercenaries that head into a zombie-infested Las Vegas to try and pull off the heist of the century. Though little details regarding the upcoming film are known, what is known is that the story had been in developmental hell for over a decade before being resurrected and helmed by its original creator.

Army of The Dead’s cast consists of Tig Notaro, Chris D’Elia, and Dave Bautista. The series is also expected to have an animated prequel.

Army Of The Dead: Lost Vegas

Army of the Dead Lost Vegas will be a companion prequel to Army of the Dead. An anime with an ace cast featuring many of Army of The Dead’s characters. It’s logline:

“The origin story of Scott and his rescue crew during the initial fall of Vegas as they confront the source of the mysterious zombie outbreak.”

Confirmed in the anime are Joe Manganiello (Justice League) as Rose, Christian Slater (Mr. Robot) as Torrance, Harry Lennix (The Blacklist) as Boorman, Ross Butler (13 Reasons Why) as Chen, Anya Chalotra (The Witcher) as Lucilia, Vanessa Hudgens (Tick, Tick… Boom!) as Willow, Jena Malone (Antebellum) as Zeta, Yetide Badaki (American Gods) as Queen Meeru, Christina Wren (Man of Steel) as Nicole, Monica Barbaro (The Good Cop) as Meagan, and acclaimed voice actor Nolan North (Uncharted) as Clemenson.

Zack Snyder himself will be directing two episodes, as Jay Oliva will be showrunning and directing two episodes as well. The series will be produced at Meduzarts Animation Studio.

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