Obi-Wan Kenobi is making his post-Revenge of the Sith animated debut this year as the battle between the Empire and the Rebels thrusts him into the action in a tense mid-season trailer for Star Wars Rebels.
And who’s that he’s facing off with? Darth Maul of course! It appears fans will get the first rematch between the two since Kenobi beat him at the end of Phantom Menace.
Other highlights from the trailer include:
Rogue One connections with the appearances of Saw Gerrera, Mon Mothma, and Death Troopers.
General Admiral Thrawn being scarier than ever – “They revealed their meager defenses, and it’s exactly this moment I’ve been waiting for.”
Sabine returns to Mandalore with the Dark Saber in tow, which she is learning to use thanks to her training with Kanan.
Obi-Wan Kenobi’s appearance being modeled after the late Alec Guinness.
It has to be repeated again – OBI-WAN KENOBI vs DARTH MAUL
Star Wars Rebels returns Saturday with a two-part episode.
Bioware has set the date for fans to explore the Andromeda galaxy.
Aaryn Flynn, General Manager of BioWare, announced today in a news post that Mass Effect: Andromeda will be releasing on March 21, 2017 in the US and March 23, 2017 in the EU.
Flynn added some detail on how the team managed to lock in the March date.
Over this holiday break, developers at BioWare took home a version of the game in what we call the “holiday build”. This is a longstanding studio tradition that goes back to the early days of the original Mass Effect. Many load up a PC or console and go home to play as much as possible at their leisure. Coming back from holiday, the feedback has been great. Getting the endorsement from members of our studio, many of whom played key roles on the original trilogy, was definitely a key factor in helping us lock in on the date.
Andromeda will tell new stories, feature new characters, new planets, new species, and introducing new gameplay systems. It will also be the first Mass Effect game to run on the Frostbite game engine, allowing for a giant graphical jump from the trilogy that preceded it.
It’s time to go full Psycho as A&E has set in stone the final premiere date for Bates Motel.
While the series has traditionally premiered in March, the fifth season of Bates Motel will debut a few weeks earlier on February 20 at 10 PM.
The new season adds the doomed character of Marion Crane, originally played by Janet Leigh, from Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho. Crane will be played by singer/pop star Rihanna.
Stranger than fiction. Sometimes real life events are so incredible that they seem like works of fiction. I’ve had a few moments in life where I found myself in the middle of something epic. But those were just moments. Imagine a life that rivals some of the greatest stories you’ve ever heard. Such a life belongs to Saroo Brierley, an Indian-born Aussie from humble yet extraordinary beginnings.
Lion begins with a window into the world of Saroo (Sunny Pawar, Love Sonia), an impoverished, adorably resilient five-year-old boy. He and his older brother Guddu supplement their mother’s meager income by panhandling on the streets of their small enclave, a tiny village in India. I was transported to another world, both morally and culturally. Saroo’s learned resourcefulness was a byproduct of the apathetic environment in which he lived. Yet his spirit was one of innocence and joy.
In my travels to Indonesia, I witnessed firsthand how those with the least have the most love in their hearts. It shines forth like a beacon, and that’s the quality young Saroo radiated into the world. All is well until one fateful day threatens to snuff out that little light. While waiting at a train station for his brother to return from securing work, Saroo inadvertently becomes trapped on a train and whisked hundreds of miles away. He disembarks in the congested city of Calcutta, where he does not speak the language and cannot describe his home. Lost in a shuffle of insidious indifference, Saroo fends for himself in a manner no child should have to. Danger lurks around every corner, as he narrowly escapes one pitfall after another.
Through sheer serendipity, Saroo finds himself at an orphanage, where a new family is eventually brokered. In yet another seismic shift in his life, he is adopted by an Australian couple, John (David Wenham, Goldstone) and Sue Brierley (Nicole Kidman, Secret in Their Eyes). This time the change is one that brings peace and healing, as John and Sue give Saroo the love and security he so desperately needs, filling his childhood with joy once again.
Fast-forward 25 years and Saroo (Dev Patel, Chappie) is a fresh-faced young man coming into his own. He has a girlfriend Lucy (Rooney Mara, Carol) and has nestled into a secure life. But no matter how wonderful things have become, Saroo can’t escape the nagging memory of the life he once knew. He longs to find the mother and brother whom he believes never stopped searching for him. Hampered by poverty and a deficient local infrastructure, it was virtually impossible for Saroo to have been reunited with his family after he came to be stranded in Calcutta as a child. Now that he is an adult, he embarks on the emotional journey to find his family. Saroo is torn between wounding his adoptive parents and satisfying his own longing to reconnect with a forgotten part of himself, toiling away in frustration in an effort to pinpoint the area in which he grew up.
I frequently extoll the virtue of film’s ability to illicit emotion and remain with the viewer long after watching. The most powerful films feel like an emotional investment. As I’m oft to repeat, the beauty of film as an artistic medium lies in its ability to transcend outward differences and to convey the profound depth of the human experience. With all that’s going on in the world, it’s nice to experience something good about the human condition, to connect with another story on an emotional level. Lion was a beautiful film, and I felt deeply moved and emotionally invested in what I was watching. One of the year’s best.
Spoilers through TWD Season Three: A New Frontier Episode Two: Ties That Bind Part II
A strange thing happened last night while streaming Telltale’s The Walking Dead season three: A New Frontier–Bilal, Leo, and myself all came to the same conclusion that Clementine had us wrapped around her little finger. Each of us fell into different camps based on this revelation: Leo was of the mindset that Clem’s nostalgia played too heavily on decision-making; Bilal proclaimed he would go to the ends of the earth for our little heroine; and I, I concluded that Clem was about to pull the rug out from under fans’ feet in a big way. You see, while I agree with Leo’s assessment that fan’s affections for Clem play a role in the story at large, I think that’s for a reason: Clementine is our villain.
Of all the characters who have come and gone through The Walking Dead universe, I ask you, who has suffered more than Clementine? As a young girl she watched her parents become walkers, witnessed fellow children, friends, slain around her, and was faced with not one, not two, but at least three horrible decisions to kill parental figures under the guise of “saving” them. Of all the characters in The Walking Dead, Clementine is the most grown up, the most hardened because she was never given an opportunity to be a child. She doesn’t have memories of “jumping across rooftops” or TV shows or even disliking school because she has never been afforded that luxury. The only thing Clementine knows is survival.
And that’s what makes her the perfect villain for the series.
Clementine’s “turn” has been a long time coming. For a while now, we (ahem, me) have chosen the greater good as Clementine. Sacrificing loved ones like Lee were a necessary evil because it meant one less walker out in the world. Clementine has learned from every death what it means to survive and the darkness that comes along with that “luxury.” Sacrifice one for the many is practically a mantra in the post-apocalyptic Walking Dead world and Clementine swears by it.
After the deaths of Lee, Omid, Luke, Kenny, and Jane, Clementine isn’t the same polite little girl we met in season one. She’s a character who has learned to never put down her weapon, to stand up for herself when she’s been swindled, and most importantly, to never trust or grow too attached. But that’s the funny thing with trust, it goes two ways. Clementine might not rightfully trust anyone, but we, as players, trust Clementine without question. We’ve watched this girl grow over the course of two seasons and we think that above all else we can depend on her survival to get us (as Javier) through every ordeal.
And yet, if we look at Javier and his interactions with Clem through an unbiased lens, she comes across as a wholly different character. Clem is irrational, killing the weapons dealer Eli in Prescott. She is vengeful, ready to murder the New Frontier attackers at the drop of a hat. She is distrustful of anyone, like Conrad, who might out her secret that she was once a member of The New Frontier.
After playing through the first two episodes of The Walking Dead season three, I think that Clementine is much more than an ex-member of The New Frontier. I think she is, at the very least, responsible for their rise to power, and at the most, their leader.
Here’s why I think that: Clem is cold, calculating, and unbelievably smart. She sees the world as a chess match, ten steps faster than anyone else. Most importantly, she understands and believes in the unpredictable nature of humanity. She takes a tree down in front of the New Frontier truck driver early on, not to save Javier, but to stop the truck. Why do so if she wasn’t saving him or looting goods? Personally, I think the driver was trying to leave The New Frontier, which Clem was okay with, as long as he didn’t take her belongings. Killing the weapons dealer Eli in Prescott wasn’t just an enraged act–it was taking out the possible resistance. Without a gun supply, how does Prescott fight back against invasion? We, as Javier, don’t know that Eli sold her those bullets, but we know Clem, so we trust her word.
Clementine stays behind to get vengeance on the men who killed Mariana, but then we see those same men follow her (closely but not close enough to kill her) to Prescott. She’s willing to kill a few of them to save face in front of Javier because to Clem, gaining his trust and the trust of Prescott is more valuable than a handful of dudes with guns. She’s playing the long con. The most damning evidence against Clem is that SHE is the who suggests that the group goes to Richmond and when Jesus tells them it’s overrun with The New Frontier, she doesn’t question him because she’s not shocked, she’s angry. She can’t go to Richmond with them because not only do they know who she is, but she’s important, and that recognition would blow any trust she might have with Javier and his group.
I don’t think that Clementine leads The New Frontier because of some misguided lust for power–Clementine knows full well what power gets you in this world–but instead, I think because of her penchant for uniting people behind her abilities, the position is thrust upon her and she has to use that power for her belief in the greater good. Once she has Javier’s trust, his dependence on her for survival, he, like us as players, is wrapped around her finger. It’s not a “join us or we kill you” proposition but rather a “join us or you die out there without me” exchange. Clementine clearly has a way with getting people to follow her, and I argue that she has successfully done so with The New Frontier, and she sees in that unification that humans might actually be able survive, instead of dying off one by one in their small, confined groups. Clem, of all people, has seen what group war and in-fighting can do to the human race. By uniting the “bad guys,” she can become a force for good, but to do so, she needs weapons, vehicles, and manpower.
Telltale has been criticized for its illusion of choice in their episodic games. While I won’t deny the truth of that assessment, I argue that Clementine becoming a villain would put a unique spin on that argument. No matter what we choose as Javier, we the players, have shaped Clementine. Our choices to make her a stronger, more capable character have led her to this moment, this moment where she actually betrays us, the fans. I suspect that at some point throughout the season we will have to choose between staying with Clementine and her New Frontier or facing the harsh post-apocalyptic world, without her help.
(I recognize that Clementine as a villain would be a huge twist, one I’m fully in support of, but even if you disagree with my theory, you can’t deny that Clem has acted suspicious as hell in the first two episodes of The Walking Dead season three.)
Spoilers through The Walking Dead Season Three: A New Frontier: Episode Two – “The Ties That Bind”
With the surge in popularity of episodic games, developers are feeling the pressure to make sequels to these games. Titles like: Life is Strange, Game of Thrones, and Batman are all slated to receive sequels in the coming months. The most recent is Telltale’s third season of The Walking Dead.
The success of the first season of Telltale’s The Walking Dead was unprecedented. As of July 28, 2014, 28 million episodes of the game have been sold with over 90 “Game of the Year” awards received. A sequel was inevitable.
Throughout first two seasons of The Walking Dead series, we have followed the story of a little girl named Clementine. In the first season, the story was experienced through the perspective of Lee Everett and in the second season, Clementine took on the role of protagonist. We made decisions, both awkward and realistic, via her perspective. Due to all the time spent with this little girl, players have bonded with her and are fully invested in her character. From our first encounter with her as an eight-year-old girl living in an Atlanta suburb to an adolescent girl now, we have seen her endure so many trials, experience so many deaths, even going so far as killing people that she loved so dear. (Yea, I was one of those players who shot Kenny. I DIDN’T WANT TO BUT HE LEFT ME NO CHOICE!)
Season three of The Walking Dead is now available for download and our hero is a completely new character, Javier Garcia. While he is a fresh and interesting protagonist, the developers have kept our lovable girl, Clementine, in the game. As much as I love Telltale for keeping Clementine in, I also hate that they did. Because Clementine is introduced fairly early in Episode One, I feel that I have not bonded with Javier yet.
Almost all of my decisions as Javier were skewed towards Clementine’s wishes. When I first encountered Clementine in Episode One, I listened to whatever she said. When she wanted me to have her back for shooting a guy–DONE!–no questions asked. When she sided with me for wanting to go visit the junkyard in the morning with Tripp, I felt reassured that she agreed with my decision. When she said I needed to stay and fight the people at the junkyard, I threw my body over a grenade/flashbang for it.
My dedication to Clementine further escalated in Episode Two: there were many times where Clementine said she had to leave and I would always pick the option of letting her know that she could stay with us. When she had my back when I snuck up on Jesus, a part of me squealed like a little school girl. I was completely shocked when Clementine revealed she was part of The New Frontier. Even after I found out, I completely trusted her and killed a man who wanted to use her as bait, instead. I always had her back regardless of the situation.
As it turns out, though, I was not in the minority. From when I played the game, 94.4% of players got locked up with her and 84.1% of players stayed with Clementine at the end of Episode One. In Episode Two, 91.4% of players shot Conrad.
This leads me to my main question: should episodic games continue to have familiar characters even when their story had clearly run its course? With only two episodes out so far, I still do not feel too much of a connection with Javi. I find myself wanting to learn more and more about Clem. I want Episode Three to come out soon not because I care all that much about the development of the story between Javi and his brother, but because I want to know what exactly happened between Clem and the New Frontier. What were the hardships that Clem faced to make her even more cold-blooded than when I left her?
Because we have a character, like Clem, who we are so invested in, players cannot make decisions rationally. The story becomes less of what we want but more of a reaffirmation of our own biases. When I reflect on the Conrad scenario, Conrad has a point. Here is this ex-baseball star trusting the words of some adolescent girl he met that day, instead of doing everything in his power to save his own family. No rational human being would do that. It would be interesting to see the percentage of the people who did not shoot Conrad who were new players to the game.
I fear what may become of Clementine. I pray that the writers at Telltale do not destroy this girl that I love so much. I fear that the writers will put in some crazy plot twist and tarnish my vision of Clementine, my sweet, sweet Clementine.
So I ask you the reader, what are your thoughts on this situation? We here at the Workprint would love to hear your thoughts and comments.
MOST IMPORTANTLY, WHERE IS AJ? THIS POOR GIRL RAISED AJ FROM A BABY ALL BY HERSELF! WHAT ON EARTH HAPPENED? PLEASE LET HIM BE SAFE!
It’s been over two years since we last saw Clementine in Telltale’s The Walking Dead. The captivating story of the young survivor in the zombie apocalypse served as a launchpad for countless franchises for Telltale, and after a long overdue hiatus, the series has returned with its third season, The Walking Dead: A New Frontier.
Telltale has done a fantastic job allowing players to craft their iterations of their story in its take on The Walking Dead universe. Even if you are not a fan of the show or comic book, you can find your own little niche here in your own little world. With the launch of season three today, fans are in for a treat.
Unlike most action-driven games in the current day, The Walking Dead continues its point-and-click, choose-your-own-adventure play, interspersed with a few quick time events to keep your fingers warm. Telltale games don’t focus on innovative combat or stunning graphics (not that they’re lacking in the latter). Instead, the focus is on the writing and the choices you, as the main character, make in this world that is The Walking Dead.
The graphics have not changed much from the first two seasons but it feels more refined. Fans who have played the first two seasons will easily fall back into the groove with gameplay staying roughly the same. A New Frontier itself is smooth and I ran into no bugs occurred during my playthrough of either episode. What has changed, though, is the player’s point of view. Instead of seeing the world via the eyes of Clementine, players now take control of newcomer Javier Garcia as his post-apocalyptic story propels him into Clementine’s life.
The story so far has been intriguing. With the introduction of Javier comes a brand new cast of characters. Clementine does make an appearance and if you have played through the first two seasons, I do not have a doubt in my mind that your decisions may be swayed by her dialogue.
Episode 1 was very much packed with a ton of backstory. Due to the fact that there is an introduction of a new cast, Telltale needed to fill us in on what has been going on with them. Veterans of the game may be a bit disappointed by this due to our bond with Clementine. Fear not, as Telltale certainly recognizes this and satiates our thirst via flashback scenes with Clementine.
Episode 2 focuses more on moving the plot forward. The story though does give enough foreshadowing that makes certain events less surprising. This takes away from some of the suspense, but it does prove effective. The folks here at the Workprint, who pride ourselves as avid moviegoers, were mixed as to what we could and could not predict. Certain things came very obviously to some people and other things were missed. Regardless the plot has definitely been built and we here at the Workprint will wait through these long winter months for the arrival of Chapter 3.
Final Grade: 8.5/10
P.S. – THIS ONLY GOES TO SHOW YOU WHY YOU NEVER MESS AROUND WITH MARRIED WOMEN!!!!!
Over Thanksgiving, nearly a decade after the series finale, Netflix released the revival to the beloved TV show, Gilmore Girls. Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life explores the lives of Lorelai, Rory, and their beloved town of Stars Hollow, all of whom are now nine years older and wiser. While the highly anticipated Gilmore Girls revival brought back many warm nostalgic feelings, it lacked the heart of the original series.
Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life was told in four 90 minute episodes, each representing a different season of the year (Winter, Spring, Summer and Fall). One of the major flaws of the series was not appreciating the difficulties of condensing a season’s worth of story arcs into this shortened format and thus resulted in the flandarization of Stars Hollow. Flandarization, named for The Simpsons character Ned Flanders, is when a show takes a small, and usually quirky, trait of a character and over time exaggerates it to the point where it defines that character. Sitcoms are notorious for playing into this trope. Think of the evolution of Joey and Phoebe’s stupidity throughout the run of Friends, or Eric Matthew’s from Boy Meets World. The nuances of all three of these characters were lost by the end of the series and they were reduced to only being the “dumb stupid character.” And this is the same fate that faced Stars Hollow in the Netflix revival of Gilmore Girls.
Most of the Stars Hollow sub-plots read as random and out-of-place to the point where I am not sure the writers could explain their placements. I imagine that one day the show runners brought a confetti cannon into the writing room and asked everyone to jot down any ideas they had onto little pieces of paper. They then loaded that confetti cannon with those tiny pieces of paper and shot it at a storyboard for the series which was covered with sticky stuff. All ideas that stuck to the board were inserted into the show at the exact point they landed and that was that.
Okay, that is a bit of an exaggeration, but it does seem as though they tried to cram seven seasons worth of quirky, funny Stars Hollow stories into their allotted 360 minutes. The thing is, though, that the town’s quirkiness was not the only reason the audience loved Stars Hollow. They loved it because of its warmth, its openness and acceptance. They loved it because it took in a scared 16-year-old single mother and gave her a home. They loved it because the crotchety grocery store owner/self-appointed town leader was a pain in the ass, but always had the best intentions. They loved it because of the amazing characters that lived in it, and the relationships they formed. And, as it happens, these characters were also weird, unique, and funny. But that was not who they were, it was just a part of who they were.
The Stars Hollow plot lines that worked were the ones that fit into the narrative of the series; for example, The Secret Bar. The Secret Bar was first mentioned in “Spring” when Babbette almost spilled the beans of its existence to Taylor. We were then introduced to the Secret Bar, located in a back alley of Stars Hollow, in the following episode when Michel brought Lorelai there. The Secret Bar was successful as a side story because it served numerous purposes: a place for Lorelai and Michel to meet outside of the Dragonfly Inn, a platform to demonstrate that Zach and Lane are still able to perform music outside of their living room, and most importantly, it showed the entire town’s teamwork to keep the bar secret from Taylor.
The Stars Hollow plot lines that didn’t work were one-offs, such as the Mrs. Kim’s choir full of frightened Korean teenagers who flinched every time they heard a tambourine, or the offensive fat shaming that occurred while Lorelai and Rory lounged at the Stars Hollow Municipal pool in “Summer.” The worst plot line was the infamous 20-minute long “Stars Hollow Musical” Rehearsal, which served absolutely no purpose. After each number I let out a sigh of relief that it was finally over, only to be greeted by a new song! But the thing is, that was only the rehearsal and there wasn’t even any follow-up. Did anyone come to the play? Did it actually happen? I do not remember this being addressed which makes the long ass time I spent watching the musical even more pointless.
The worst part about Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life focusing on the eccentric aspects of characters is that it left little room for what I consider the most important part of the show: the relationships. At it’s heart, Gilmore Girls was a show about relationships. The relationship between Lorelai and Rory; Lorelai and Emily Gilmore; Luke and Lorelai. And I was sad that the show felt that it had to pack in so much fluff, like a guest appearance by Rachael Ray (but like really WHY DID YOU DO THAT, GILMORE GIRLS? WHY?), and a cringe-inducing Life and Death Brigade segment, instead of focusing on what made this show work.
For me, the part of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life that shined the brightest was everything Emily. More than anything, this revival humanized Emily in a way that the original series never did as she tried to navigate her life without Richard. Emily was the star of this series partly because relationships were at the center of all of her story lines. For one of the first times, we got a little more insight into Emily’s side of her relationship with her daughter. One of my favorite scenes is when Lorelai and Emily are sitting in group therapy in silence, and the scene cut to the two of them hysterically laughing at a story Lorelai is recounting from her childhood. I don’t think we have ever seen Lorelai and Emily ever truly laugh like that together, and genuinely bring that much joy to one another. It was hard not to watch that scene and smile even though a second later they are sitting in dead silence not knowing what to talk about next. The series also delved into Emily’s relationship with the women of the DAR and her growing affection for her maid and her extensive family to the point where she considers them family.
The best relationship portrayed in the limited series was Emily’s relationship with herself via her grief for Richard. At first, Emily questioned who she was without her husband. What was her new identity? She didn’t know if she really liked the things she thought she liked which resulted in her–wait for it–putting on a pair of Lorelai’s jeans (the horror!). But as the seasons passed, Emily started to discover who she was and what she wanted, and found her happy ending living in Nantucket as a Whale Hunting Museum docent. But don’t you worry, Emily still got cursed by that Writing Room Confetti Cannon through the “Let’s Franchise Luke’s Diner” story line.
In the end, I almost feels like “Stars Hollow The Musical” is representative of Gilmore Girls: A Year in the Life as a whole. The show runners are Taylor Doose, throwing every exciting idea that pops into their minds into the show without considering the outcome as a whole. Everyone involved in creating the show are the musical advisory committee who think that the production is going to be amazing because it is so over the top. And the rest of us, well, we are Lorelai with our mounds of clipboards screaming at the screen “NO, NOT ANOTHER TAP DANCING NUMBER.”
Spoilers through Batman: TTS, episode five: “City of Light”. There are some major spoilers, as this review covers the entirety of the first season, so you have been warned.
I’m always hesitant when Telltale announces a new IP for their games, and yet, by the end of every season, I find myself pleasantly surprised by Telltale’s ability to so completely mirror these already established worlds. Batman: The Telltale Series is no different. If you’re a fan of the Bat, be it movies, comics, or video games, there’s something in Batman: TTS to enjoy. Of course, with Telltale staying true to themselves, Batman: TTS takes what we know about the hero and turns it on its head, challenging what we know about Bruce Wayne and his origin story.
This review isn’t so much a discussion of episode five: “City of Light,” but more a reflection on all five episodes as a whole. As someone who enjoys Batman for his great selection of stories (and villains), I was excited for Telltale’s take on the cowled hero. While I find myself mostly positive on the game itself, I want to nitpick some of the finer points of the story because while this is a GOOD Batman story, overly familiar characters and unnecessary twists kept Batman: TTS from being a GREAT Batman story.
The Good
Alfred: Alfred is easily the heart of any Batman plot. As Alfred goes, so does Bruce Wayne, so I’m glad that Telltale kept this character mostly true to the butler we all know and love. When it came time to save Alfred from Lady Arkham, it was a no-brainer choice for me to remove Batman’s cowl to save his dear friend. In Alfred we trust.
I do have one concern with Alfred in Batman: TTS, however: if he knew about Thomas Wayne and his brutal nature, why was he so incredibly loyal? Was it because of Bruce and Martha? Why did he not tell Bruce the truth sooner?
(Gordon also falls into this “Good” category but I’m of the mindset that he was criminally underused. Montoya was a pleasant surprise, however.)
Selina Kyle/Catwoman: A lot of fans love to hate on Catwoman and her tendency to leave through the bathroom window, but I cannot help but love her. There’s something utterly charming about trying to woo a woman who refuses to let her true colors show. She’s a self-serving thief first and foremost and that’s endearing to me. In regards to Bruce, she’s a necessary evil. Selina is a reminder that while people have the ability to be bad, there’s also hope for them to surprise you with their goodness, as well. After the events of Batman: TTS, Bruce needs that hope in his life, even if romancing Selina (I’m only human!) did put a “dent” in his friendship with Harvey.
Combat/Detective Mode: The biggest concern I had with following a Bruce Wayne-centric story was that it had the potential to be boring, full of fruitless dialogue and monotony. Thankfully, Telltale alleviated some of that boring “walk in circles and inspect items” routine by adding the Detective Mode. Rob discussed it a bit more in his initial review of episode one, but I just want to say I’m a huge fan of any time Telltale adds more interaction to their story telling. Combat was mostly good, except for when I ran into framerate issues, which I’ll discuss more below.
The Bad
The Waynes: I hate Batman’s origin story; not because it’s bad but because I feel like there’s not a single person who doesn’t know it. Much like the overuse of the Joker, no one tells a Batman story without first showing how his parents died. Spoiler alert: we all know they were killed, leaving Bruce a tormented orphan who was afraid of bats. That being said, I applaud Telltale for taking this image of Thomas Wayne and twisting it so much that Bruce had to deal with the fallout. I thoroughly enjoyed Bruce coming to terms with actually being ashamed of being a Wayne.
However, I struggle with the notion that Thomas Wayne was such a bad guy that only the other bad guys really knew the extent of it. Alfred really kept that secret from Bruce for decades? Bruce really didn’t notice anything in the books? Falcone never used that information against a young, impressionable Bruce? Instead, I would have much preferred a subtler villain in Thomas Wayne, one who was less “kill, kill, make money, kill.”
On a similar note: did Bruce never step foot in Arkham Asylum? I know most of his villains come from the facility but I’ve always struggled with the fact that it obviously looks like a place that breeds insanity and hostility. I’d much rather see a cleaner, more hospitable facility that belied a sense of evil, rather than one that straight up looks like it belongs on an episode of TLC’s Most Haunted Buildings from the 17th Century.
Harvey Dent: I loved Harvey in Batman: TTS. He was a character I truly wanted to believe in because at the end of the day, I thought he was likable and charming. But Harvey, in my mind, never stood a chance because Harvey Dent, AKA Two-Face, is one of Batman’s most recognizable villains. Do you know why I saved Selina and stole her away from Harvey? Because I KNEW no matter what I did, Harvey would become Two-Face. Instead of saving the fallen hero, I put my faith in the anti-hero who would probably save me when push comes to shove. If Batman: TTS had gone with a lesser known villain, maybe that could have been avoided, but Harvey was doomed not because of his friendship with Bruce, but because of his history in the Batman lore. I discussed this more in my review of episode three, but my relationship with Harvey became dictated by a self-fulfilling prophecy, and in some ways, that ruined him for me.
Oswald Cobblepot: Much like with Harvey, the same issues could be said for Cobblepot. I knew he was going to be a character I’d never trust and honestly, I struggled to understand his purpose by the end of the season. Why did Telltale feel the need to turn him into a young, troubled football brute who probably cheers for Manchester City? Bruce already has several childhood-friends-turned-villains. Why alter Cobblepot to fit that mold? Why not instead create the Hush game I’ve been begging for? Cobblepot wasn’t a TERRIBLE villain, all things considered, he just wasn’t necessary.
The Two-Faced
Performance Issues: I’m not a graphics snob. I make that fact plain because I need it to be clear that I don’t expect every game to run flawlessly and at a crisp 4k resolution. (I’m not Bilal, y’all.) I also know what it’s like to play a Telltale game with FPS issues because I’ve played EVERY Telltale game. That being said, despite the new engine, framerate issues in episode five were an honest-to-goodness disaster. I don’t like blaming games for my follies (of which I have many), but there were combat sequences where I straight up missed attacks because of the lag. The episode’s climactic moments were slammed to a halt because of the constant stuttering and buffering. I’m almost certain I missed out on important dialogue because the game couldn’t catch up to itself. The combat sequences would have been stunning, had they not glitched through the entirety of the fight. Again, I want to reiterate that I don’t mind performance issues, but the issues in episode five on the Xbox One were absolutely unacceptable.
The Joker/John Doe: Why does every Batman story rely on the Joker as a source of tension for Bruce? I know he’s THE Batman villain, but his cameo appearances felt wholly unneccessary for the game at large and it came across like a fan service move to get gamers excited by his appearance. Batman has one of the best gallery of rogues of any superhero. We don’t NEED the Joker for a good Batman story. But given the ending of the season, it looks like we’ll be getting a lot more of him.
Vicki Vale/Lady Arkham: I wasn’t happy with the twist that Vicki Vale was Lady Arkham, mostly because it felt like a twist for the sake of having a twist. I know that Telltale is working on a limited timeline here and creating an engaging background for a villain in only a few hours is difficult work, but given Vicki’s demeanor and actions in the first two episodes, it almost feels like her transition to villain was a spur of the moment decision, rather than an organic decision that was integrated in the story from the very beginning.
And the thing is, I liked all of the pieces Telltale created for Vicki. She’s a take-no-shit reporter who gets her job done, and well. I trusted her over Gordon in the first episode. As Lady Arkham, she’s a compelling villain with a disturbing background whose motivation and need for revenge makes complete sense. However, I cannot, even now, reconcile that the two are the same person. Maybe it’s because they never showed Vicki behind the Lady Arkham suit. Maybe it’s because as soon as she decided to kill her foster parents, she shaved her head and lost her mind. But we never SAW any of that descent into darkness. We never saw Vicki as anyone other than the gung-ho reporter and that’s a shame because she could have been fantastic.
Also, I refuse to believe that, as Batman, we let Vicki be crushed to death under a pile of rocks. That ending didn’t sit well with me.
I don’t begrudge Telltale for the Batman story they told. In order to lure in fans they needed to rely on familiarity and fan service to keep people interested. And, let’s be honest, I still had a ton of fun playing through the series. Despite performance issues and a disconnect with the main villain, I still recommend the game to anyone who is a fan of Batman. Telltale has given us the best version of Bruce Wayne I’ve ever seen in a Batman medium and for that, I’m grateful. However, I’m hoping now that fans see that the story is in capable hands, Telltale can take bigger risks with season two and I eagerly await their rendition.
Since we’re talking about the trailer for season four of The 100, clearly there will be spoilers for all of the aired episodes.
The 100 returns February 1, 2017, but since The CW knows fans have been champing at the bit for more information, they decided to release one heck of a trailer as a gift for the holidays. Three minutes chock full of radiation poisoning, stabbing, and romance, and I, for one, couldn’t be more excited.
Let me preface this with: this trailer has absolutely NO CHILL. I honestly feel like I’ve spoiled myself for the season after having watched it, but maybe The 100 learned its lesson after giving away too much in its season three trailer. (Maybe.)
There’s a lot to discuss from the trailer, mostly that it looks like we aren’t going to be getting down time any time soon for our friends. We could go into immense detail over theories surrounding ALIE and her role in the upcoming season, where the Adventure Squad might head next, and so on. I won’t, because 1. I still haven’t properly composed my thoughts concerning this trailer and 2. every other site on the internet is already rife with speculation.
That being said, I want to discuss the parts of the trailer got me the most excited. SO LET’S DO THAT, KIDS.
The return of friendly faces
With the way The 100 kills off characters, I was sure that we wouldn’t have many returning players for season four, especially not when it came to secondary characters. How-to-the-ever, we were lucky enough to see Indra (My girl! Alive and well!), Roan, Niylah (!), and Luna (!!!) in the trailer. I wondered if Luna would play a larger part in season four and it looks as though we’ll see her in at least one episode. From the sound of things out of Comic-Con, Luna’s oil rig gets hit by radiation early on, so here’s hoping she survives that ordeal and joins the Adventure Squad.
Clarke and Bellamy Reunited
I’m not a Bellarke shipper, but I do love the two of them together. As long as Clarke and Bellamy are together, I have hope for the rest of the characters. As Bellarke goes, so does everyone else. When they lose their way, so does everyone else. They’ve suffered the most out of any of the characters on The 100, but they bear that burden as a unit and I HOPE that season four finds the two of them leading as a pair.
Kabby kiss
Given the nature of The 100, it’s almost stupid to try to romantically ship two people. After the loss of my baby, Lexa, I put all my marbles in the Kabby ship, hoping that at least they could find some semblance of happiness. AND LOOK! They’re kissing in the trailer!
Actually, much like in Game of Thrones, happiness is fleeting, so now I’m worried about the state of my Kabby romance.
Monty/Murphy Calling out Clarke
A lot of people don’t like Clarke and her “I’m just trying to save everyone” attitude. Personally, I think she’s done more than anyone else (except maybe Bellamy) when it comes to keeping Skaikru alive, but hey, I get their frustrations. Which is why it was a teensy bit satisfying to watch Monty AND Murphy call her out in the trailer.
New Heda?
With the loss of Lexa and Luna uninterested in the job, the Grounders still need someone they can rally behind, otherwise they might descend into chaos. From this image, it looks as though there might be a new Heda, one who hopefully can work with Clarke, Kane, Roan, and (maybe?) Luna to get the human race through the inevitable destruction of Earth.
Smiling Jasper
Jasper hasn’t had much to smile about these days, so it’s nice to see that he looks like he’s genuinely happy. There were rumors that his character might commit suicide at some point during season three, and even though he can be frustrating at times, I’m glad that he’s still around.
Skairippa Octavia
Octavia has absolutely NO CHILL in the trailer. Most of her scenes are of her being pissed off and/or stabbing people. She’s gotten her revenge on Pike for killing Lincoln, but I don’t think that’s enough for Octavia. Given her callous attitude, it seems as though she’s headed down a dark path and because of my love for the character, I’m unbelievably excited. (Indra seems less pleased, however.)
KANE’S BEARD
IT STILL LIVES.
What about you? What were your favorite parts of the immense trailer for The 100’s fourth season?
The 100 season four premiers on February 1, on The CW.
Earlier this year, I feared the worst for Rogue One: A Star Wars Story. Plagued with stories of extensive reshoots and Director Gareth Edwards being replaced during the post production process, it seemed that this first Star Wars spin-off film was destined to be a mangled mess of conflicting creative input driven by big studio meddling.
Whatever the real story behind the making of this film is irrelevant though, because as it stands the film is something of an action masterpiece.
In fact, Rogue One feels more like a sequel to the 1977 original than any of the films in the series that have come since then. And yes, this is indeed a prequel to that film, but in tone and spirit no other film has come closer to matching it than Rogue One. I realize that some of you are reading that and saying, “But wait – The Empire Strikes Back is the greatest Star Wars film!” And yes, that still might be the case, BUT Rogue One captures the spirit of the original by fully investing in the gritty side of the universe and the sort of blue collar folk who inhabit it. Missing from the main action here are princesses and Jedi Knights. Instead we get a ragtag group of lovable characters who remind of us of Luke, Han, Chewie, and the gang before they became all that they became to be in the various sequels.
The characters of Rogue One are an intoxicating blend of comical, strong, haunted, and selfless. This mix is led by Jyn Erso (Felicity Jones) who has the unwelcome distinction of being the daughter of the man who created the terrible Death Star (Mads Mikkelsen) and the surrogate daughter of a rebel fighter, Saw Gerrera (Forest Whitaker) who has taken to extremism and no longer fights in conjunction with the Rebel Alliance. When forced to try coaxing Gerrera into rejoining the alliance, Jyn eventually teams up with a hard edged spy (Diego Luna), a reprogrammed Imperial droid with no filter (voiced hilariously by Alan Tudyk), a defector Imperial pilot (Riz Ahmed), a blind man deeply religious with the Force (Donnie Yen in possibly the film’s standout performance), and a gun-toting sharpshooter (Wen Jiang).
In many ways this crew is the Dirty Dozen in space. Their relationships are varied and complex and ultimately touching as they go on a journey that pits them against a villainous Imperial officer (Ben Mendelsohn) determined to protect his Death Star from Rebel meddling.
I honestly won’t go into more detail than I’ve discussed here because for once the film’s marketing doesn’t give away most of the film’s plot! The story takes multiple twists and turns and features a rousing climax that will make you cheer, laugh, and possibly weep. Seriously, most of you won’t see this type of climax coming from a major franchise film.
What I will reveal though is that fans hoping for some fun cameos are in for a major Christmas treat as some seriously geektastic appearances come at you left and right once the film really gets moving. But beyond that my lips are sealed until you’ve seen it for yourself!
The special effects are of course marvelous, the design is perfectly in tune with the original film, and as the first film in the series to not have John Williams on board as composer even the music feels right thanks to the always reliable Michael Giacchino.
In short, Gareth Edwards has set the bar incredibly high for any future Star Wars spin-offs (the young Han Solo movie being next up on deck) and it’s hard to now look back and worry that he may have fumbled this one. This is one of those rare big movie experiences in recent memory that seems to have fully surmounted all of the bad mojo and rumors that preceded its release. It’ll be fascinating to someday hear the true dirt about how the making of this film played out but regardless of behind the scenes drama, what makes it onto theater screens this weekend is nothing short of a triumph and proves that there’s more magic in Star Wars beyond the story of the Skywalker clan. Rogue One opens the door to endless stories in that galaxy far, far away and I look forward to returning there anytime I can.
Incorporated
Season 1, Episode 2: “Downsizing”
Wednesday, December 07 , 2016
Incorporated gets right down to business this week in “Downsizing” as Spiga launches a full investigation into Chad’s treason, and we get to meet Theo’s boyfriend!
“Downsizing” begins with a flashback to 2062 with Aaron/Ben’s father confessing his sins to his son on a rooftop. This scene serves as a nicely packaged exposition to let the audience know a little bit about how the world became the hell hole it currently is. Aaron’s father worked for an insurance company that was rigged to make sure that no one got home insurance payouts when mother nature hit. Instead, everyone in the insurance world was driving around in their gas guzzling Hummers with their AC cranked up to make sure they released as much CO2 into the air as possible. His explanation of the evil insurance companies almost makes it sound like the insurers and Mother Nature were in cahoots? Wait do you think that is why conservatives deny global warming? Because they actually have an under the table deal with the Mother Nature to make more money? Food for thought.
After Papa Aaron confesses his sins he apologizes to his son and he jumps off the rooftop to his death. Young Aaron is now an orphan set to navigate the life of a climate refuge on his own.
Luckily Aaron is some kind of mechanical engineering genius as he is able to keep himself afloat while also playing Robin Hood for his fellow refugees. He was able to take a computer doodad and re-purposes it into a reverse retinal scanner that looks like welding glasses. His ruse is actually pretty impressive. He puts on those dark welding glasses, pretends he is blind so that the enforcers, who get more rations, looks into his eyes and he reverse steals their retinals (That is how reverse retinal scanners work right?). Aaron almost gets caught carrying out his con but young Elena is there to help him hide and it is puppy love at first sight. They bond over food and Aaron’s brilliance and being young climate refugees together. Their romance is cut short though when Elena leaves the refugee camp to live with her aunt in The Red Zone, a life which is presumably better than living at the camp.
I am going to assume that there is more to the Elena backstory because if there isn’t that will suck. I think what will happen is Aaron searches for her in the Red Zone and they fall in love again. My question is when Theo comes into play? I thought last week he said he was Elena’s brother, but wouldn’t he have been in the refugee camp with Elena then? Maybe he is a cousin and they call each other siblings because they are close and he is the son of the aunt she goes to stay within the Red Zone? I guess only time will tell.
Theo
On the topic of Theo, let’s talk about my favorite character. Sporting a black eye he comes home to greet his boyfriend Anthony with dinner and a kiss. What may you ask is for dinner? Well, it is liquid synthetic steak served in a Jumbo Gulp Sized cup. Anthony is not too keen on the idea of Theo fighting for Terrence, the poster child for crazy ass psychopaths, and joining a fighting ring. Just as Theo tries to assure his boo that there is nothing to worry about, Terrence bursts into their apartment to heal Theo’s busted eye via cryotherapy and to inform Theo of his first fight. There will also be a sponsor scout at the fight, so Theo better not fuck anything up for Terrence.
Theo’s first opponent in the Fight Club is a dude so big it is highly possible he is a mythical creature. But the big ogre Sayeed has got nothing on Theo’s youth, agility and ingenuity. While Sayeed is at least three times Theo’s size, Theo stabs Sayeed in the eye with what I believe to be a fang of a Saber Tooth Tiger and subsequently wins the fight. Theo is ecstatic, but it seems as though he is the only one because no one cared to mention to Theo that he was supposed to lose. Terrence goes ape-shit crazy that Sayeed last to a newbie and bludgeons Sayeed to death with an old fighting trophy. Theo is now Terrence’s ticket to getting a sponsored fighter, and well, if he fucks up he faces the same face as Sayeed the Ogre. But, on the plus side, Theo gets to bring home some real non-liquid steaks for him and his boo to eat for dinner.
SPIGA
The treason of Chad is addressed immediately in ‘Downsizing’ as the entire company is on lockdown until they uncover the reason for Chad’s betrayal. And as with all good interrogations, Spiga immediately resorts to torture in the dreaded Quiet Room. I feel like a horrible person that I did not feel super upset about Chad being tortured. I did not know him enough to care, and what I did know about him was he was an asshole, but certainly, I should feel some compassion towards Chad right? I guess I am just a monster with no feelings.
Ben is doing everything he can to cover his tracks and hide his unauthorized tech containing all of his Elena and hacked SPIGA information. Ben is able to slither his way out of almost every roadblock that is thrown his way. He is able to put all of the blame on Chad, hide his unauthorized tech under a table, explain why he checked out that vomit inducing sound gun and so on. But I there is something about the way that Ben does all of this, like his “ I am innocent nice guy thing” that really irks me. First of all, every time Ben is nervous he basically just looks constipated. He looks like a sweaty, constipated, uncomfortable mess. When Ben does not come off looking constipated, he comes off as a smug jerk. He has to get better at balancing the “I am so smart and have an answer for everything” with “I am innocent and a nice guy” to make it more believable. I do not think I am going to end up liking Ben. He is too self-important. He is one of those guys that tells himself that he is not a bad guy for doing all of this bad shit because it is for the greater good. But the thing is, it is not for the greater good. He is doing this to save one girl, and in the process ruining the lives of so many people around him.
Chad’s family and Ben’s wife Laura are just a few of the lives that Ben is destroying in the process. Chad’s betrayal of Spiga has also placed suspicion on his wife and children and they too are brought into custody. This hits Laura especially hard, even though she is not friends with Chad’s wife Fiona. I am still not really sure why Laura is taking this so personally, but I will chalk it up to her being a good person (unlike her husband). She takes it upon herself to find a way to save Fiona and her family, but even after exploiting her relationship with her mother (by using her potential baby as a bargaining chip) there is little she can do to help. The best deal that Laura could get for Fiona was to have her children adopted by a family in the Green Zone and never be able to see or contact her kids ever again.
So yay, the future looks fun!
The most interesting part of Chad’s interrogation/torture was to watch the dynamic and tension between Elizabeth Kraus (Laura’s mom/Head of Spiga) and Julian (head of Spiga Security). Julian is the head of security, his main goal is to ensure that Spiga is protected no matter the cost and until this incident he believed Elizabeth was on the same page as him. The involvement of Ben changes everything, though. As much as Elizabeth says that she will treat Ben as she does every other employee, you know she won’t. I am not sure if this is because she has a soft spot for him, or she senses his duplicitous nature and is playing a long game. Either way, her treatment of Ben is causing Julian to question his boss and her motives. and this reaches and this is sure to have repercussions moving forward. The biggest disagreement that these two have is whether or not to terminate Chad’s non-disclosure agreement (NDA). While Julian is adamant that they continue interrogating Chad until they get to the bottom of his betrayal, Elizabeth wants the chaos of Chad to be put behind them. So, Elizabeth goes behind Julian’s back and terminates Chad’s NDA, against Julian’s wishes. “What does terminating an NDA in 2074 entail?” you ask? Well, it consists of completely wiping away a person’s memory. Okay, so I kind of feel bad for Chad now. Maybe I’m not a heartless monster after all.
Other Things
At the end of the episode, we learn that uber creepy Roger, who is also Ben’s rival is in possession of Ben’s secret drive. That is important and all, but my main takeaway from the final scene of the show was how disgustingly creepy and gross Roger is. This look at this guy, he is like the 80’s blonde preppy bad boy who grows up to be a serial killer and possibly president of the country.
A battle is brewing between humanity and the apes in the first trailer for War for the Planet of the Apes.
Starring Andy Serkis and Woody Harrelson, Caesar and his apes are forced into a deadly conflict with an army of humans led by a ruthless Colonel.After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
After the apes suffer unimaginable losses, Caesar wrestles with his darker instincts and begins his own mythic quest to avenge his kind. As the journey finally brings them face to face, Caesar and the Colonel are pitted against each other in an epic battle that will determine the fate of both their species and the future of the planet.
If you ask me, life would be a whole lot easier for humanity if they left the apes alone.
War for the Planet of the Apes releases in theaters on July 14, 2017.
That’s it folks. Seasons 20 of South Park is in the books.
While there was a lot of promise in the plotlines, the twentieth outing left me royally disappointed. Many plotlines that needed resolution were left out – memba berries and Caitlyn Jenner being the most obvious. After all the build up with the memba berries, you would expect that there would be some appearance by them. We are only shown a brief image of them in the White House. Caitlyn Jenner is also nowhere to be seen. Regardless, South Park did offer some closure to the trolling storyline.
“The End of Serialization as We Know It” starts off with Trolltrace about to go online. Kyle is leading the boys of South Park in a massive effort to troll the internet. He asks different ethnicities (Token) and sexual preferences (Tweek and Craig) what would be most offensive to them. By doing so they can overload the servers of Trolltrace, but they need the help of Gerald. Dildo tells Gerald to shut off the breakers at Trolltrace to allow for the servers to overheat.
Sheila gets out of the pantry and tries to stop Kyle and Ike. Kyle escapes via a mission impossible-esque maneuver out the window with Ike. They continue to keep trolling and eventually Garrison gets word of their plan. The government now fully backs Kyle and Ike’s movement. Sheila is still trying to find the boys but to no success. She winds up at another neighbor’s house only to be told that Trolltrace is live. She looks up her boys’ name but does not find anything.
Meanwhile, Space X has developed a new core energy that is both stable and easy to produce. When Elon asks Heidi how she became to be so smart, she says it’s all due to having a very supportive boyfriend. Cartman has changed back to his old form slightly, though. He has seen visions where if they go to Mars, men will be forced underground there only to be milked for their semen and their joke writing. Kyle eventually gets in touch with Butters and Cartman. Kyle asks to connect that energy to the government for their massive troll offensive.
Gerald reaches the last breaker that he must pull only to come face to face with the creator of Trolltrace. The whole scene is very Star Wars. They debate about how trolling is different and not funny like the fight between the light and dark side. Gerald wins at the end and is able to release the last breaker just as the energy connection with Space X is made. Space X is destroyed by the massive explosion but Trolltrace is down as well. The internet shuts down as Sheila tries to search Gerald’s name.
As the world rebuilds, the town of South Park realizes they have a second chance. They need to rebuild. We get to see someone send the first email of the future. The email winds up being a dick pic where he calls the receiver a fag.
Season 20 is a disappointment for South Park fans. There were definitely some moments that were memorable but no one episode was as impactful as it should have been. While I believe that Matt and Trey can do a serialized season well (see season 19), they definitely missed the mark this year. Being an avid South Park fan, I’ll chalk this up to a lack of originality and priorities. I feel that South Park is definitely experiencing a bit of the Simpson effect. They have done so many topics already that not too many ideas are left. In addition, they have a new video game launching. If “Fractured but Whole” is anything like “The Stick of Truth”, fans will definitely rejoice and have something to hold them over until season 21.
Incorporated Season 1, Episode 1: “Vertical Mobility” Wednesday, November 30 , 2016
Science-fiction shows serve many purposes with the major one being escapism. It portrays what the world could look like if we let the evils of society continue unchecked, if we turn a blind eye to corruption, if we ignore the nature and environment around us and lose our humanity. But it is also set in the future, or at least an alternate reality that is separate enough from the world that we live in so that we can watch it, enjoy the storylines, comprehend its message but at the end of the day turn off the TV and feel safe knowing that our world will not spiral into that dystopia.
Given the current political climate that we are in, it was a scary feeling to walk away from Incorporated unable to shake the feeling that the dystopia I just experienced, set only 60 years in the future, could actually be a possibility.
Incorporated is set in 2074, in a world that has been ravished by climate change. One of the best moves that Incorporated made in their pilot was how they introduced and explained the world they were about to transport the audience into. The show did not force two characters to have a long winded, out of place, exposition in form of dialogue or let the audience try to figure what the hell was going on for themselves. Instead Incorporated began with a simple text explanation about the dystopia we were about to enter so they could delve right into the story. And that dystopia is as follows:
As a result of the world’s inability to deal with this climate change, the global ecosystem was basically destroyed. Land masses began to shrink due to what I assume is the melting of icecaps, causing many Americans to illegally immigrate to our neighbors up North. The land and soil are no longer fertile enough to yield crops creating a food shortage. And from this food shortage emerged the corporations who capitalized on the lack of food and suffering of the people and now basically rule the world. This divided the world into two different zones: The Green Zone and the Red Zone. Anyone who works for a corporation lives in the Green Zone and are treated to a life of luxury in return for their loyalty to their corporation. Those who don’t work for a corporation are on their own and have to fend for themselves in the Red Zone.
One of those Green Zone employees is Ben, who works for the Spigo Corporation. He has a lovely wife and a cushy job at Spigo. But it is soon revealed that this life Ben is leading is just a cover and he is really just a Red Zoner named Aaron trying to find his former love, Elena. Neither his wife nor his mother-in-law who (who happens to run Spigo) suspect Ben of any malice.
While it seems that Ben does genuinely care about his wife, he is also willing to do about anything to find Elena, including getting a promotion to the 40th floor. And I should mention that in order for Ben to get said promotion he must get his current boss drunk and high, steal his blood and then frame him for being a corporate traitor. Believe me when I say, you don’t want to be accused of being a corporate traitor because that will send you to the Quiet Room where unspeakable things happen (but like literally, no one talks about what happens in those quiet rooms).
Just because Ben got his boss fired though does not mean that the promotion is his. He will have to compete against all of his cut throat coworker to secure his spot on the 40th floor. It is hard to know what to make of Ben/Aaron this early in the show. Yes he is duplicitous, lying to his wife, and conning everyone around him, but he seems to genuinely feel bad for doing these things.
The Seeds of Upcoming Plots
In addition to Ben’s story, the seeds for two other stories were planted in the pilot of Incorporated to blossom as the series continues.
The first one involves Ben’s wife Laura, the daughter of Spigo’s CEO. Laura is the go to doctor in Spigo for all things plastic surgery. Are you a rich woman in the Green Zone looking to transform the face of your Red Zone boy-toy into the face of your ex-husband? Laura can do that for you. (Granted, Laura did make it known that she was very morally opposed to performing this procedure). Do you need to reattach your husband’s ear to his head after his Red Zone mistress cut it off and sent it to you as ransom? Laura can fix that as well. But the demons from Laura’s past do peak their ugly heads into the pilot when an episode of PTSD drives her to cutting. Luckily in Spigo there is a medical spray that heals all cuts instantaneously and Laura is able to hide her wounds.
There is also the story of the young (and very, very attractive) Red Zoner Theo. I have a feeling that Theo is going to serve as the bridge between the worlds of the two zones. Theo is Elena’s younger brother, and he is counting on Ben/Aaron to find his sister. He also has to make sure that he survives living in the Red Zone though, and after being caught selling cigarettes on someone else’s turf, the only way to do this is by joining a fighting ring.
The pilot of Incorporated set the foundation for what I expect to be a fun, exciting show and I cannot wait to see what comes next.
Other Thoughts:
I really hope we get more of that food porn.
Was anyone else blown away by that motorcycle in the stairwell thing? I don’t know why, but I just thought that was brilliant. I mean, who needs elevators anymore?
I didn’t know whether to laugh or cry after the news clip about Canada building a wall to keep out illegal American immigrants.
Art has many functions. It inspires, teaches, and perhaps most importantly – sparks discourse. Sunday’s season finale of HBO’s Insecure did just that, with men and women firmly entrenched on opposing sides. A quick perusal of my Twitter feed on Monday revealed a spate of tweets with the hashtag #TeamLawrence. How did we get here? Let’s take a look back at the inaugural season of Issa Rae’s Insecure.
Admittedly, this series grew on me. It usually takes a few episodes for a show to hit its stride, and Insecure is no exception. Its authenticity is undeniable, as Issa mirrors our own awkwardness, social ineptitude, and yes – insecurity. From “code switching” between work and home, to being the Black spokesperson for her White co-workers, Issa’s experiences were spot-on and aren’t often fodder for television. She isn’t Olivia Pope or Cookie Lyon, and the average woman isn’t as fabulous as the former or as formidable as the latter. Issa is just real. She’s human and thus flawed, evidenced by her foolish decision to cheat on her boyfriend Lawrence (Jay Ellis, The Game). That moment of indiscretion and its aftermath led to an unforgettable finale that struck a chord in many viewers.
Issa and Lawrence’s relationship exemplified what happens when resentment rears its ugly head, as she grew emotionally and financially weary of carrying Lawrence year after year of him failing to live up to his potential. However, it takes two to make it and two to break it. I was unemployed for a mere four months this year, so I can understand and empathize with Lawrence, to an extent. A person begins to question their worth and purpose when unemployed, and one needs a mate who understands that. On the other hand, empathy has limits. Issa was probably empathetic in years one and two of his joblessness, but Lawrence’s ostensible complacency took its toll.
Insecure featured only eight short episodes in its first season, but the writers took us on an authentic journey. When we first meet Lawrence his appearance reflects his circumstances: he’s clad in sweatpants, in desperate need of a fresh haircut and his demeanor is forlorn and defeated. By the time the finale rolls around and he finds a job, he looks like he stepped out of the pages of GQ. I re-watched the entire season, and although I saw a relationship in decline, I also saw two people who love each other very much. I’d rather not fall into the battle of the sexes dichotomy I’ve seen online, as there are a myriad of factors that contributed to the couple’s demise.
Viewers shouldn’t fault Lawrence for hooking up with Tasha. Issa is more blameworthy because she cheated, but Lawrence bears some responsibility for allowing his relationship to falter in the wake of his professional shortcomings. Life is messy. It’s not a fairy tale. Insecure reminds us of this fact in brutal, humorous fashion. We are all perfectly imperfect, and each character reflected that to varying degrees. If I can laugh and cry at the same episode, if that episode stays with me days later and inspires such spirited debate – I’d say HBO has (yet another) hit on its hands. Season 2 can’t get here fast enough.
Arrow Season 5, Episode 5: “Invasion!” Original Air Date: November 30th, 2016 Grade: A
Oh. My. God. How am I supposed to react to this episode of Arrow? I have never been speechless before. I have SO MANY STILLS and I literally took notes while watching the episode because I knew there would be an overwhelming amount of oh-my-god. Like… two pages of notes. Yeah, I’ve come prepared.
This may be basic information, but it may be important to know that this is the 100th episode of Arrow. Congratulations to the cast and crew. Seriously. It’s hard to make such a great TV show. A lot of past Arrow characters made guest appearances in its 100th episode, like Moira, Robert, and especially Laurel. Unfortunately, Tommy (Colin Donnell) couldn’t make it to shoot, but the writers (or maybe it was an adlib by John Barrowman?) managed to add a sick-ass allusion. Something about Tommy not being able to make the party because he was a doctor in Chicago. Disclaimer: Colin Donnell is shooting Chicago Med right now.
Because the Arrowverse is now familiar to metahumans, aliens, and magic, the producers wanted to bring back the essence and roots of Arrow. Which is something they’ve been doing all season. In other words, this episode is inevitably hardcore.
The episode began with an action shot of Oliver running through leaves and trees. Sound familiar? If it doesn’t, you may want to re-watch Season one. Or just the first episode for that matter. Just the first few seconds, at least. But WAIT! Plot twist! It’s not the “Pilot,” and Oliver isn’t sprinting through Lian Yu. He’s actually “on a run” in his neighborhood, and he’s on his way to his home to shower…with Laurel. (Editor’s note: didn’t they also do this at the beginning of Season Four, too?)
Hold on, I’ll let you comprehend that information for a bit. Let it soak in. Is it weird that I spent 3 paragraphs talking about the first 10 seconds of the episode? Phew. Anyway, the next scene takes place in a really nice bathroom because yes, I did say he was showering with Laurel. Yes, they are dating. Engaged, actually. To be married in like, two days. Why Oliver decided to sprint through a bunch of bushes on his run is really beyond me. (Although, no judgement. I’ve gone on a two-mile run before just to stomp in puddles.)
But of course, I guess the relationship isn’t not that weird because we do know that Oliver and Co. are currently abducted by aliens, right? So all this happy business is probably an illusion. So, not that confusing. Well, if you watched the previous night’s The Flash. Otherwise, you might be confused.
Look at that precious cinnamon roll smile. I know you all appreciate my captions.
His smile. Oliver is smiling in this scene. Of course he is. He never got on the Queen’s Gambit. He has Laurel. He’s happy. Does that mean everything in his actual life is a disappointment? “I have everything and I don’t want to give it up.” Cry. I’m probably thinking too hard. Wait, scratch that sad stuff. The next scene is creepy. It shows the five characters (Oliver, Diggle, Sara, Thea, Ray) in stasis in an aliens’ space ship, wearing gray baggy clothes. But NICE GROUTFIT GUYS. Okay, then. Icky.
While this is going on, it seems Felicity has called on the new recruits into the Arrow cave and she has told them about the abduction. So what happened to the others? F.I.R.E.S.T.O.R.M.? Heatwave? (Well, Heatwave I can understand). Supergirl? The Flash? They’re like “Aye, oops, we lost five Arrow-ers. My bad. We’ll leave you to figure that out. Tell me when you get that figured out. Peace.”
But, yeah. Rory, Wild Dog, and Curtis sign on to figure out how to help “Oliver and company” (Cisco’s words, not mine). More importantly, the scene starts with Wild Dog doing the salmon ladder. Hell no. Oh hell no. That’s for people who are worthy. Step away. Step over the yellow line. Don’t go 25 feet NEAR that thing. No touching.
With Cisco’s help, the Green Arrow gang 2.0 gets closer to finding their friends. (And his quips and movie references. There were so many. Movie reference overload.)
Oh, here’s another Pilot-Easter-Egg for you. (Does this qualify as an Easter egg?)
“It’s called a hosen. It’s supposed to represent reconciliation.”
“No, this is a rock.”
Now… does that sound familiar?
That’s right, 10 points to Gryffindor. After coming home from the island in the pilot episode, Oliver gave Thea a “hosen”. 🙂 And this time, Thea gave Oliver one. All the feels.
Such nice furnishings. Can I live here?
CUE THE RETURN OF SUSANNA THOMPSON.
Our most beloved characters, so dearly missed, returned to the Arrow community for this episode. It’s actually so nostalgic and heart-warming to have Moira back. And Susanna Thompson is actually so beautiful. I do not understand, how can she look younger than she did in season 2?
Here’s a quote for you that’s bound to make you sob: “We have been blessed to watch the two of you [Thea and Oliver] grow up.”
But they HAVEN’T, THOUGH. In real life, they died before they could see both Thea and Oliver mature to be the wonderful human beings they are now. I think I have a tear coming out of my eyes. Or allergies. A cat just fell into my eye.
ACTUALLY JUST TEARS.
Let’s be real here for a second: I’ll try to stop myself from making my lame jokes. I am in love with the way they showed the “memory flashes” (as Oliver explained it) in the episode. They were shown like TV glitches. Gotta be honest. I thought my laptop was dying for the first two seconds.
I’m so sad to see the wonderful life Oliver and Thea had. Throughout the show, they went through so much that they didn’t deserve. They deserved to have a life like this. However, it’s interesting to think that without going through what they have, they could have never become the people they are now. For example, Oliver could still be a play boy. Maybe he still cheated on Laurel. Or Thea could have gone to jail for drug-abuse. It’s definitely interesting to think about.
But actually though, this episode has made me incredibly sad at how happy they were with their families. And when Oliver knew everything wasn’t real, he hugged his parents. He knew it was the last time he could.
When Thea said she didn’t want to leave. That really almost had me in tears. Really. I actually thought she wouldn’t return home. (Editor’s note: Thea and Oliver’s goodbye was the hardest moment to watch.)
“What is waiting for us wherever we are right now? Nothing. There’s powers now, they don’t need us. We finally have a chance to be happy.”
So, I’ve been talking about Thea and Oliver this entire time. Let’s talk about Sara and Ray. (We’ll get to Diggle, I promise.)
So, Sara TOTALLY kicked ass this episode, AS PER USUAL. “You’re lucky I’m not a trained assassin or anything.” You know what moment I’m talking about? Oliver has just walked in missing the rehearsal dinner, and Sara-the-fucking-savage is throwing ACID at him. In buckets.
Also, you know later in the episode when Deathstroke attacks Diggle and Oliver while they were talking (AND OLIVER IS JUST FLAILING HIS ARMS) and Sara the actual assassin just demolishes Deathstroke? Whew. Girl power. Love that girl.
Felicity was Ray’s fiance. I think I have a little crack in my heart. Although, it does make sense. Really, if your relationship has as much drama as Oliver and Felicity, it’s probably not a good match. In the long run, Ray and Felicity would be forever.
Then we learn through a short fight sequence that Diggle is actually the Green Arrow. Really. REALLY. You wouldn’t think it makes sense, but it does. He wants to repent for his sins while in the army. Seriously though? Plot hole: what of the odds that to be a vigilante Diggle chose to wear a green costume with a hood, and shoot a bow and arrow? He was in the army, after all.
I would like to think this episode was important for the characters (not only Thea and Oliver) to say their goodbyes and let go of the regrets that have haunted them throughout their lives. Oliver and Thea saying goodbye to his parents. Everyone saying goodbye to Laurel (especially Sara and Oliver). Ray and Felicity making amends. These things have probably haunted them for so long, and this episode could be considered as a way of them letting go. You know what would have made it ten times better? If Shado actually returned. God, I love her character. Although, it might just reopen scars. Oliver let go of his regrets related to Shado a long time ago. (Editor’s Note: YOU KNOW WHO’S BETTER THAN SHADO? NYSSA.)
So, I’m not just talking about physically saying goodbye to the people they never got to say goodbye to. I’m talking about the characters fighting their demons. You see when all the villains were lined up near the end? It was so nice to see the characters matching up.
Oliver against Deathstroke. He had to juggle killing Slade for the entire time the show has been running. Slade also represented his time on the island, and everything he had done there.
Diggle matched up against the Ghost (Darhk’s henchman). I would like to think under the mask was Andy and Diggle was facing his regrets for killing his little brother.
Sara fought Darhk. Which, of course, makes sense. Darhk killed her sister, Laurel, and she never got to say goodbye. She actually wasn’t aware of her death until much later. So she wanted to battle that guilt, I guess? Or just fighting Darhk because, you know, he killed her sister. Significant.
Thea went against Malcolm, her father. Her darkest secret that Malcolm is her father, and he has done many horrible things to keep her safe. She could be guilty about that, or guilty about the hatred she shows her father. Dunno.
Ray… I don’t know about Ray. I don’t really know what he was doing this episode, actually. At all. Leave your conspiracy theories in the comments, I guess?
I don’t watch Legends of Tomorrow, so, tell me if I’m wrong, but Ray is basically not trained in any physical combat, right? So what’s he doing battling one of the main villains of Arrow? Sigh.
And Laurel came out to say goodbye after that battle ended. And she didn’t know why they were leaving. She thought Oliver was getting cold feet right before their marriage. She thought Sara didn’t love her anymore. The two people closest to her were leaving. Ow. I’ve been impaled in the chest. With a truck. (Just like season one all over again.)
May I just mention: I wasn’t keen on aliens as the 4-night-crossover began, but now I’m really digging how the GENIUSES over at the Arrowverse drawing table were able to make each night, indeed, reflect the vibe of the shows they are on. (4-night-crossover though? 4-night-crossover my butt. That Supergirl episode totally did not count.) In the Flash, we were able to see the repercussions of Barry travelling back in time. The episode was so Flash. And this episode was just so Arrow. They have done such a nice job.
I’m not familiar with Legends of Tomorrow, but I bet the episode tomorrow will seriously kick butt.
South Park
Season 20 Episode 9: Not Funny
Original Air Date: 11/30/2016
With only one more episode before the end of the season, South Park used “Not Funny” to build-up towards a climactic finale. Many plotlines that were brought up in the prior episode look to have disappeared. The South Park writers seem to have put themselves in quite a bind to finish all this up in one final episode, but looks can be deceiving.
Trolltrace is officially live and the citizens of South Park are in a panic. The police tell the residents that there is nothing to fear as long as they can rely on the rationality and basic decency of the American people to not look up anyone’s internet history. Unfortunately, these principles have gone out the window and the whole town is in panic.
Cartman and Heidi are still trying to find a way to Mars at SpaceX. Heidi is in front of a whole wall of complex equations and can not seem to make any sense of it. Elon Musk continues to question that this will not work out with precious time being wasted. Butters sticks up for Heidi, which Cartman does not like very much. Butters breaks it to Cartman that girls are not what they seem. Girlfriends make you feel all great inside until they leave, covering your heart in poop. He also reveals to Cartman that girls are not that smart or funny. That it is what they do to connect with you. Cartman refused to believe it at first. When he asks Heidi to say something funny as she solves the huge equation board with emojis, she ignores him. Cartman finally sees that girls are not funny.
Back to the main trolling plotline, the trolls have been stripped naked and put into an isolated room filled with chairs with restraints. Gerald finally realizes that he is wrong. He apologizes to Dildo and the other trolls. Gerald asks to speak with the Danish leader of Trolltrace. While Gerald is trying to convince the leader that he is not guilty, the leader says to Gerald what if you could troll the entire world? He winds up not even being Danish. The point of starting Trolltrace was to watch the whole world go batshit. He winds up rick rolling Gerald, Trolltrace, and all the trolls yet again.
Kyle and Ike seem to be the only ones trying to save the world. They found Mr. Slave to get Garrison to bomb Denmark at first by calling Garrison a pussy ass bitch only to find out later that Gerald is in Denmark. They stop Garrison once again by antagonizing him, calling him a dipshit gay puppet that shits out your dick. It seems that we can get the President of the United States to do whatever we want by antagonizing him on social media along with other forms of communication. By the end of the show, Kyle and Ike seem to have a master plan to correct all this but they must lock Sheila in the pantry.
It is in Kyle and Ike’s plotline thought that we might have seen a hint from the South Park writers and staff. In a traditional Kyle monologue, Kyle comes out and calls out South Park. He asks when has South Park ever been like this. South Park have always been the ones to take charge and never be afraid. This seems to be a direct stab at their new episodic format. It appears that Matt and Trey know this too.
With one more episode left in the season, I guess we will find out if this whole season just a massive Rick Roll to us loyal fans? Will South Park go back to their old ways of individual stories? What did the memba berries really mean when they said the real Stormtroopers in episode 8? What is Caitlyn Jenner really up to? With so many unanswered questions, this last episode is going to need to pack in a ton of detail. Let’s hope Matt and Trey deliver in this grand finale!
Empire
Season 3, Episode 7: “What We May Be” Original Air Date: November 30, 2016 Grade: A
Hmmm. This may be one of the best episodes of Empire this season. And you all understand my love and hate dichotomy with Lee Daniels’s Empire. The relationship between Angelo and Cookie has at times been uneventful but it seems to be heating up and driving the entire season. It’s allowing for less of a conflict between Lucious and everyone else and more time for other dynamics to interplay. The dynamic of “What We May Be” involves the arrival of Angelo’s heavily-established mother, Diane (Phylicia Rashad) and Cookie’s introduction to her.
Elsewhere, another son is having to battle with his parent. Jamal is once again going back and forth with Lucious, leading to frustrations over creativity and business. Charlemagne The God guest-stars to mock Jamal for his weakness, as if that’s what another Black homosexual man needs to see on television. That weakness somehow is thrown around despite Jamal being a victim of PTSD. But you know, everyone just forgets about that. The creativity that Jamal carries through spills over into the creation of his next project, some type of musical museum concept. He shows Cookie home movies which are a part of the visuals for the album and the first single, a record dedicated to Jamal’s mother. But that goes array and leads to the next big secret of the Lyon saga.
Thanks to Aunt Carol, the former drug addict who now works at the weave shop, we discover that Cookie’s relationship with Lucious ultimately led her to choose between him over her father. The impending stress of this leads to the death of the sister’s father and Candace blames Cookie for this, severing their relationship. Cookie had the potential to be a lot and it can be argued that Lucious robbed her of this but it can also be argued that even with being in prison and on the streets Cookie was destined for greatness. Nothing could stop her.
Regardless, Cookie still feels the need to impress Diane and pushes herself with the help of her sons and Candace to remove the funk from her home. Though she invites them all, it doesn’t go as planned (of course). Jamal arrives high on the drugs that his love interest/producer has been feeding him and Hakeem basically kidnaps his own child, Ella and brings her to the dinner party that Cookie throws for Diane. Hakeem’s irresponsibility has Lucious and Anika banging on the door ruining the entire plans. Andre was, of course, invited because he’s the most professional perception-wise. But he’d rather spend time with Nessa impressing her and having Freda Gatz be used as Shyne’s weapon in his attack on Empire.
This episode works so well because it provides us with some backstory on characters that we really didn’t think we could get anything else from. Plus who doesn’t love a great Vivica A. Fox cameo? The guest stars seem to work best when they actually fit and just aren’t thrown in there for luxury like French Montana or Lil’ Romeo. Although Diane left impressed by Cookie, I can see a point of contention later on and I’m anxious to see how that affects Cookie and Angelo’s relationship and the descent of it. For as much as I love Cookie happy and in love, there’s this sense that Luscious does seem to be the one for her. That foundation she spoke of him always being there and him raising her in the streets has not been forgotten. It’s the cusp of the show and while, one can argue that Empire is definitely not a love story, the record label was raised on one twisted ass love story turned family. Good job on this one guys.
This week on The Flash: The DC heroes team up to defeat the Dominators, a peaceful alien race who only want to talk.
Spoilers through The Flash season three, episode eight: “Invasion!”
Last night, The Flash‘s eighth episode of the season, “Invasion!” kicked off the DC crossover event. While Supergirl’s episode was included in all the marketing, it wasn’t really a crossover episode until The Flash dragged her back to Central City to help defeat the Dominators. (Which is okay because it was still a great episode of Supergirl.) After crash-landing and escaping their pod, the Dominators start things off on the right foot by kidnapping the President, because nothing says “peaceful and understanding” quite like kidnapping a world leader.
Even though Lyla told him to mind his own damn business, Barry decides to take on the Dominators with the help of all of his friends. The group gathers in an old hanger and once Barry steals her away from her own universe, they marvel at Supergirl and her abilities. (Some marvel more than others. Know what I’m saying, Sara?) It’s understandable the group is in awe. Kara has more powers in her pinky than the rest combined. Oliver convinces the group to fight Kara in a naive attempt to train them, because that’s gone swimmingly for him lately.
Oh, Oliver, you beautiful, stubborn man. The training montage goes about as well as expected, with Supergirl curb-stomping everyone with her puppy dog smile. Before the episode even aired, viewers daydreamed what things would be like between Kara and Sara, thinking that Sara would (rightly so) flirt with baby unicorn Kara and then Kara would happily shout, “MY SISTER ALEX IS GAY AND SHE’S SO BEAUTIFUL.” While Sara DID deliver, upon a second viewing of the episode, I noticed someone else crushing on our alien hero: Thea Queen. (And I’m not alone in that thought.)
(It’s okay, Thea. We all have a crush on Kara.)
Oh, Thea. I’m so happy you’ve donned the Speedy costume again. I love the person you’ve grown into but man I miss your snark and ability to put Oliver in his place. If the “Invasion!” crossover has done anything, it’s reminded me how much I adore the side characters all of The CW’s DC shows. Especially Thea.
Wally also had an interesting experience during his Kid Flash training montage:
Seriously, Wally, I know you’re eager to help, but you need to slow down and stay away from HR. The dude walks around with his dumb hair cut twirling a drumstick between his fingers, mimicking Cisco’s words like a parrot. Is that REALLY the man you want to help you learn about your powers?
The Emotional Baggage of Heroes
If you thought “Invasion!” was just going to be an action-packed episode of the DC heroes fighting aliens, I’m sorry for your loss. Even Supergirl thought she was just gonna universe-hop to fight some Dominators but all the other heroes decided the apocalypse was the perfect time to bicker.
Don’t get me wrong; Cisco is justified in being angry with Barry for his actions. He’s still grieving the loss of his brother and he’s been angry with Barry much longer than just the last two episodes. I understand his pain, but Oliver was right when he said that any one of them, with that power, would have done the same thing. Hell, Sara has tried. Laurel and Oliver both succeeded in using unknown powers to save their respective sisters. (And I don’t want to hear ONE damn Legends member talk bad about changing the timeline considering the stunts they’ve pulled. SARA. And if anyone should be upset, it should be Stein who learned that he now has a daughter, and I suspect, is also a widower.)
PICTURED: The biggest screw-ups in history.
In much the same way as Cisco, Diggle is justified in feeling hurt over the loss of a daughter he never knew, especially given his current emotions regarding the brother he killed. Every single person is right in how they feel, but if Kara can suck up her mommy and daddy issues to fight bad guys, the other heroes can get a straw and do the same. They can’t stay mad at Barry forever, no matter what his future self says or how he’s changed the timeline.
The scenes where Oliver stood up for Barry and talked him down off the ledge did prove one thing, however: Flash writes the Green Arrow better than Arrow. Oliver is a good leader and that’s where he’s most comfortable. He needs more of those situations and less angst on Arrow.
Oliver: “Barry, the world isn’t different because you changed the timeline. Change happens. Tragedy happens. People make choices and those choices affect everyone else. You’re not a god, Barry.”
Heroes vs. Heroes
The Dominators came to Earth under the guise of peace and while we know that isn’t true, “Invasion!” gave us some indication of their power. After the group argued over whether or not Barry should join them (and Oliver rightfully had his back), they decided to waltz up to the aliens and I’m not sure what their plan was, but they were going to reason with them? They failed their training against Supergirl and then thought, “Yea, we’re awesome. Let’s go into this hostage situation like we’re about to go shopping!” By not thinking ahead even in the slightest, the heroes allowed themselves to be mind-controlled by the Dominators. I don’t want to say they asked for it, but they kind of asked for it. Amateur hour up in this crossover, I’m telling you.
Since Barry and Oliver opted to stay behind and have a (actually very sweet and helpful) heart to heart, they weren’t affected by the Dominators. However, it also means they have to fight against the insanely powerful Kryptonian and a few of her new BFFs.
The CW DC shows haven’t been praised much of late for their action sequences. Sure, Supergirl has had a huge boost in quality and Arrow has seen a small return to its former glory, but most of the good coming out of current episodes has been due to solid character arcs. Up until the fight sequence, the best part about “Invasion!” was watching the characters bicker and guessing when Sara might make a move on Supergirl.
But that fight sequence was top-notch. If people ask where the budget went, I’ll point to the final 15 minutes of the episode. Not only did White Canary land a few blows on the Green Arrow, but the Flash and Supergirl RACED to see who is faster. There was so much cheese and fantastic choreography that I can’t help but be giddy for the two remaining crossover episodes.
In the end, the heroes put a stop the Dominators control, but they aren’t even close to ending their invasion. With Diggle, Thea, Oliver, and Sara abducted, we head into Arrow’s 100th episode to continue the crossover plotline.
GIVE ME BACK MY SARA, YOU ALIEN JERKS.
Random Thoughts
Kara thinking Oliver doesn’t like her is probably a first for her because who doesn’t like adorable puppies?
I don’t think Barry actually messed up Iris and their life together with Flashpoint. BUT I do think he’s going to go all Anakin and do whatever he can to “save” her.
Mick eating a burrito during the alien invasion briefing makes me like him even more.
I love the idea that sometimes when Iris is wistfully staring out over the water she’s thinking of Oliver Queen being the Arrow and it makes Barry jealous.
I know that it’s not feasible to have more crossovers because that would make things more confusing for viewers and it’s an added expense, but I really love the idea of having short webisodes where we get to see all the heroes hanging out. Maybe a scene of Felicity and Iris texting each other memes at 2am or Kara antagonizing Mick with her happiness. It’s clear a lot of these cast members have chemistry; don’t waste it, CW.
Hallelujah! The much awaited Netflix feature is finally here.
Netflix subscribers can finally download shows and movies onto their iOS and Android devices for offline viewing!
“While many members enjoy watching Netflix at home, we’ve often heard they also want to continue their Stranger Things binge while on airplanes and other places where internet is expensive or limited,” said Eddy Wu, director of product innovation, in a post. “Just click the download button on the details page for a film or TV series and you can watch it later without an internet connection.”
The feature is not currently available for all movies and TV shows but, from what we’ve seen, a good majority of popular shows and movies available for download.
In order to enable the download feature, users will need to update to the latest version of the Netflix app which became available today.
In our tests to check out the download feature, the season three premiere of Penny Dreadful, a 58-minute episode, took up 245.5 MB of storage. Depending on how much storage you have on your phone, most users should be able to download many episodes and movies for just about any occasion.
This week on Supergirl: The writers have been reading my #Sanvers diary, Cadmus attacks the city, and Lena Luthor chooses a side.
Spoilers through Supergirl season two, episode eight: “Medusa.”
Day one of the CW crossover event and well, I’m sorry if any of y’all tuned in just for the crossover because it was miniscule, at best. I’m not that sorry because I want more people watching Supergirl, but if you’re going to watch, watch from the beginning. As it stands, “Medusa” was much more of a regular Supergirl episode with a smattering of crossover plot where Barry and Cisco showed up at the very end to steal Kara away. I’ll get to my theories on the importance of this episode later on, but for now, the re-re-re-recap!
Mon-El Goes Full Mike
Supergirl starts off with a Thanksgiving theme and suddenly it’s like that episode of Friends where Ross is all, “It’s THANKSgiving, not TRUTHSgiving.” Both James and Alex want to spill their respective secrets but before they both get drunk enough to blurt out the truth, a breach appears over the table and presumably everyone has a very quiet dinner after that. Mon-El brings actual stuffing (like for pillows) to dinner in an attempt to make him more likable. The jury is still out on whether or not it worked.
I want to like Mon-El–he’s very pretty–but every time he starts to move forward in becoming a likable character, he takes two steps back. Let’s start with the obvious issues: twice now he’s fallen for the fake J’onn thing. Now, the first instance I can forgive. He was kidnapped in Cadmus and blackmailed. However, in the alien bar, Hank wears an evil-looking hood and is acting 50 shades of suspicious. Against all logic, Mon-El assumes he’s the real J’onn, again, and runs out of the bar after him. Granted, if he hadn’t chased after Hank, he’d have died and we might have missed out him and Kara playing two-person Monopoly. (Which, honestly, seems like a punishment, not entertainment.)
Hank/Cyborg Superman’s attack on the bar that killed dozens of nameless aliens was orchestrated as a test by Cadmus to see if their restructuring of the Medusa virus had worked. Spoiler alert: it did. Mon-El isn’t killed right away because he’s a named character and this is TV where white dudes have 10 lives, but he inhales enough of the stuff to at least be on bed rest for the rest of the episode. At least he sticks to what he’s good at on Supergirl: Laying there and looking pretty.
But hey, since Eliza cured both Mon-El and J’onn in record time, don’t you think the DEO would want to hire her ASAP?
Cadmus Comes To Dinner Empty-handed
I know that the Luthors aren’t exactly the conventional family, but Mama Cadmus visits baby Lena at the OFFICE during Thanksgiving weekend and can’t even pretend to be familial? “Oh hey, Lena, you’re working, I’m working, let’s go get a pumpkin spice latte and pretend it’s lunch.” I guess that’s not how Mama Cadmus bonds with her children, though, especially not the one she openly admits to disliking.
After the attack on the bar, the DEO learns that Cadmus stole Kara’s blood, not to clone her (or maybe they will, eventually), but to access Fortress of Solitude and steal the plans for the Kryptonian-made Medusa virus. Kara, after having an existential crisis over the truth about her mother last season, is faced with the reality that her father wasn’t as squeaky clean as she once imagined. I know some might think this is a rehash of old plots, but I actually think it’s important for Kara’s growth to come to terms with the fact that both of her parents were flawed. She’s quick to make assumptions about Daxamites when she first meets Mon-El, but over time she’s learned that not everyone is good or evil. Sometimes, like her aunt Astra, good people do bad things because they think it’s right. On the surface, Zor-El making the Medusa virus seems wholly evil, but when faced with the extinction of life on his home, what else could he have done? Kara would argue there’s always another way, but as my friend Dumbledore says, “Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right.” I fully expect dark times ahead for Kara and she’ll have to remember the decisions her parents once made and make tough choices of her own.
After Cadmus reworks the virus to kill aliens instead of everyone but Kryptonians, they plan let it loose on National City. Cyborg Superman attacks L Corp, but Kara is one step ahead of him. Besides, he’s skulking around in a totally not guilty trench coat and hood. OF COURSE she found him. You’d think for a group so hell bent on being intelligent and tech-savvy, they’d have thought of a better way to steal L Corp’s isotope instead of sending in a brute to make as much noise as possible. But two good things happened during this scene. The first was Kara saving Lena’s life, giving me us this beautiful interaction that will fuel my SuperCorp fanfiction for weeks to come:
“I looked into Lena’s eyes. She doesn’t know anything about Cadmus and her mother.” GAAAAAAAAAAAY. <3
The second was that the lesbian love interest, Maggie, was shot by Cyborg Superman, but instead of falling victim to the “Bury Your Gays” trope, she wore a bulletproof vest (Like my boo Nicole in Wynonna Earp!) and she ultimately recovered. Thank goodness the CW is looking to make up for all that heartache they caused us last spring.
After a sexually tense moment between Supergirl and Lena, wherein I was almost certain Supergirl was going to kiss Lena to bring her to the light side, Lena denies her mother’s involvement with Cadmus. Lena is a character who knows she has been an outsider her whole life. She’s not really a Luthor to the actual family but she’s still seen as one by everyone else. She throws herself into her work because that’s all she has. No one will ever see her as anything but someone with the potential to be evil.
Except Kara.
And I fully believe that it’s Kara’s faith in Lena that helps keep her grounded in the good side. It would be easy for Lena to become a Draco Malfoy (like all these HP references?), swept up in a family legacy, eager to fit in, but Lena is stronger that that and she uses that family name to her advantage when she takes Mama Cadmus by surprise. By switching the isotope in the Medusa virus, she effectively neutralizes it and saves the aliens in National City, returning the Kara’s heroic favor.
Two Kisses: One Good, One Bad
As I mentioned earlier, Mon-El spends most of the episode on bed rest because he’s, well, dying. It’s clear to everyone but Kara that Mon-El has feelings for her, but why he doesn’t just act on them is beyond me. Mon-El has been forward about everything so far, so there has to be more to him not wanting to be with her other than the possibility for rejection. I have a hunch that our boy Mike is actually a prince on Daxam, which is why the other Daxamites (I assume) are looking for him and his pod. This would explain why he’s okay with one-night stands and kissing Kara when he thought he was dying: those aren’t long-term promises. I have to assume he’s romantically promised to someone else back on Daxam. I suspect we’ll spend the second half of season two learning more about him and I hope it turns out well because right now? He’s dry toast.
That’s not saying he can’t be with Kara for a while. “Karamel” is an ADORABLE ship name. They’re cute enough and I like the whole “our families are enemies” plot because I’m a romantic trashbag, but ultimately I still ship Winn-El and SuperCorp because I want Supergirl to be Supergay.
(I will accept Kara/Barry Allen as a consolation prize but I don’t like the idea of breaking Iris’s heart to get that ship.)
Our second kiss, and the better of the two, came as a complete surprise to me. I knew that Alex would be coming out to her mother in “Medusa,” but I certainly didn’t think Maggie would act on any feelings. Remember: I was a fan of the slow burn.
Was.
While we didn’t get to see the pool reunion scene between the pair, we did get something better, a scene pulled straight out of my “Sanvers 4 Ever” notebook. After Maggie is shot, Alex tends to her wounds (chicks dig scars, y’all) while also telling Maggie about her latest revelations. I’ve enjoyed Alex’s journey a lot. I think that much is obvious in all of my reviews. In three episodes, she gone from smitten to bitter and confused to accepting of her new normal. I appreciate that she’s been given the time to learn about herself instead of just kissing Maggie and then going, “Yup. I’m gay.”
Maybe it was being shirtless during Alex’s “new normal” speech, maybe it was the near death experience, or maybe it was the flattering pajama bottoms, but Maggie decides that enough is enough. Life is too short to not kiss the girls she wants to kiss and dammit she wants to kiss Alex. And Alex, a girl after my own heart, takes the romantic moment and ruins it with her humor. And it’s WONDERFUL.
Maggie: “You’re not gonna go crazy on me, are you?” Alex: “Probably.”
ALEX IS SUCH A NERD. MORE NEWS AT 10.
I know I wanted the slow burn, but that’s only because I want Alex and Maggie to be end game. I love the two of them together so much it hurts and their growth over the past few weeks has been more than I ever thought possible on network television.
And then all of those beautiful emotions were wrenched from my heart just so I could watch Barry and Cisco bicker. I know that the episode HAD to end that way, but come on. At least give me a softer fade out than, “BAM. BARRY’S HOME.”
“Help me, Kara Danvers. You’re my only hope.”
Random Thoughts
I think the reason why Supergirl was included in the crossover was not to make the character feel left out but because I imagine she’s going to bring an important weapon to the table when it comes to defeating the Dominators: Medusa. Kara is currently struggling with the notion that her parents weren’t the heroes she thought when she left Krypton. They were flawed like she is now and I think once she’s faced with a situation where she has to alter Medusa to kill Dominators, she might have a greater understanding of both her father and Cadmus.
I know there are some folks who are upset about the screen time Sanvers is getting and to those of you I say: shove off. Alex’s arc and her newfound relationship with Maggie have been given VIP treatment, something rarely afforded to any gay character on television. If the romance and the character development makes you not like the show because you want more action, you’re watching the wrong DC show. Supergirl has always been more about the relationships between these characters. If you want action or pulpy fun, try Arrow or Legends of Tomorrow. Let me keep my romantically hopeful Supergirl as it is.
On a related note: Kara made mention on the balcony that the view reminded her of Krypton, a view she often quietly shared with Cat Grant. Maybe I’m reading too much into it, but Kara connecting Cat to something from Krypton is beyond sweet to me and my goodness, can we please trade Mike for Cat? I miss her.
What the heck was that off-screen save of Martian Manhunter? In two seconds Eliza Danvers manages to reverse what is happening to J’onn’s blood? Can she manufacture that and possibly save some other green-turned-white Martians? Why isn’t she currently working for the DEO with that brain? Also that “save” was lame and completely wrecked what should have been some amazing character development for J’onn. I hope he and M’gann aren’t being pushed to the side.
Also, is M’gann still in a cell? Did someone bring her Thanksgiving dinner? Y’all are cold at the DEO.
Things I want to see after the development of these two budding relationships:
Kara bonding with Maggie
Maggie being part of the family game and food nights
J’onn protecting Kara whenever Mon-El is involved
More Winn/Alex interactions because they are my BrOTP
This week on Supergirl: Alex deals with new emotions, J’onn learns the truth about M’gann, and Supergirl pays a visit to Cadmus.
Spoilers through Supergirl season two, episode seven: “The Darkest Places.”
Supergirl has had its highs and lows this season: Alex has clearly been the highest of highs for me and I absolutely love how the writers are handling her arc. James’s Guardian plot and Cadmus have been less than stellar and that feeling was solidified in “The Darkest Places.” However, we DID finally get a legitimate family with food apartment scene at the end of the episode. Here’s hoping they continue that trend some more. Or maybe they’ll just give me a full episode of the characters just being happy. One can dream, right?
Into the abyss!
Guardian goes Green Arrow
James has been a vigilante for all of ten seconds and already he has a copycat on his tail. I’ll grant James his smug attitude because he’s has had a rough go of things lately: losing Kara, being named CatCo CEO, and basically being edged out of his role by an alien invader named Mike. I like James Olsen. I always have. I want good things for him, so I don’t begrudge him reveling in his successes, even when it’s mildly irritating.
How-to-the-ever, here’s my issue with James in the role of Guardian: none of it makes sense to me. I know that it was mentioned in an earlier episode that James is a blackbelt and I buy that because the dude is ripped. (Even though I don’t know when he learned to fight with a shield.) But before that point, we never saw James even defend himself. He never put those skills to use in any situation and instead let Kara take the reins. And you know what? I’m okay with that, because if there’s one thing Supergirl succeeds at more than any other, it’s that it reminds us that not every hero helps by throwing punches. One of the best things about Cat Grant was her ability to offer honest opinions and bring about real change by using her media. James tossing that influence to the side in favor of a suit and shield because it’s the more direct approach in solving problems bothers me. Stopping crime through brute force seems like a “masculine” way of fixing the issue and I would have liked to have seen James instead step into more of a confident leadership role instead.
Then, of course, there’s the issue of him skirting his responsibilities as CatCo in favor of being a vigilante. We’ve seen on Arrow that you can’t have both and unless this means Cat is set to return to take back her job, I’m not okay with James running CatCo into the ground. The BIGGEST issue with James as a vigilante is that he refuses to tell Kara and for the life of me, I can’t understand why. Maybe it’s because he wants to win her back on his own terms, I don’t know, but it’s irritating that now with Alex learning the truth about James, everyone knows but Kara.
Alex and Winn’s scene when he gave up James’s secret after two seconds was a thing of beauty.
In the end, James puts a stop to the fake vigilante on the lose in National City with Winn’s help. They earned Kara’s begrudging respect and were able to get the media and the NCPD off Guardian’s back for a while. It wasn’t a bad storyline and I do enjoy the James/Winn dynamic, but with all the times we’ve seen this happen on Arrow, it’s kind of mundane. I’m not complaining because like I said, I do want James to be more active in the overall plot, but I have questions about him donning that suit.
Cadmus Is A Big Fat Hypocrite
At the end of last week’s episode, we watched Mon-El do stupid Mike things and get caught by Cadmus. If you aren’t sure by now, Cadmus is this season’s big bad and while I don’t love how things are playing out, I’m happy we’re finally seeing them in more of a villain capacity. They’re a bit too wormy for my tastes, but hey, maybe they’ll surprise me.
“So what? I’m the lucky first contestant?” No. You’re bait.
Kara falls into their trap and stupidly ignores Jack Donaghy’s advice and follows the hippie to a second location. She doesn’t give anyone a heads up as to what she’s doing, presumably because she believes Cadmus has somehow infiltrated their comm devices (which is a huge issue that maybe she should mention to someone). She fights the original Hank Henshaw who has clearly been working out during his sabbatical from the DEO. He’s a smidge angry about the whole “aliens are acting as heroes on my planet” thing and he’s funneled that rage into becoming Cyborg Superman. (Yes, Bilal, I know it’s a stupid name.)
Mama Cadmus shows up and asks Kara about the nature of her relationship with her daughter, Lena. She spouts some nonsense about Superman abusing his power and getting Lex into trouble. Clearly, she’s delusional. But I want to point out here that the moment that Kara thinks Lena might be involved with Cadmus, she loses her composure. Even Mama Cadmus has to stop her villain monologue to ask if everything is okay. I know the show is trying hard to ship Kara with Mon-El, but that quick moment was enough for me to fuel the S.S. SuperCorp for another few episodes. TOOT TOOT.
Mama Cadmus then does some experiments on Kara in which she stupidly doesn’t fight back. Honestly, Kara, you are SUPERGIRL. You have a bajillion powers at your disposal. Mama Cadmus is a relative unknown in terms of abilities, but TRY to fight back against her and the TWO DUDES holding you captive. You’ve fought worse. You’ve seen what they’ve done to other humans. DO. NOT. LET. THEM. TAKE. YOUR. BLOOD. GIRLFRIEND.
But she does (ugh) and then she and Mon-El share a heart to heart moment. I know I’m supposed to hate Mon-El for being such a Mike and all, but dammit if he isn’t growing on me. The real star of the cell block tango scene is Kara; in particular, when she talks about Alex. Any time the sisters talk about one another, their eyes shine, and I don’t have anything intelligent to add other than I LOVE THEM OK.
In a turn of events, Jeremiah Danvers shows up and Kara is all, “DAD! We were TOTALLY just looking for you.” Jeremiah saves Mon-El from his lead poisoning and then scurries the both of them out of Cadmus before giving Kara a heartfelt goodbye. Now, I’m not some naive spring chicken. I know a twist about to occur when I see it and gosh darn it, folks, Jeremiah Danvers is about to flip some heads. He’s been at Cadmus for fifteen years as a prisoner and you mean to tell me he overheard that Supergirl was imprisoned, knew it was Kara, and then escaped, stole a key card, and spirited her ass out of there? No, no, no. We know from earlier in the episode and how Hank played Mon-El that Cadmus isn’t above “using” the heroes’ sentimental sides against them. Jeremiah only looks like Jeremiah. I can almost guarantee that he’s not the man Kara and Alex once knew, which breaks my heart because of the look on Alex’s face when Kara told him her father was alive:
The Blossoming Relationships
There are so many “potential” relationships happening on Supergirl right now. I’ve already touched on Kara and Mon-El and I think that’s the one that will come to light the soonest, but there are two slowburn relationships in the works and I want to talk about them more. First up, is the relationship brewing between J’onn and M’gaan, which is an odd sentence for me to say since I still think of M’gann as J’onn’s niece. Last week, M’gann saved J’onn’s life by giving him some of her blood, but since he’s a Green Martian and she’s a White Martian, there are some side effects, like hallucinations.
Getting real sick of you talking to me with that gravelly voice, J’onn.
It’s amazing to me how quickly J’onn goes from affectionate, borderline creepy, to aggressive and hateful where M’gann is concerned. Yes, she’s made some mistakes and she’s lied to him about her true self, but I would think that J’onn, of all people, would be more compassionate about someone keeping a secret about their true identity. Supergirl has really laid on thick the fact that heroes like J’onn and Kara can be, and are, prejudiced against other races. The pair of Martians fight and J’onn eventually captures M’gann, imprisoning her at the DEO, but then she drops a bomb on him that her blood is turning him from Green Martian into a White Martian. He’s becoming the thing he hates.
The second relationship is the one I can’t stop talking about, the slowburn of all slowburns, Alex and Maggie. Last week, Alex put her heart out for the world to see and Maggie inadvertently smashed it to pieces. Alex is, understandably, upset with Maggie and dodges all of her calls in an attempt to free herself from the pain. Maggie doesn’t want to lose Alex because she loves her values her as a dear friend, so she keeps trying to bring Alex out of this dark hole she’s found herself in. Alex lashes out at Maggie and explains why they can’t be friends anymore:
Alex: “I was sure of one thing and that was my feelings for you. Initially, I was terrified, but ultimately I was proud to come out because it wasn’t just some concept, it was about my feelings for this amazing woman. But now, I don’t feel liberated or like I’m on some great journey. All I feel is pain because you don’t want me.”
It would be really easy to hate one or the other in this relationship, to take sides and declare Alex as angry or Maggie as intentionally hurtful, but I have to applaud Supergirl with how they are handling both characters. It’s one of the few relationship struggles on television where I can genuinely empathize with both sides. It doesn’t mean it’s not breaking my heart, but I get it. That being said, I’m still not convinced that Maggie doesn’t have feelings for Alex. I think that Maggie is engaging in a little self-preservation where Alex is concerned, but she fights SO hard to keep Alex in her life that it’s hard not to read into it a little.
Maybe next week we’ll hop back into the friendship and subtext when the two meet up to play pool.
Random Thoughts
The fight sequences in Supergirl are very reminiscent of early Arrow fight sequences. I’m okay with that.
Kara: “What’s a word for a male floozy?” Alex: “A Daxamite.”
Cadmus wants to end alien life on this planet…while using their technology? What a bunch of hypocrites.
SERIOUSLY WHY IS JAMES KEEPING GUARDIAN A SECRET FROM KARA.
Chyler Leigh and Floriana Lima really enjoy teasing the hell out of us, don’t they?
How To Get Away With Murder
Season 3, Episode 9 Original Air Date: November 17, 2016 Grade: A
This article contains spoilers for Season 3, Episode 9 “Who’s Dead?”
There’s anger in the air. During How to Get Away With Murder’s entire countdown to the #WhoIsUnderTheSheet event, I checked off all the people on the list who weren’t dying. And as heart-stopping as the thought of it being Wes was, I didn’t think the writers of the show would have us on the brink of tears like we were. Everyone assumed it would be Nate. Nate’s loss would have been profound for Annalise and probably lead her down a dark road but it would’ve been expected – not as much of a kick in the head to everyone and a convenient plot device to see Annalise restart.
But the loss of Wes is darker. It’s going to effect everyone including the Keating 5, which is now the Keating 4. The one job Annalise relied upon was the protection of Wes and treating him like the son she lost. I even wondered if the Keating 4 was just all expendable and Annalise was only helping them to help Wes. I wonder if the students feel the same and if this is true, what it will mean for the future of the cast as a whole and Annalise as a professor, a mentor and just a person in general.
The episode started with the possible death of one main character in the same house. Frank. Poised to commit suicide in front of Bonnie and Annalise, both on two extremes in regards to their feelings towards him, Bonnie is able to talk him out of it and it’s quite clear that Frank should be absent for a few more episodes. The damage he has done not only to others but himself has left him unable to cope. If Annalise’s own drinking is a battle we have to sit through as she gets counseled on, Frank’s own counseling sessions might help to see how he’s gotten to this point.
Keating 5 doesn’t really have anything else brewing that’s completely interesting. Michaela’s mother comes out of the shadows, showing Michaela was adopted, leading to even more questions as to how someone from such a horrible mother managed to pull herself up and go to law school and accomplish so many great things.
Mary J. Blige appears again, this time as a shoulder for Annalise to cry on about her vast amount of issues. I found this entertaining because Mary J. is not only putting in her weave, but in the same place Mary often finds herself in, being a shoulder to cry on for Black women, usually through music and this time in person. A later confrontation with ADA Atwood and Nate, who breaks up with the ADA, has Annalise crying and drunk on the floor. The whole time I was worried if Annalise was drinking Everclear due to how much she’s damaging her body and all of the old evidence from past seasons in an effort to clean herself.
After spending time with Bonnie which ends in a kiss that still has my head spinning, she invites the students over to the house to announce that jail time is probably on its way. Laurel, Wes and Nate, being nosy as usual, are the only ones who actually make it and as a result are within the house during the explosion that injures Laurel and kills Wes. Wes had requested immunity to testify about Rebecca and had been prepared to die. In Nate’s words, he had “died before the fire.” So many questions, so many concerns but ultimately, I’m still in awe and intense sadness that Wes is now leaving us. We didn’t deserve this. Now I have to start paying more attention to Asher, as annoying as he is. We’ll see the aftermath of all of this unfold when the show returns in January, along with Scandal.
Auto-enthusiasts rejoice!!! All is right with the world again!!
After an absolutely dismal showing with season 23 of Top Gear, many of us were wondering where we would get our automotive entertainment. Well, it appears that you can find it in a tent where a shaven gorilla, a short man, and an old woman reside. That’s right, the boys, Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond, and James May are back with the first episode of The Grand Tour, “The Holy Trinity.”
Fans may recall the cliffhanger of which of the hybrid hypercars reigned supreme on the old show. The Grand Tour puts it to the test using the Ferrari LaFerrari, the Mclaren P1, and the Porsche 918.
After a trip through the country of Portugal, with tests ranging from drag races to drives through the country side, the dispute has finally been settled and there’s poo everywhere! I do not want to ruin the show for avid fans, but it is the bit that we are used to seeing the boys doing.
The format of the show stays relatively the same. I mean, after all, it is a car show. They will be up to their usual antics mucking about in ridiculously fast cars around the world. The trio have a new track called the Ebola-drome with elements like the Isn’t or Your Name Here. Some even say it’s the world’s deadliest track with animals, a bomb, electricity, and much, much more. The Stig has been replaced by an American that considers all other cars that do not have eight cylinders to be communist. We are not sure if this driver will be around for the rest of the season.
Some changes were made, but most were in jest of the prior format of the show. The News is now Conversation Street. We do not know if they are keeping A Star in a Reasonably Priced Car bit. The hosts hinted at it with the Celebrity Brain Crash. However, all the stars died on their way to the tent.
At the end of the day, I do not care. The boys are back with their banter and that’s all we could ever ask for. The jovial mocking and berating of each other is what we all wanted to see. The chemistry that they have built up over the past fourteen plus years truly shows. The Holy Trinity is truly back!
I have just one quick prayer to say: “Dear heavenly spirit, thank you for providing us with the direct port nitrous injection, four core intercoolers, ball bearing turbos, and titanium valve springs. Amen!”
The Grand Tour is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video.
Season 3, Episode 6: “Chimes at Midnight” Original Air Date: November 16, 2016 Grade: B
I know why they didn’t entitle this show How Andre Got His Groove Back, but it would’ve been the most appropriate title because DAMN. I’ve said repeatedly through and through that Andre has been pushed and pulled, used and abused within the Lyon family. They didn’t have the respect to give Rhonda a burial. Her bloody body is probably still sitting on that car with no one there to care for it. That’s probably why her ghost was haunting Andre. You know ghosts only appear if there’s unfinished business on the scene.
So how did we get to Andre being the perpetrator of the Lyon family and probably the future antagonist of the remainder of the season?
There’s a virus plaguing the entire Lyon family and the secondary characters — a Tiana virus that plays some annoying pseudo-Rihanna track before distorting her voice. Turns out it’s a hack that leaves everyone on edge – including of course, Luscious who threatens to beat Mr. Geek Squad aka the IT guy with whatever is in his hand. As if every IT person can just solve every issue. It’s a hack, not the power failure of a keyboard.
Each member of the board starts considering who could have created the hack. The usual suspects such as Pimp My Ride and Tariq are left out. Especially after Cookie’s nude photos are leaked, leaving her without the chance to spend as much time as she would like with Angelo. The leaking of the photos enrages Luscious even more leading him to seek out Tiana for answers as to what is going on.
They carefully piece together the idea that it’s Graham (Lil’ Romeo). Apparently ICDC College can teach you a thing or two. Anyways. The Lyon brothers team up with Xzibit and his gang to ambush poor Romeo and show him never to speak big words and hack into people’s phones again. Somewhere Hakeem is laughing his behind off. His competition is now probably over the balcony like Suge Knight did Vanilla Ice.
Meanwhile, despite seeing that Xavier, the new team member on Empire for Tiana, is no good, Becky still tries to trust him in hopes that her career can be reignited and she can be credited for her work. Unfortunately, he’s promoted and Becky is left ready to throw down at the announcement of promotions for the Empire streaming service. It doesn’t look good for poor Xavier and I’m glad we’re not invested in him heavily because it won’t really matter if he goes or not.
Another person who may be on the brink of death is Jamal. He’s been hanging with his producer/sometimes lover, Derek working on his album, despite peaks and valleys due to the hack. Derek has been noticing the PTSD issues Jamal has been having which ultimately ends up with Jamal passing out in bed. I guess this was a way to continue the dramatic storyline that never seems to end. Never in my life have I ever actually kind of wanted somebody to just…die.
Cookie’s relationship with Angelo withstands everything, including the leak of her nude photo and Angelo joins in with the Lyons on being over-the-top and melodramatic for no reason, taking off his shirt as if a politician would do that. Oh, who am I kidding? An “alleged rapist” is about to be the President of the United States next year. Anything’s possible in politics.
So yeah, all of this leads to us discovering it was Andre causing the madness the entire time, an elaborate attempt to become Luscious Jr. and use Nessa as his new Cookie. If there was somebody who could do it, it would be him. He’s clearly not noticed and good at being underestimated. I actually want him to succeed but you know that’s not the way things go around here. *Sighs* Whatever.
South Park
Season 20, Episode 8 – Members Only
Original Air Date – 11/16/2016
After weeks of very weak South Park episodes, we are finally seeing the fruits of the writers coming to bear. “Members Only” starts to slowly unravel the plot that Season 20 has built up for so long. Compared to last week where they only had twenty-four hours to incorporate new news, this episode seemed more complete with much more savage and witty jokes.
We start off with Garrison finally transforming to his final form under the supervision of Caitlyn Jenner. With the power of his new toupee and extra UV rays, he is now embracing his role as the President of the United States. The first item on Garrison’s agenda is to enact revenge on all those that opposed him. PC Principal is the first of such victims. Garrison explains to PC Principal about how PC Principal should be thanked. PC Principle was the one that created him. South Park really wants to make this point come across. Did PC culture help enable someone like Garrison gain power? One will never know. Regardless there is one thing Garrison has learned. That is that his penis has gotten really dry and saliva is its only cure. He continues to tell the rest of South Park about his problem of a dry penis with speaking with Eduardo Hernandez. Eduardo did not let Garrison double bag his groceries and was wondering if Eduardo would now want to double bag something else.
Garrison gets rudely interrupted and sent to the Pentagon. There he is given all military secrets and classified information. The generals ask Garrison for guidance about what to do in the current crisis. The Danish are still going forward with releasing Trolltrace. The Danish want the whole world to burn thus allowing a new world with only happiness and laughter can exist. The whole world is definitely on edge from what the Danish are doing. Every country is preparing to attack everyone else and finally we realize what has been going on. Boris Johnson calls Garrison and tells him not to eat the memberries. The memberries clog your judgement and now all of Britain is burning. It is too late for the U.S. though. Garrison hangs up on Boris, with Boris stating “I believe they have eaten the memberries….. Oh dear”.
As Garrison is assuming power, many people want to leave to Mars (Cher included). Cartman must take a ticket and wait. Butters meets Cartman at SpaceX after he is converted by Bill’s Gentlemen Club. After waiting for what seemed to be forever, Cartman, Heidi, and Butters get a tour of SpaceX. Cartman is furious that they cannot go to Mars now. Musk states they are 10 years too early before that can happen but maybe with a very smart and funny girl like Heidi, they can get there sooner.
Memba the other plotline that is still going on? I memba!! The memba berries have taken over the White House in a stampede. They are led by the Don of memba berries. Part of their mission involved calling Vladmir Putin and asking him if he remembers the Cold War (savage). During a party where all the memba berries are partying to the song Africa, the Don arrives. He exerts his authority and is ready to let the people memba the “real” storm troopers will be coming. Will this WWIII come to fruition?
Lastly, we see resolution of Kyle finally realizing that Gerald is Skankhunt42. It only took the framing of Ike as Skankhunt42 by Gerald for him to find out. With only two episodes left in the season, we are finally witnessing the endgame. While we witness it though, I do not think anyone is able to predict where the South Park gang will end up.
This week on Supergirl: Alex tells Kara her secret and the whole internet explodes into rainbow heart eyes, James puts on a new suit, and global warming has a new face.
Spoilers through Supergirl season two, episode six: “Changing.”
Over the past few weeks, it’s been difficult for me to rein in my emotions surrounding Supergirl. More specifically, where Alex Danvers is concerned. Alex’s journey has been a deeply personal one, the likes of which I’ve never seen before on television, and I’m so grateful Supergirl’s writers haven’t pulled any punches.
As always, I will do my best not to spend my entire review focused on Alex, which is actually easy(ish) this week since “Changing” saw the return of several facets Supergirl has been lacking in its sophomore season. Notably, the return of J’onn to the field, Winn and James’ partnership, and most importantly, the family dynamic between Kara and Alex Danvers.
Just a Boy and His Parasite
This week’s villain was yet another alien, a parasite hellbent on saving the world from global warming. While the plot wasn’t directly orchestrated by Cadmus, which seems odd given their hot and cold status of late, I suspect we’ll find out soon that Mama Cadmus-Luthor was responsible for unleashing the parasite on National City. Or rather, I hope so, because I need them to be more than just okay hackers with alien software.
The parasite villain was an interesting one, not so much in his reasoning or design (though the CGI looked awesome), but in his parallel to Kara and her ongoing journey with learning to be a hero. Both Kara and the parasite are aliens with the same intention: to save the planet. Granted, one had more of a “scorched Earth” approach, but the fact remains, their goals were mostly the same, only the means were different. It’s a reminder that we see echoed in Kara’s brooding relationship with Mon-El: there is a fine line between good and evil. Intentions don’t matter, but how you get the job done, does.
LOOK AT MY BICEPS.
Dr. Rudy Jones, our intrepid climate change scientist, is infected with a parasite after mucking around with a 5,000 year old wolf corpse. Seems pretty disrespectful to be digging your hands into ancient roadkill, but what do I know? Rudy is so dedicated to saving the planet that he shuns all treatment at the DEO after the “attack” that killed all of his colleagues and opts instead to let the parasite play ring around the ear canal. Turns out, the parasite gives Rudy the ability to drain energy from living creatures. This doesn’t work out well for Supergirl or J’onn, who just returned to the field because Martian CGI is expensive.
And so begins the usual superhero course of action:
Step 1. Get ass kicked by unknown enemy.
Step 2. Jump head first into fight with now known enemy but be completely unprepared and get ass kicked again.
Step 3. Nerd friend magically concocts a plan to neutralize enemy. Fight lasts 20 seconds.
Rinse. Repeat on every superhero show on The CW.
Fuck you! The sign says “No Parking!”
After announcing that she was using Plutonium 239 (lol why Kara) on him, reinforcing the whole “too much of anything is bad” concept, Kara kills Rudy Jones. And we’re just left to…celebrate? Wait for Arrow and his underlings to lecture her? Such an act seems unbelievably out of character for her, especially with her harsh sense of right or wrong, but… yay? We got the bad guy? High-five, everyone, for a job well done?
On Becoming a Hero
“Changing” saw both James and Mon-El deal in their own respective ways with becoming a hero. James, as I mentioned last week, wants nothing more than to be a hero. He tells Winn that ever since he first saw Superman, he’s dreamed of saving the day. It’s an admirable trait, if one that kind of comes out of left field. After Kara nearly dies twice because the plot demands it, James dons his new “Guardian” suit, and I have to say that Winn did a much better job on the suit than whoever worked on the mask for Diggle on the last of Arrow.
A friend who rides a motorcycle and knows I can’t see through lead…Oh, I have too many friends to guess! TEE HEE.
Mon-El, however, has no interest in being a hero like Kara. He wants to just live his life, and for once, I find myself agreeing with him. (Take pictures, this may never happen again.) Sometimes, I think Kara forgets that Mon-El only just learned the fate of his planet. Weeks ago his entire life was blown to shreds and he’s supposed to just… be okay? Kara had years to deal with that loss, a loss she still battles, so it seems insensitive she would push Mon-El to forget that emotion so quickly to save a new planet. Her end goal is admirable, but what works for her doesn’t work all.
That being said, I could watch Kara kick Mike’s ass all day and be perfectly content, sipping my smug hypocrite tea.
James and Winn have a few key heart-to-heart moments in “Changing.” I’ve said this before and I’ll say this again: Winn benefited the most from the switch to the CW. Watching him stand up to James was a highlight for me, and not just because I wanted them to SMOOCH after having a shouting match in the big echo chamber. Heck, I didn’t even know I wanted to ship James and Winn until that final scene where they ogled the hell out of one another and joked about being Super Friends.
But here’s the difference, truly, between James and Mon-El: their journeys are similar. Both are men who have been influenced to act by Kara Danvers. Whether it’s all romantic or not has yet to be seen. Mon-El wants to maintain his identity, to be himself when he’s a hero, which is why he fights so hard against Kara’s training. James, however, is perfectly content with stripping down his entire identity to be a hero. I suppose that’s the difference between being gifted powers and earning them the hard way.
Either way, Mon-El’s openness against James’ secrecy is going to come back in a big way, I’m sure of it. For a dude who was so against secrets last season, James seems awfully calm about not telling Kara the truth. And that scares me.
Changing Alex Danvers
If you thought last week was hard to discuss, strap in boys and girls, because we are about to get covered in rainbow hearts. As of the writing of this post, I’ve watched “Changing” three times. Three times and I don’t know how to compose myself enough to “review” each of her scenes. For starters, Maggie is absolutely adorable in her support of Alex and coming out.
Alex: “Maybe it’s just a phase. Maybe it isn’t real.” Maggie: “It’s real. You’re real. And you deserve to have a real, full, happy life. Okay? Tell your family. This is the biggest thing that has ever happened to you and you shouldn’t have to do it alone.” Alex: “I have you.” Maggie: “Yea, you do.”
It’s great that Alex has Maggie as a support system, but it’s even more important that Maggie never lets Alex fall into doubt about herself. I’m sure that Maggie will come under fire after the end of the episode when she spurned Alex’s advances, but personally, as heartbroken as I am for Alex (and believe me, I am), I think this move was important. I’ve said this before, but Alex and Maggie were never about “Sanvers.” They were about Alex coming to terms with who SHE is. Maggie isn’t turning down Alex because she doesn’t have feelings for her. Quite the opposite, in my opinion. I think Maggie loves Alex, but she remembers the whirlwind of emotions when first coming out, she remembers the struggle to understand all these changes. If Maggie and Alex became a couple and the relationship became strained, Alex wouldn’t have Maggie as her support system. She wouldn’t have that one friend who knows exactly what she’s going through, so it’s more important for Maggie to be Alex’s friend right now, instead of her girlfriend.
LOOK AT THAT SMILE.
As important as Maggie is for Alex, Kara is even more important. The heart of Supergirl has always been, and should always be, the love between the Danvers sisters. Early on in season two, the show strayed from that but thankfully, came back in a big way in “Changing.” When Alex needed Kara, she was there. She may not understand exactly what Alex is feeling, but Kara, more than anyone else, loves Alex. When Alex first tells Kara, Kara is hurt, not because Alex didn’t tell her first or because she doesn’t understand being gay. Kara knows these parts of Alex’s history but she doesn’t know the depth of them, the hurt of the repressed memories and it kills her that she never gave Alex that chance to be more open. She’s hurt because she feels like she didn’t give Alex that safe space that she needed to be herself. Or to even just find herself.
All I want to do is hug baby Alex and Kara together and never let go. When Kara said, “I am SO okay with it!” I fell to pieces. I could ramble on for days about how THIS relationship between sisters is one of the most beautiful and relateable ones I’ve ever seen on television. I want to put them in a tiny box and hold them close to my heart. And then at the end, when Alex hates herself for putting her heart out in the open, Kara is there to hold her and remind her that she’s still proud of what she’s done.
MY BABIES.
None of this is as eloquent as I wanted it to be but I love these two. I love them so much. Chyler Leigh and Melissa Benoist, you beautiful puppies. Never change.
Random thoughts
I desperately want to talk more about J’onn and M’gann but there’s not too much storyline there. Yet! I absolutely LOVE where the relationship is going and my goodness Sharon Leal is stunning and wonderful. (Also, she’s 44. She looks like she’s 20. What the what.) There’s a storm brewing between our Martian friends and it’s making landfall soon. J’onn is so unbelievably sweet toward M’gann and I find myself rooting for them, even though I know the other white Martian shoe is about to drop.
Now that we know Kara can get drunk, I kind of want to see more of it. No alcoholism necessary but her talking about being floaty was the light-hearted, adorable Kara I needed in my life.
Dear Alex Danvers and other members of the DEO: why do y’all still use guns? They never work. Sincerely, me.
There’s a part of me that wants one of the aliens to address the fluidity of sexuality. For instance, have Mon-El or J’onn make a comment about not loving genders but loving a person on their planet. YOU CAN DO IT, SUPERGIRL.
Also, I totally think Mon-El was a male escort on Daxam. And I’m okay with that.
Supergirl breaks my heart every Monday on the CW at 8pm EST.
How To Get Away With Murder
Season 3, Episode 8 – No More Blood Original Air Date: November 10, 2016 Grade: B
We’re almost at the climax and How To Get Away With Murder has me on pins and needles. One of the most interesting things about this show is the dynamic and relationships between the characters. How they get along determines the resolutions of the drama surrounding them, so as much as they would love to blame it on Annalise or Wes — a lot of what has transpired has to do with their relationships amongst each another.
Clearly, Frank has no place to go so he flutters around from house to house looking for someone to take him in like some lost puppy. He knows better than to go to Annalise because, in her own words, she’ll “kill him.” He can’t deal with Bonnie and all of her up and downs (and neither can we) and Laurel has got a new love, baby, a new love, Jody Watley style.
The trial this week happens to be Wes’s own and he pulls his best Lil’ Kim impersonation by lying on the stand about seeing Chris Mahoney, his own half-brother, at the death of his father. Turns out Mahoney has an alibi as we discovered last episode, and his alibi is the woman who Frank accepted money from before the accident that killed Annalise’s child. Guess that means that alibi is about to go bye, bye.
Thankfully, Annalise has more sense than anyone else on this show and tells Frank to leave the woman alone. No more blood. Get it?
So Keating Five is pretty much all sleeping with each other like an episode of Beverly Hills 90210. Out of all the couples, I like Michaela and Asher because they seem the most authentic – plus Asher’s cute as hell. Wes and Laurel are weird and Connor and Oliver are annoying with the “will he, won’t he?” bullcaca.
In fact, towards the end, we find that Connor is actually in bed with Olivier’s ex, Thomas – how in the hell does this happen and we’re still questioning Michaela’s life previous to being in Keating Five?
One relationship I am hopeful for is the relationship between President Hargrove and Annalise. It’s always great to see two Black women be friends on television and it looks like Annalise will continue to help and counsel her in regards to trying to win this case and gain custody of her children.
While the love affairs are heating up, business is happening. Annalise sets up Lisa using a burner phone which Bonnie delivers to Charles Mahoney in jail. From there, Frank calls the phone, the alibi he’s been stalking for hours, which sets her phone records up and allows Wes to be free from all the drama once again. Despite what Nate says, Annalise is still continuing to protect Wes constantly.
The climatic finale ends up Frank in Annalise’s house where she explains just how much she cannot forgive him for how much he’s done to her. The death of her child. The death of Sam. All of it leads to a possible suicide for Frank as Annalise lashes out and Frank is in genuine tears.
Next week is the finale and we finally find out it’s no one in the Keating Five under the sheet. My guess is either Nate or Frank or someone we don’t care about. Here’s hoping it’s Nate, so we can move on and get to a brand new hot relationship for Annalise. Sayonara, Mr. Officer!
Arrow Season 5, Episode 5: “So It Begins” Original Air Date: November 9th, 2016 Grade: C+
Get it together, Arrow! As per usual, the producers of Arrow have brought in messy and unnecessary components to the show, leaving fans confused and a little bit sad by the end of the episode.
Arrow reminds me of the time I wrote a summer reading essay about a book I’ve never read. (Oh God, am I turning into Oliver Queen?) The producers thought they knew what they were doing in the beginning of the season, but kind of wavered off with random plot twists to make it seem like they knew what they were talking about. “So it Begins” isn’t the best entry for Arrow’s fifth season.
What a necessary caption for a bad ass photo.
Like… Quentin Lance as Prometheus? Really? The idea remains completely implausible. Arrow has underestimated its fans. You can’t add a red herring for the sake of putting a red herring into the show. My only hope is that this story line will be an interesting way to go for the coming episodes.
Throughout the episode, Diggle and Oliver were extremely reluctant to share information with the new recruits. I officially deem them unworthy and suggest we return to OG Team Arrow. I’m just kidding, kind of. But I do suggest that the producers either start giving those characters personalities or they actually disband the new team, because they are not fun to watch during the episode. (Editor’s note: Exactly! You don’t start working at a new job and whine when the boss doesn’t tell you everything about the company.)
“So It Begins” spoke of and discussed Oliver Queen’s ‘List’. Oh, boy. I haven’t heard that name in a very long time. Not since season one. Honestly, before the episode, it never actually came across to me how messed up having the ‘List’ really was. I mean, Oliver literally had a book of names he had to kill. That’s all kinds of horrifying.
Perhaps I had kind of gotten used to it, or season one purposely labelled the idea of the ‘List’ with a sense of normalcy so it wouldn’t seem like our main protagonist was actually a serial killer. But, you know. Whatever works.
This episode was not a total loss. We began to see the introduction of Prometheus, and we also were able to see one helluva flashback. (But that will be discussed later). Prometheus is as ominous as a villain could be, especially when he says, “So it begins.” No matter how cheesy, you’ve gotta admit that line got you wondering the outcome for this season.
I really want to know who’s under that mask. It better be a veteran character returning. Tommy? Roy? Slade? …Laurel? I’m on the edge on my seat, just tell me already! But can we discuss the media in this episode? “Throwing star killer.” Throwing star killer. That may be one of the worst names that the media could ever deem someone. And that goes next to vigilante guy.
Which brings me to the name Prometheus. I can’t help but wonder what connections the Arrow villain (reminder that Prometheus was never originally a comic) could have with Greek mythology. Perhaps his motive for wanting to possibly destroy the Green Arrow and the entire race of humanity is so he can start over and recreate mankind? Another idea could be that he believes the Green Arrow has granted him eternal suffering and this is why he wants to kill the Green Arrow. Just food for thought.
Prometheus has already shown that he knows of Oliver’s past, and the ‘List’. There could be a huge possibility that it could be Tommy (maybe it’s only a possibility because I want it to be a possibility so badly), but even then it wouldn’t explain why Prometheus has targeted Quentin Lance. (Perhaps Tommy blames Lance for Laurel’s death?) All this conspiracy thinking makes my brain hurt.
Speaking of which, at the end of the episode, we found Lance waking up after an, oh I dunno, alcoholic coma, finding jagged cuts on his arm and a clean ‘throwing star’ (so to speak) on his table. The episode ends zooming in to a look of horror on his face.
I am beyond disappointed that Quentin started drinking again. (Or more appropriately, never stopped). When he tried to explain his actions to Thea, I almost punched him in the face, which was pretty impressive. Because he’s a fictional character. On a TV screen. I certainly hope Arrow can pull off this alcoholic Lance arc. Otherwise, the show could easily turn offensive or irrelevant.
Let’s talk about Olicity for a sec. Felicity stole police evidence off of her boyfriend’s desk. Trouble in paradise? Ship or no ship? Discuss.
And Susan giving Oliver her number? Um, no. Talk about unprofessional. Also, we basically all know Felicity and Oliver will always be the end all, be all (unless Laurel comes back to life, fingers crossed), so everything else is irrelevant.
Wait, let me explain that for a second. Laurel and Oliver are together in the comics, so there has always been a huge chance that they would marry and have their happy ending. She even confessed her love before her death as a tribute to the comics. There is always that possibility. But alas, the fans have spoken. Olicity it is.
The flashback this episode might have been better than the actual plot-line. As Dolph Lundgren is welcomed by fans with open arms, he does not disappoint. Kovar has been introduced to the season. And may I add, he snapped a guy’s neck in the first 30 seconds we met him. Which means, he will fit in nicely. Welcome to Arrow, Lundgren.
I just need to– everything about Anatoly is perfect. His lines are scene-stealers. Can he be in every season ever, now, please? Classic. 10/10. Please stay forever. Come to Star City. For some reason it’s always night time, but at least we have a hot mayor.
Mama Cadmus shows up and asks Kara about the nature of her relationship with her daughter, Lena. She spouts some nonsense about Superman abusing his power and getting Lex into trouble. Clearly, she’s delusional. But I want to point out here that the moment that Kara thinks Lena might be involved with Cadmus, she loses her composure. Even Mama Cadmus has to stop her villain monologue to ask if everything is okay. I know the show is trying hard to ship Kara with Mon-El, but that quick moment was enough for me to fuel the S.S. SuperCorp for another few episodes. TOOT TOOT.
