Empire
Season 3, Episode 5 – One Before Another Original Air Date: November 9, 2016 Grade: B
It’s been a much needed long hiatus from the Lyon family. I have little understanding as to why it took so long for the show to return or as to why it was necessary other than to keep me from having to witness the ongoing drama that ensues but nevertheless. The family is on the run from Xzibit from “Pimp My Ride”/Shyne due to his incessant issue with having to retaliate when things don’t go his own way.
As nice as Enzo and Cookie look together, I honestly am so unconcerned with where it goes and how it’ll end up failing – because you know it will. I’m just glad that for once Cookie isn’t running after Lucious and seems to be a lot happier and focused on her business. Meanwhile, the relationship between Nessa and Andre or situationship rather, is about to have everyone up in arms. Only one that might be thrilled is Lucious, just based on Nessa being Black and Shyne’s sister.
“Why is everyone bringing Bella into this?,” Hakeem asks Lucious at one point. Y’know, I keep wondering the same thing. Everyone is holding Hakeem’s baby he can’t even claim over his head to get him to mature and follow the path they want him to. Andre may be the matyr but Hakeem is the tragic hero, destined for us to root for him but never actually make it. So instead of actually being useful, he’s putting on his big boy britches to satisfy Lucious and pretend to be like him. Well, you know how that’s going to work out folks!
Anika ends up resolving the entire Shyne issue, probably much to the relief of us all including Lucious and the Lyon family. Somehow the Cookie and Enzo relationship also gets on shaky ground because she feels as though he reached out to her parole officer about not being as productive and timely as she could’ve been. Enzo leaves him feeling disappointment and Cookie is wrong as hell and in for the surprise of her life when she finds that she probably got set up by Lucious or somebody involved with him.
The show ends up with the brothers fighting due to Nessa being involved with Andre, which Hakeem can’t handle. Rejection seems to be such a hard thing for these boys to accept. Hakeem also puts his hands on Jamal, which is probably the last thing he needs. Clearly, they should just throw gasoline on this mansion and start over. Meanwhile, Tarik is still spying on Lucious gathering intel so that he can finally end him once and for all. Thank goodness. At least, somebody’s doing us a favor and getting rid of this pseudo-paternal nightmare.
South Park Season 20 Episode 7: Oh Jeeze Original Air Date: November 9, 2016
OOOOOH JEEEEEZZZZEEE! I did not expect the US election results to be so quickly integrated into South Park’s seventh episode, especially with the outcomes coming in the day prior. With Trump winning the election and the American people slowly coming to grips with this revelation, it is pretty amazing that South Park has been able to incorporate it as quickly as they did.
As in real life, the Giant Douche has become the president-elect of the United States of America. The country is in shock and is still coming to terms with it, or not, like the suicide that occurred. No one believes it, this isn’t how it was supposed to happen, but now IT’S TIME TO FUCK THEM ALL TO DEATH!
Randy confronts Garrison to try and figure out what the hell is going on. He does not understand but gets memba berries vomited into his mouth. The world is slowly being brainwashed with the notion that women can be anything, except for president. This brainwashing continues to spread and the memba berries do not show any sign of slowing. Will South Park ever regain their freedom?
In the other main plot, Skankhunt42 is recruited by Hillary to take down TrollTrace.com and Gerald must become James Bond in order to save his country from the Giant Douche. However, it was all a huge conspiracy. Gerald winds up being set up and was sold out to Denmark. All the other trolls were told the same thing. Denmark has locked them all up and the trolls finally discover they have been Rick Rolled. What will happen to all these trolls?
Meanwhile, Bill Clinton, the almost first gentlemen of America, is joined by Bill Cosby start up a gentlemen’s club to promote fairness to women. Butters is not having it though. Butters absolutely stole this episode with his constant pickle pressing and smushing his snake everywhere. But our Mr. Gentlemen goes to speak with him. He warns that something is about to happen that we aren’t aware of.
“Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned, and trust me, my wife is a crazy bitch.”
Hillary and all the other women out there are about to get payback, and we are all completely fucked. She has lost everything and she is piiiiiiiiiiiiiiissssssssssed. Women are sick of our shit and soon men are going to be caged underground and milked for their semen.
Lastly, Cartman continues to believe that girls are smart and funny but for the first time ever, he is genuinely scared for the future. He is afraid that what he said about Ghostbusters will come out and he forces Heidi to trust him and go with him to Mars. Cartman and Heidi arrive at SpaceX. Will he make it to Mars and avoid his own self-destruction?
Once again we see more suspense being built and even more questioned being raised. The new plotline of Hillary’s wrath is an interesting one but it seems to be a little too much all at once. The added complexity may take away from the plots that have taken so long to develop. There is a resurfacing of the South Park humor though with this new plotline. The biggest laughs were from being Rick Rolled and pickle pressing. Tune in next week to see if Cartman can escape to Mars like most Americans want to escape to Canada right now.
This week on Supergirl: I try really hard to not just talk about Alex Danvers and her emotional revelations. (And fail.)
Spoilers through Supergirl season two, episode five: “Crossfire.”
It’s been about five hours since I finished watching Supergirl’s fifth episode, “Crossfire,” and I still don’t know how to reasonably compose my emotions on what happened in the episode. “Crossfire” was a solid episode for all of the characters, but you all know the one I want to discuss by now: Alex Danvers.
And I can’t. Not yet. First, because I’m a tease and I have to make you all read this whole damn review and second, because I’m not entirely sure what to say yet. I’m still grappling with the revelations myself, so let’s get into the other nitty gritty bits.
Mon-El Goes To Work
I liked Mon-El for his first two episodes. There was a sweetness behind his snark and perversion that had real potential. Supergirl needs a variety of men on its show because I’m all about equality, so I tried to welcome Mon-El with open arms even though he started ringing douchebag alarms. Besides, he makes Kara smile and Kara deserves to smile more.
And then they named him “Mike” and now I can’t get the image of him sitting on a disheveled porch talking about how deep the song “Wonderwall” is out of my head. I detest even calling him Mike. It’s Mon-El or nothing. I don’t care how many times I have to use a stupid hyphen because I refuse to give validation to this horrible, no good, very bad name choice.
Mon-El goes in for his first day at CatCo because nowhere else in National City has jobs available and Kara basically runs that joint so she just does what she wants and James is all, “Sigh. I guess that’s okay (btw, I still love you).” We should probably discuss how Mon-El is a bit of a sleaze but really my big takeaway from his arc was how unbelievably preppy everyone dresses on Supergirl. A bow tie? Skin-tight everything? Is National City located just outside of Portland? I digress.
After being a third wheel in Kara’s date with Lena Luthor and then also almost having sex at work, Mon-El is fired from his internship at CatCo because clearly he was just too pretty.
I have some feelings about Mon-El straight up manipulating Ms. Tessmacher into doing his work and trying to sleep with her, but I realize I’d be a big, fat hypocrite if I did so when I cheer from the sidelines while Sara Lance alters history with her sexuality. (It’s not the same, I know, but look at me trying to grow or some shit.)
Cadmus strikes again
Cadmus is trying really hard to be a big, scary villain this season and while Mama Cadmus is definitely rocking it, her minions are less than threatening. The dystopian-esque “we will save you by controlling you” videos are a little too over-the-top for my tastes. The scary thing about Cadmus, for me, has always been the fact that you never quite knew who they were, you never quite understood their relationship with Luthor or their end game.
In Supergirl, however, Cadmus comes across as a conniving villain who enjoys monologuing and twirling his mustache too much. By giving D+ students alien weapons and letting them go crazy, they’re weakening their potential. Cadmus should be more like the Kryptonians from last year: 50 shades of baddie grey.
Kara dispatches the D+ students every time they show up somewhere with new hi-tech alien weaponry, but the highlight of their interaction is when they crash Lena’s shindig and she’s waiting for them. I find Lena Luthor incredibly fascinating. No, Lena will never, ever replace Cat Grant (and I miss her), but there’s something to be said for Lena as a character. Not only is she the CEO of her family’s company, but she’s clearly intelligent and probably spends as much time in R&D as Bruce Wayne.
However, there’s more to Lena than we might know because as the final moments rolled, the audience realized that Mama Cadmus is also Mama Luthor. Do I think this means that Lena is secretly evil? Heck no. I suspect she’ll be just as surprised. Do I think Mama Cadmus should be more careful showing her face around minions? You betcha.
James and the Giant Existential Crisis
Last season I rooted hard for the James and Kara ship to set sail. Right around the moment James asked to tell Lucy Kara’s secret was when my affections for the pair started to waver. It was an unfair situation for James to put Kara in and even though she ultimately told Lucy the truth, it never sat right with me that he coerced her into that decision. (Also, I miss Lucy.)
I don’t care for the James and Kara ship this season because not only would it be incredibly inappropriate with him being acting CEO of CatCo, but also, there are times when I can’t handle his angst.
I get it. James feels inadequate next to the Supers. He’s close to both and knows he relies on them every time his life is in danger. He lost Kara romantically but still had hope that maybe one day she’d see him in that same heroic light she first saw him in at the beginning of last year. But then Mon-El showed up and while he’s not Kryptonian, he still has similar powers. When push comes to shove, Mon-El doesn’t need Kara to save him. More importantly, with everything at the DEO (including Winn), Kara doesn’t need James anymore, and that fact drives him to becoming a self-made street-level hero who has no idea how in over his head he is.
James tries to take on the Cadmus minions but he fails and is forced to run off to fight another day. He enlists Winn’s help and I’m happy to see those two getting along for once. Winn understands James’ plight and agrees to make a suit for him, thereby giving us Guardian’s origin story on Supergirl.
Honestly? As I’ve said, sometimes James grates on my nerves, but I’m legitimately excited about this turn of events for him. I’ve always thought he and Kara were an “end game” romance and his transformation is just one step in that direction.
Alex Danvers
Last season, I low-key shipped Alex/J’onn because one, I’m a romantic trash bag and two, after the events with nearly every lesbian couple on TV, I knew my Alex/Lucy pairing would never come to fruition, so in my fanfiction the ship stayed.
And then they told us in the off-season that a main character on Supergirl would come out. And then photos of Maggie and Alex leaked. And then we realized Maggie was that Maggie from the comics. And then I had so much hope in my heart I couldn’t control what was happening.
Alex has always, easily, been my favorite character on Supergirl and now? I can’t breathe thinking about her scenes tonight with Maggie. The palpable vulnerability, the visible fear, the crash of emotions as she realized what we so plainly recognized the last few episodes: Alex Danvers is gay.
Everything surrounding Alex’s epiphany about her sexuality was what I dreamed it always could be. Alex is logical, rational. She’s a hard-worker who has always put everyone else before her own interests. Even when Maggie mentions that her ex chastised her dedication to the job, Alex can’t help but see that as a compliment and not a negative quality, because she lives for the job. Then the potential for romance enters the equation and nothing about it is logical, rational, perfect. Alex tries her best to quell the new and frightening feelings, but she can’t. And in the end, she won’t.
Alex’s scenes only took up around six minutes of screen time but for me, her story was the entirety of the episode, broken up by moments with Kara or James to give me time to breathe. Alex’s awkwardness around Maggie has been adorable, real, and relatable. There’s a familiar comfort in seeing this strong, intimidating woman struggle to formulate words when talking to a pretty girl.
After asking out Maggie about a dozen times over the course of a few days (they played pool together!), Maggie confesses that she didn’t know she was into girls. Of course Alex, still grappling with her new emotions, freaks the hell out and runs off. But Alex is both curious about and comfortable around Maggie so she can’t stay away for long. Alex initially goes to her sister, maybe to confess, or maybe just to apologize. She now realizes how hurtful it can be to try to force someone into your notion of “normal” and she feels guilty for possibly ever putting Kara in that situation. In the end, she doesn’t tell Kara about her realization because Lena comes in and mucks all that up, but I’m okay with that. I’m okay with Maggie being the first person she tells because Alex needed that.
When Alex tells Maggie, there is no judgment, no confusion, just a gentle understanding of the emotions pouring through her. Maggie stays silent because this moment, this revelation isn’t even about Maggie–it’s about Alex coming to terms with Alex. I’m so relieved that Maggie and Alex didn’t kiss at the end because Alex coming out was too important; it’s so much more than just romance.
Everything about Alex’s confession felt real. Her range of emotions travels from fear to understanding to comfort and back to utter panic again once she realizes what just fell out of her mouth. She smiles because she’s nervous and it’s probably the only thing keeping her from crying. God, I have no idea how anyone is writing a normal review about this moment because my heart both aches and celebrates for Alex’s journey. The fact that she’s an adult who has been hiding this her whole life really gets to me, but now, now she feels whole. Chyler Leigh, Floriana Lima, Supergirl writers, thank you. All of you.
Random Thoughts
Kara announcing herself before the final fight of the episode is exactly the opposite of what you should do when you’re fighting crazies with overpowered weapons.
Why didn’t J’onn just transform into Kara again so as not to blow her cover with Lena Luthor? No matter how much Lena flirts with Kara, you have to question her intentions and her family ties. Kara’s identity should be better protected and it’s almost laughable at this point if Lena really is clueless as to her true self.
Also, J’onn was absent this episode and I’m not okay with that.
As much as I LOVE everything that’s happening right now (Alex), there’s something missing from Supergirl this season: that sense of family. We’ve had so few group scenes this year that it’s bumming me out a bit. I know last year was difficult, but I’d give up a lot (not Alex) to see our characters all cuddled up on Kara’s couch eating pizza and pot stickers. Come on, CW. I know you have it in you. Not every episode has to end on a cliffhanger.
Season 1, Episode 6: “Wear It” Thursday, November 3, 2016
Last week I mentioned that Pitch had lost some of its magic from the pilot, but this week that magic came back. Ginny is finally forced to face the emotional struggle that has accompanied her rise to success in this week’s episode “Wear It.” I was both apprehensive and excited for “Wear It.” I wanted the episode to highlight that her letting loose was a combination of her reacting to the pressure of the Majors as well as her just acting her age. I was worried though that the episode would focus on the exploitation of Ginny’s rebellion instead of the act of rebellion itself. Thankfully, the writers of Pitch dealt with the story line perfectly.
The Nike Endorsement
The day has finally come…Ginny has her first big time endorsement. She has signed a deal with Nike and is now the company’s new face and the center of their new campaign which includes a commercial comparing Ginny to other boundary breaking Americans such as Jackie Robinson, Sally Ride and Obama.
As the old saying goes “with great power comes great responsibility,” and in this case that translates to “with an endorsement deal comes an endorsement launch party.” The night before the party, the pressure of her newfound status manifests physically as Ginny has a panic attack. She reaches out to Amelia, her biggest supporter, confidant, and rock, to help her get through it. Over in Mike Lawson’s bed, Amelia receives Ginny’s call for help and rushes over to calm her down.
I saw people asking why Ginny would be upset about Mike and Amelia dating if she didn’t have feelings for him. Well the question was answered loud and clear during “Wear It” when Ginny was having a bad game. Mike approaches the mound, as catchers tend to do in this situation, to talk to his pitcher. But unlike most pitcher/catcher convos, Mike asks Ginny if her poor performance is due to her having another panic attack. Ruh Roh. Mike you done and messed up. This right here is why Ginny was upset about this pairing. Amelia and Mike occupy two very important, but different roles in Ginny’s life. Amelia has been with Ginny every step of the way. She has been her champion and her support system. Someone she can trust. And Mike is her mentor, the person she has looked up to since she was a kid. The guy who stood up for her in the locker room and who is showing her the ropes. But there are things she will talk to Mike about that she would never talk to about with Amelia and vice versa. And that was okay because their lives were not all intertwined. She did not have to worry about any of that information leaking from one to the other, but now she does. So in essence, Mike and Amelia dating results in Ginny losing two of the most important constants in her life.
So when Amelia brings Ginny her launch party dress the next day, she gets frost bite from her interaction with Ginny. After a bit of probing from Amelia, Ginny tells her that from here on out their relationship is strictly professional and nothing else. Poor Amelia, I just want to jump through the TV and give you a very long hug.
The Launch Party
The Nike launch party is chalk full of jumbo sized images of Ginny and once she gets in all people want to do is take pictures with her. (Is it too soon for Ginny to pull a Bieber and just say no?) When it becomes just too overwhelming Ginny finds a hiding place in the service hallway to get away from it all and a cute young cute waitress named Cara delivers Ginny a special drink: a KGB Mule (I am going to pretend this is a shout out to Alex from Nikita). After seeing how uncomfortable Ginny is at the party, Cara asks her if she wants to ditch the party and Ginny says “Abso-fucking-lutly”
While part of me was wary of Ginny leaving the party with a legit stranger the other part of me just wanted her to let loose. And let me just say, my Twitter feed explooodddeedd after this with speculation of a potential fling. (Granted I have a pretty gay Twitter feed). The two head off to a house party where the millennials are doing millennial things like playing Wii and beer pong. But more importantly, they all treated Ginny like a normal 23 year old which is all she wanted. As the night progresses, Ginny consumes more alcohol and beats everyone at every game they throw at her including Roomba Beer Pong (side note: playing beer pong with an MLB pitcher seems like a recipe for disaster).
Her final challenge is to dunk a ball into a pool side hoop, which she successfully does while wearing her launch party gown and a borrowed pair of New Balance sneakers.
Cara watches Ginny with a careful eye, letting her have her fun, but also making sure she doesn’t get into too much trouble. After Ginny’s pool stunt Cara and Ginny head to the bathroom to get her out of that dress and dry off, and fall into an empty bathtub in the process. The two then make out, and Ginny and Cara fall in love and Cara comes to all of Ginny’s games and they live happily ever after. Oh wait, that excerpt was supposed to go into my Pitch fanfic doc. So everything I said up until the “making out” part is true. But once the two fall into the bathtub Cara and Ginny do not make out. Instead Ginny has a breakdown as she tells Cara how much she is drowning under the pressure of being put on a pedestal.
Ginny is able to bounce back from “emotional breakdown” to “fun drunk” fairly quickly and Cara brings brings her to a late night drive-thru. Sadly any hope of them making out in the car is thwarted by a random third wheel sitting in the backseat.
The Morning After
The next morning Ginny wakes up in the parking lot of Petco Park in the backseat of Cara’s car. Cara wanted to make sure that Ginny made it to the stadium in time for the game, and even called Amelia to let her know. Amelia and Ginny head to a meeting with Al, Oscar and the new owner Charlie to discuss the previous night events. Ginny assumes that all she will have to do is make amends with Nike for wearing NB shoes and apologize for her drinking, but this meeting is about so much more. Amelia shows Ginny the video of her breakdown in the bathtub that Cara took. Guys don’t worry, Cara the sweet angel that she is did not post the video.
She gave it to Amelia because she was concerned about her new best friend and then promptly deleted it from her phone. But that does not change the fact that Ginny needs help to handle what she is going through and Ginny agrees to see a therapist.
Ginny spends most of the day employing every avoidance technique she can think of to not open up to the therapist. Finally after an entire day of the therapist wearing her down, Ginny opens up about her biggest fears:
Ginny: What if I don’t want to play baseball? I mean, I can’t quit. I’m the first woman in the majors, I can’t just decide to do something else. Therapist: Why not? Ginny: Because I’m not just me. I’m also that. That person in the ad. The in quotes “Ginny Baker.” But I’m not that, I’m just me, and I don’t know if I want to do this.
By acknowledge these fears as valid they are no longer something she has to be ashamed of and keep to herself. By saying them out loud she is free of their shackles.
I know that this show is made in partnership with the MLB, and that it is a drama, but I really do hope that the way the management handled Ginny’s situation is somewhat realistic. I hope that they do put their players in front of the franchise sometimes and realize that these are young kids who are still in need of guidance. They are not just pawns as Oscar put it so eloquently last week. Also I think it is impossible to not love Al after seeing him tear up while telling Ginny he cares about her and needs help.
Eliot
Let’s just say that this was not a great week to start myPitch drinking game where one of the rules is “Drink every time Eliot has a line.” Not only did he have lines, he had his own legitimate story line!! It all begins at the signing of Ginny’s endorsement deal where Eliot starts making eyes with the Nike personal assistant. He continues to try and spit more game at the Nike girl at launch party. After asking what she is drinking, Eliot starts rambling about how he likes “girly drinks” and while it is adorable, it is not the best pickup line.
So he tries again and this time with more success. They are hitting it off but their flirty dialogue is interrupted by Amelia frantically sending a hundred 911 texts alerting Eliot that Ginny is missing. Eliot initially tries to ignore Amelia, but once he realizes that Ginny is actually missing, he goes into work mode and helps out his boss.
Eliot uses his genius social media/IT skills to find the exact location of the house party Ginny attended, but by the time they arrive everyone is gone. When Amelia starts complaining that Ginny is ruining everything that she has worked for over the last two years, and shows no appreciation for Eliot’s contributions, Eliot loses his cool. He tells Amelia that she isn’t the only person that has made sacrifices for Ginny’s. Eliot took a chance and quit his job to accompany Amelia on this journey. He left his family, his band, his (possibly existent but not sure) girlfriend behind. This job is his whole life too and he wants Amelia to acknowledge and respect his contributions.
I have to admit, Eliot’s speech made me look at him in a different light. Earlier in the episode, I was upset that Eliot would choose flirting with a random girl over making sure they knew the exact location of Ginny. And then I started thinking about Eliot and the position he is in. I am guessing that he probably started working at Amelia’s former firm right out of college. Let’s say he was there a year or two before quitting with Amelia two years ago. That would make him approximately 25 years old. He is only a few years older than Ginny, and yet his entire life is dedicated to her. He sleeps, eats and breathes Ginny. So when he gets a text from his boss saying that Ginny is missing, it is understandable that he would brush it off because to him Ginny is the same age as him, she isn’t a child. So basically, this scene gave me a newfound respect for Eliot (a character who I already adored). But more importantly, it gave Amelia newfound respect for Eliot, which resulted in a job title promotion.
Blip and Evelyn
There was not a ton of Blip and Evelyn in “Wear It” but what we got was quality.
Evelyn’s best moment: When Ginny confronts Amelia about her relationship with Mike:
Evelyn: “I’m gonna… not excuse myself because I wanna hear this.”
Best couple moment: Blip and Evelyn literally had the same exact reaction to Ginny after she told them about Mike and Amelia. They tried to act surprised and say “Whaa!” slowly with their voices 2 octaves higher. It was amazing, I love these two.
Other Things
Mike and Amelia broke up at the launch party and Mike proceeds to get hammered. He then drunkenly shows up at his ex’s house where he has to sit through an awkward dinner party with her new fiance.
Arrow Season 5, Episode 5: “Human Target” Original Air Date: November 2nd, 2016 Grade: B
Arrow’s fifth episode of the season, “Human Target,” began with Rene in Tobias Church’s cliché-bad-guy warehouse being tortured. “Tortured.” With the previous episode’s “I’ll make you turn on your own team” (Not actually verbatim) and “you’ll give me all the secrets I want”, this scene honestly felt kind of underwhelming. Am I a terrible person? Maybe. But in my opinion if you want to make a huge plot twist, you should live up to it.
I’m not really sure I like Tobias Church as a villain. He represented the overused persona of a common villain, shown in any cheesy TV show or play or Greek myth among the years. He didn’t have a story and he didn’t seem especially scary like Slade Wilson, Damian Dahrk, or (I hate to bring the Flash up, but) Zoom. Of course, Tobias Church wasn’t the main villain of the season, considering he’s now a corpse in the middle of an armoured truck. This actually makes me even more excited to meet Prometheus.
Speaking of Prometheus, his costume (or, ha, identity concealment) isn’t especially terrifying either. I understand the costume department has made all of the costumes have an urban feel, which means muted tones, but Prometheus looks like a mix between The Hood and Ragman. I honestly mixed him and Ragman up several times throughout the episode. Whoops. (Editor’s note: You are not alone.)
Curtis, aka Mr. Terrific, also seems strikingly similar to that character from Spongebob. You know which character I’m talking about.
And you thought I was joking.
Also, it kinda looks like he slapped playdough onto his face and went with it. I’m underwhelmed by the costuming this year.
I made a groundbreaking discovery during this episode. You know when Oliver is out interrogated people to get information? I’m pretty sure the writers of Arrow copy and pasted a scene just like it and changed the words up a bit.
I’ve developed a step by step procedure to create an action scene such as this one:
“WHERE. [Pause. Mustn’t forget the pause] IS HE?”
“I can’t tell you, my boss will kill me!”
“Your boss isn’t here. Guess who is!”
“Okay, okay! [insert information lil guy gives here]
I couldn’t believe that the writers of Arrow would make scenes like these so similar, but there may have been one of these scenes (playing out exactly as above) in literally each episode this season. Either that, or I’m getting massive déjà vu.
Now that I’ve gotten my cynicism out, let’s talk about the cool parts of the episode.
Yeah, so one BIG BIG thing. Basically, all Oliver moments we saw the entire episode were NOT OLIVER. I repeat, they were NOT OLIVER. There were probably some very large plot holes during this episode, but all in all, what a plot twist. We watched a guy who-very-much-looked-like-Oliver-Queen get shot several times in the chest in front of the mayoral hall.
Skip to Lance, announcing in front of reporters that Oliver Queen died that night. Honestly, I don’t think that’s how the government works, but okay. We’ll go with it.
So, hold up, Thea went the entire night (probably several hours) thinking her brother was dead? The episode didn’t even touch on that. I’m 100% sure that if this actually happened, Thea would have gone to the Arrow cave immediately to see what was happening. But of course, that wouldn’t go along with the plot.
The last ten to fifteen minutes of the episode were so rushed, like the producers were little puppies who wanted to show the audience their idea, but weren’t patient enough to present it.
I really liked Christopher Chance on the show. If he doesn’t come back, I’ll be pretty upset.
I mean, come on. He gave Oliver a girl’s number. He also spurred a talk between Felicity and Oliver. If anyone can change things up and make things interesting on the show, it’s probably this guy.
Let’s talk about that conversation between Olicity. 2 cute. Must date now. Can you feel the tension from here? 10/10.
All I must say. Sage Yvonne will wait patiently for her ship to resail.
This week on Legends of Tomorrow: Legends travel to Civil War era; zombies appear; Ray and Mick totally love each other.
Spoilers through Legends of Tomorrow season two, episode four: “Abominations.”
Legends of Tomorrow has officially stopped trying to fit itself into the Arrowverse. Season two has been a thing of campy beauty: ninjas, nazis, and now to complete the holy trinity of WTFuckery, zombies. “Abominations” finds our heroes–Oh, sorry, I can’t call them that–Legends smack dab in the Civil War because of some future space pirate who brought the zombie virus to the 19th century.
Here’s why “Abominations” works better this year than it ever would have last season: last year, Rip would have traveled to the space pirate’s era, tricked to eradicate the virus then, failed. He would have tried to stop the space pirate from crashing in 1863, and failed. He would have whined about his crew mucking up the timeline 17 times. He would have then concocted a virus in the Waverider and administered it via air spray over the battlefield.
Instead of doing things the “Rip” way, Captain Sara opted to stick with their bad situation and find a way through it. It created a much more compelling narrative and shined and much needed light on characters who were neglected last year, like Jax and Mick. And thank goodness we don’t have to deal with the Hawks or stupid Savage anymore. Season two is miles better than season one.
Sara and Nate
The Legends split up into groups, each with a job to do. Sara and Nate make their way to General Grant’s encampment to warn him about the zombies that they may or may not have pissed off earlier in the day. Nate politely tells Sara that she should let him do the talking and they share a moment that actually hurts me to quote:
Nate: “We’re a couple hundred years away from gender equality.” Sara: “Only a couple hundred?”
Of course, once they’re in the company of General Grant, Nate goes full doofus and claims he is “Colonel Sanders,” an error that Sara then has to fix by slamming a zombie head on the General’s desk. How do y’all not like Sara? Seriously. Even when she’s “not supposed to be a leader” she still finds ways to take charge and correct the issues her colleagues make. And you know what? She doesn’t degrade her team, either. She’s the one who takes on the burden when someone gets hurt; she carries with her the knowledge that any time shit hits the fan, she will be the one to make the ultimate sacrifice first. Sara spends her time making the hard decisions and living with those choices. But in the same breath, she’s constantly propping up her teammates so they can be better. She doesn’t lecture about how they screwed everything up because she knows if they make mistakes, that’s on her as a leader. I love her. I also love her off-handed comment to General Grant about Nate:
Sara: “And if I’m not back for any reason, feel free to shoot him.”
After using up most of the General’s ammunition to fight off the attacking zombies, Sara and Nate get an idea of Jurassic proportions. Nate attracts the zombies with a flare and then blows them all to pieces with some extra nitroglycerin. He goes “Steel” just in time and Sara is grateful she didn’t sacrifice a member of her team, even one as grating as Nate.
Jax and Amaya
Of all the characters who have improved in season two, Jax has improved the most. No longer is the actor relegated to just squinting his eyes to make his monologues seem more emotional. He has actual story lines, a full range of emotions. When Stein suggests he stay behind because of current political issues in 1863, Jax responds:
Jax: “Okay, I get this might be difficult for you to understand, but I’ve been black my entire life, Gray. I can’t imagine a time period we could go to where I wouldn’t face some sort of racism.”
Jax has this amazing heart and even though he “took care of the confederates” by blowing them up and making even more zombies, he has the best intentions. He desperately wants to do right by the timeline, even if it means watching his people suffer. After unwittingly causing a ripple in the timeline by getting Henry Scott killed, Jax makes it his responsibility to carry out Henry’s mission.
Jax and Amaya dress up as slaves to steal the information General Grant needs to win the war, but things aren’t as easy as Jax thought they might be. He thought they could slip in, unnoticed, steal the plans, and slip out. The reality of the situation isn’t that it’s hard for him to get the job done, that would be fine, but the difficulty is that it’s hard for both him and Amaya to watch how the slaves are treated and stay true to their mission. Eventually, Jax breaks and he can’t stick just to the mission and let people, his people, die. Jax and Amaya come out as heroes and Jax does right by Scott’s memory, but I can’t help but wonder if Jax feels some grief knowing that racism will still be a struggle 150 years from that point.
As a white person, I don’t know that I can comment on whether or not this story line was successful. From my point of view, it worked well, and I’m grateful we were given a Jax story line where he was more than just comedic relief. His relationship with Stein is really growing on me and I loved the line from Stein:
Stein: “You’ve just witnessed the very worst of humanity. We share a psychic connection and I still cannot even begin to fathom what you must be feeling. It must be like your heart is broken.”
Ray and Mick (And Stein, I guess)
I play a ton of zombie games and one of the first things those games teach you the hard way is that, meleeing zombies is never a smart idea. Now, I don’t expect Mick to realize the correlations to video games, however, he has the most OP zombie-killing weapon on the show–a fucking flamethrower–and he opts to stupidly use his fists.
Naturally, he got bit and he turns into a zombie.
Mick is scared by the idea of transforming into a zombie and the CW, which has given me SO MANY HAPPY THOUGHTS from Supergirl, now adds more gay on Legends in the form of Ray and Mick. (Is there a ship name for this, yet?)
Mick: “Raymond, I’m counting on you.” Ray: “Don’t worry, Mick. I got you.”
Not only did Mick take a break from calling him “Haircut” (to show how serious he was), but they ADORABLY held onto each other during the process. Of course, Ray’s vaccine only exacerbates the issue and he has to turn it into a liquid to spray with a fire extinguisher, blah blah science-y stuff my simple mind will never grasp.
Once Mick is returned to his human form, he and Ray share yet another moment when Ray brings him food, sans vegetables. Mick, of all people, recognizes the position Ray is in. He lost his sense of “hero” the moment Snart died and so he hopes to help the both of them by sharing Snart’s Cold gun and gaining a new partner. Sometimes, Legends can be unbelievably sweet.
Random Thoughts
As annoyed as I get by Ray at times, it’s really hard not to root for him. He’s hurting but he embraces every role thrown at him with a giant smile. Even though he can’t be the Atom, he puts his soul into being the Team Mom by watching over everyone and packing lunches.
Please don’t make Nate/Sara a thing. I actually am really enjoying the swashbuckling, ass-kicking, suave womanizing nature of Captain Sara. It’s so refreshing to watch a female character unabashedly have sex “like a man.” And I shouldn’t even say “like a man” because she still gets at least kind emotionally invested in those she romances.
Stein still irks the piss out of me but out respect for Victor Garber and his character’s lovely relationship with Jax, I put up with his nonsense.
Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursdays on The CW at 8pm EST.
The DCEU hasn’t had the best track record in recent years, struggling to find its footing since the Nolan-era Batman films. While I think a lot of this criticism is unjustified, Wonder Woman has the potential to get DC back into the game.
Let me rephrase that into more Jen-esque terms: Wonder Woman looks fucking amazing.
Gal Gadot completely owns the character, illustrating early Diana’s naivety to the world around her while still adamant about protecting not just her Amazon people but also the people of the world. The Wonder Woman trailer is exactly what I want from a movie preview: it highlights the basic plot points of the film without spoiling too much of the main story (AHEM Batman v. Superman, Ghostbusters, etc.), it offers hints of action and comedy (a trait sorely lacking in other DC films), and it’s topped off with an empowering score.
There’s a lot of pressure on Wonder Woman to do well, not just for the DCEU, but for female superheroes, as well. After watching the trailer, I am very excited for Wonder Woman to release next summer and you all should be, too.
The only thing better than watching your favorite TV shows live, is watching your favorite TV shows live while playing a drinking game. That is why I have created Pitch Please: The Pitch Drinking Game.
I really love TV drinking games, because you get to make a game out of the repetitive aspects of a show that you both love and hate. And you know, it also involves drinking
Pitch Please: The Drinking Game
(Remember to drink responsibly!)
One Sip When:
Mike touches or caresses his beard
Mike talks about his aging body or bad knees
A FoxSports broadcast comes on screen
Eliot says anything
Young Ginny is on screen
Ginny says she just wants to be one of the boys/team
Blip makes fun of Evelyn’s spending habits
There is a baseball reference you do not understand
When a character is holding a beer (courtesy of @originalkels)
Two Sips
Evelyn and Blip are cute and adorable and are the definition of your couple goals
You want to slap Oscar
Drink through the entirety of:
Any of Mike’s monologues or speeches
Any of Al’s monologues or speeches
Finish Drink:
We find out what the deal with Ginny’s brother is
Ginny builds a field and the ghost of her father walks out of it
If you have any suggestions for new rules, feel free to write them in the comment section below!
We finally see Neil Patrick Harris as the dastardly Count Olaf in this newly released A Series of UnfortunateEvents teaser trailer. Olaf is the main villain of the series as he initially takes in the Baudelaire children, who have become orphaned after the death of their parents. However, the siblings eventually realize that their guardian only wants them for their inheritance.
To be released on Netflix January 13, 2017, NPH is joined by Patrick Warburton (Lemony Snicket), Malina Weissman (Violet Baudelaire), Louis Hynes (Klaus Baudelaire), and Joan Cusack (Justice Strauss). The eight episode series is produced Barry Sonnenfeld and Daniel Handler.
Watch the trailer:
There are thirteen books in the series starting with The Bad Beginning, which was originally published in 1999. In 2004, Jim Carey starred as Count Olaf in the film version of the first novel along with Emily Browning, Liam Aiken, Catherine O’Hara, and Meryl Streep.
Here’s the official summary:
Based on the internationally best-selling series of books by Lemony Snicket (aka Daniel Handler) and starring Emmy and Tony Award winner Neil Patrick Harris, A Series of Unfortunate Events recounts the tragic tale of the Baudelaire orphans — Violet, Klaus, and Sunny – whose evil guardian Count Olaf will stop at nothing to get his hands on their inheritance. The siblings must outsmart Olaf at every turn, foiling his many devious plans and disguises, in order to discover clues to their parents’ mysterious death. The eight-episode series is a Netflix original production, executive produced by Emmy Award winner Barry Sonnenfeld and Daniel Handler, and premieres January 13, 2017 only on Netflix.
This week on Supergirl: ALEX AND MAGGIE HELD HANDS. ALEX AND MAGGIE INTERTWINED FINGERS. THIS IS NOT A DRILL, PEOPLE.
Spoilers through Supergirl season two, episode four: “Survivors.”
This week on Supergirl, Hank confronts M’gann about being a Martian and–You know what? I can’t do this. If y’all think I’m talking about anything on Supergirl that isn’t related to Alex and Me Maggie for the next few weeks, you might want to walk on by. Oh sure, I have to “review” the episode because I’m a “professional”, but after “Survivors” and all the emotions fluttering through my chest right now, I need to talk about it, so strap in, because we’re about to get very, very gay up in here.
I can’t be the only one who noticed all the potential gay pairings, right? After last week’s episode, “Welcome to Earth,” the internet (ahem, me) was all but certain that Alex was the “rumored to be gay” character. With her actions this week in “Survivors,” that’s clearly true. However, before we dine on the main course, let’s discuss a few of the appetizers.
The Maybe Gay-bies
I mentioned in last week’s review that Kara and Lena were sending some strong vibes out into the air and this week when Kara came to the L Corp’s CEO for help with the underground alien fight club, Lena couldn’t wait to help her. I could be misreading these signals. It’s possible that Lena is clued in to Kara’s secret identity because Kara Danvers is a terrible, no good, very bad liar. Lena doesn’t seem the “stupid” type, so I’m going to guess in reality it’s the latter option, but sometimes it is nice to daydream that Alex has always been gay/bi and Kara will be the one exploring her sexuality. Or maybe Lena just looks at everyone like that. I don’t judge. However, next week sees the two of them paired up yet again so I’ll guess we’ll start to understand their relationship more fairly soon.
Next up on the menu are Winn and Mon-El. Now, before the season started, Winn was the frontrunner for “possibly gay character” on the show. Is it because Jeremy Jordan sings Celine Dion like an angel? Is it because he isn’t as “masculine” as James? Or because he dresses to impress? Shame on you, internet, for stereotyping!
After Winn’s banter with Mon-El during “training,” however, I’m not so sure that he’s not at least in the “maybe” category. We’ve already watched him swoon over Superman and who can blame Winn where Mon-El is concerned? Mon-El OOZES Ryan Gosling-like charm. And who better to teach Mon-El about the ways of Earth other than Winn? Sure, it’s clear that the show wants to go the whole Romeo & Juliet route with Kara and Mon-El, but after their night at the bar together, I assure you, many a fanfiction will be dedicated to these two dudes.
Alex and Maggie Held Hands: A Love Story
I can’t believe I showed some measure of restraint and wrote about something other than Alex and Maggie. Between the glances, the phone calls, and the banter, there’s no way Supergirl isn’t giving us the slow burn with “Sanvers”. Despite my desperate hope for them to kiss like crazy, they still have to work with one another, be professional, and definitely not smile when they call one another. Maggie initiates contact by asking Alex if she wants to see a dead body and you know damn well that if anyone else had called to ask that question, Alex would have reached through the phone and kicked them in the throat. But Maggie shows up with a dead alien in a trunk, a link to an alien fight club, and an invitation to a kinky masquerade party and Alex cannot wait to put on that dress.
“Omg omg omg omg omg omg”
AND THEN MAGGIE TAKES HER HAND AND I DIED. INTERTWINED FINGERS, Y’ALL. BE STILL, MY HEART.
I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s all take a moment of silence and marvel at Chyler Leigh’s phenomenal acting in these moments. Look at her face when Maggie takes her hand. LOOK AT IT. Alex is a character who has traditionally been stoic, professional, and most importantly, in charge of her emotions. Maggie came along with her confidence and flirtatious attitude and Alex turned into a puddle. Alex Danvers, the woman who charges into danger without hesitation, can’t form a coherent sentence when a pretty girl compliments her. Watching Alex try to compliment Maggie’s dress without completely outing herself was the highlight of the episode for me. She was so awkward in her “I’m flirting but totally not flirting” demeanor.
Alex: “I’m not all business. But this is…right?”
Alex, you adorable cheesecake. She WANTED it to be a date. She WANTED Maggie to hit on her. But, Alex is still a professional, an agent for the DEO. No matter what her growing feelings mean, she knows she still has a job to do and it’s Alex who does most of the leg work in the episode. Sure, Kara lands the final blow on Draga, but Alex (with Maggie’s help) is the one who got them to that point. She’s the one advancing most of the alien plot while Kara only swoops in for the victory.
After they bust Roulette (and then have to let her go because I’m 99% sure Cadmus is behind the fight club and they need Roulette as a baddie for a few more episodes), Alex, in her very own “Alex way” tells Maggie that she thinks she’s “a great cop.” I don’t know if y’all have been following Supergirl or not, but Alex doesn’t compliment many people. Her list of people she cares about is as follows: Kara and J’onn. That’s about it. Maybe mom and dad. Maybe. By telling Maggie she thinks she’s a great cop, she’s basically saying, “I like you, please kiss me.” But the blow came when Maggie introduced her girlfriend and Alex’s response was one that was so painstakingly familiar, it killed me.
“Aw shit, I love her. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck.”
But I’ll be honest: I’m glad about this turn of events. So often with gay romances, the pairing happens so quickly that I don’t trust it. Much like with Waverly and Nicole on Wynonna Earp, I WANT the slow burn for Alex and Maggie. I want them to earn it so that when we finally do get it, we get all of it. I want to see Alex struggle with her emotions; I want to see her tread unfamiliar ground; I want to see her awkward and uncomfortable. Goodness, I’m so excited. Please don’t hurt my baby, CW.
Green Martian, White Martian, Good Martian, Bad Martian?
At the end of last week, I shrieked with glee at the sight of M’gann. A million thoughts raced through my head about where they could possibly take her character. If they decided to use a more Young Justice-esque Miss Martian, she’d easily feel at home beside Supergirl. However, judging by J’onn’s interactions with the last daughter of Mars, it’s clear this version of M’gann is much more guarded and cynical.
J’onn tries to break M’gann out of her shell, but he’s so excited by the prospect of another Martian, that he asks her to bond, completely oblivious to the fact that for 300 years M’gann has lived in hiding, has lived with the shame of surviving. Much like Kara and Mon-El, she has to cope with being one of the last of her kind and she guards that fact. J’onn is proud of who his people were and he desperately wants to open up the way he once had before his life was stolen from him. In M’gann he sees a hope for all of Green Martians, so when he learns about her actions in the alien fight club, he lashes out, causing even Kara to intervene.
J’onn: “I spoke with M’Gann last night” Kara: “Did you use your inside voice?”
Oh, Kara, you beautiful ray of sunshine. You precious puppy. You unopened box of caramel chocolates. Never change.
After J’onn and M’gann are pitted against one another in the fight club, they finally come to grips with their differences. J’onn accepts M’gann for who she is, someone who has had to struggle with solitude and guilt her entire life. She fights as her own form of penance.
Of course we learn in the final moments that M’gann isn’t a Green Martian, but in fact the feared White Martian. How J’onn handles this turn of events will be interesting but I want to talk about these implications for a moment because I’m not sure TV fans understand how difficult such a transition is for M’gann. In the one episode we’ve seen her character, M’gann hasn’t been portrayed as too likable, definitely not like the bubbly Megan on Young Justice. However, it should be understood that the White Martian she mentioned in her story is her. She’s the one who broke from tradition, probably saving a Green Martian from certain death (maybe even J’onn?) and is punishing herself for her entire race’s sins. She won’t bond with J’onn because then he’ll know the truth about her, something she isn’t ready to share yet. By introducing M’gann as a White Martian so soon, Supergirl continues to blur the lines of good and evil by showing us that not everyone adheres to stereotypes.
Also, I’m getting a romantic vibe from J’onn/M’gann and while I desperately want romance for him, I don’t know if I’m comfortable with that, considering I’ve known M’gann predominantly as “Martian Manhunter’s niece.”
Random Thoughts
Kara’s “reporter” storyline is “meh” at best. Sure, it gives us more interaction with Lena Luthor, but I cannot help but think it would be so much better with Cat there as her antagonist. Snapper isn’t awful, but I really miss Cat.
Kara telling her mother about her day is really fucking sweet. It’s those little moments that show the heart behind the characters that really get to me. Also, Mon-El is helping to shed some grey light on the always pure Kryptonian Kara.
Alex and Winn are my favorite friendship to come from Supergirl’s move to The CW:
I know this is probably a nitpicky thing, but after all the hubbub from last week’s episode announcing “rights for aliens,” can Roulette really say that “They’re not people. They have no rights.”? Maybe the laws haven’t gone into effect yet, but I can’t imagine no one cares about aliens fighting illegally underground.
Kara, baby, we need to discuss some of your cringe-worthy dialogue:
Draga: “I’ve never killed a Kryptonian.” Kara: “Your streak’s about to continue.”
Arrow Season 5, Episode 4: “Penance” Original Air Date: October 26th, 2016 Grade: A-
I have but one question for you, Arrow: how could you fit so much action into one episode? AND you managed to make it work. Kinda. But we can talk about that later.
Truly, the highlight of Arrow’s fourth episode, “Penance,” was the flashback. Anatoly instructs Oliver to find Klovar’s money collector, who at the time was in a Russian jail. We got to see Oliver pass as a drunk American party boy and get arrested. He got the information he needed out of Pyotr Friedkin, and then, in a turn of events, snapped his neck. In those five or ten minutes of the episode, we saw Oliver Queen graduate from the ex-playboy to the level of Bratva. I loved watching the origin of the “drunk but not really” act that would basically be Oliver in the first season. I will be sad when we won’t have flashbacks anymore, but I’m curious: how did Oliver’s hair grow so fast after last season’s haircut? Besides the point. But still, food for thought.
I’m gonna be honest. I didn’t know what the heck was happening with Felicity and the new recruits this episode. And why Felicity was against breaking Diggle out of prison was beyond me. They’ve done far worse things in their time. (example: oh, I dunno, killing people?)
Also, when the recruits stood in a line in the middle of the road to “try to stop Oliver” seemed like a weak attempt from the directors to show that the recruits were against Oliver’s prison-breaking Diggle. The scene was literally thirty seconds long. It didn’t even seem necessary. I mean, come on. They stood in the middle of the street. It’s not like Oliver was going to turn around because there was a person in the way. The episode was like, “No, I’m absolutely never letting you do this. Ever. Oh, my bad. Well that’s the end of that. I’ll move on now. You can do whatever you want.” Why would you even try to stop Oliver? What did you think was going to happen?
So… yeah. That whole part of the episode was a bit of a mess.
The end with Wild Dog’s sacrifice also seemed way too forced. The producers obviously want the audience to like his character, seeing as he’ll probably be a part of Team Arrow for the rest of the season, which is what I assume the next episode will be about.
Rene’s change of character in the end was awkward, given his situation. He made it obvious throughout earlier episodes that he didn’t care at all about the team, nor did he trust Oliver. But lo and behold, there he was, sacrificing not only his life, but his sanity for the three other people on his team. Felicity didn’t really seem to care either. Her decision to leave him seemed simple enough. “Yeah, just leave him. It’s chill. He was gonna turn on us either way.”
I loved seeing the Oliver/Lyla dynamic throughout the episode. Their mutual respect for each other is so cool to watch onscreen. Their lines are so smooth and watching their chemistry in the field is better than Oliver and Felicity has been recently. (Not that I ship them. They just have cool on-field chemistry.)
Actually, Oliver and Felicity basically have had little to no chemistry at all this season. And Felicity’s significant other has been mentioned twice this season, so who knows what’s going on with him? Was adding yet another character necessary to the show? There has been controversy this season that Felicity seemed to need a boyfriend to be a contributing character to the show. It felt like he was put there just to create artificial “drama.”
It seems romance in general has been put aside so far. Recently in an EW interview, Stephen Amell and Greg Berlanti mentioned that a scene mentioning Olicity’s relationship (or lack thereof) will come out soon. So we can look forward to that.
“We’re brothers. Anything that happens to you happens to me, too.”
But the real romance is the one between Oliver and Diggle. Hashtag FEELS. They keep each other rooted. When one person does something dumb, the other is there to knock them upside the head and tell them to get it together. Where would they be without each other? Of course, Oliver had to rescue Diggle from prison. It was a no-brainer for him.
Those few moments between brothers dissipated all concern that Oliver/Diggle’s relationship wouldn’t be the same after the events of last season. Oliver showed that he understood the dilemma Diggle was going through and he told him that he could help. I’m sure the dilemma Diggle is facing (killing his brother, that is) will be a recurring theme throughout this season, but at least now he has Oliver at his side. Now, the only place he can go is up. (Which basically means, he’s probably going to get over it by the end of the season.) Also, Diggle is officially/unofficially returning to Team Arrow. Team Arrow won’t just be chock full of newbies. We may regain some of the ol’ chemistry.
I will enjoy seeing the Diggle and Oliver dynamic in the next episodes. We now have another veteran returning to Team Arrow to teach the young’uns.
Although all of the different storylines of the episode seemed unrelated or disconnected, the episode managed to all in all have good characters, action, drama, and plot line. Next episode, I hope to see more of Prometheus and the other villains.
Spoilers through Batman: The Telltale Series episode three, “New World Order.”
After finishing Batman: The Telltale Series episode three, “New World Order,” I can confirm that the hype over this game is indeed real. Batman has been portrayed in many different ways over the past 30 years that it’s hard to imagine anyone could put an origin spin on his cowl. However, Telltale has managed to do just that by taking the tortured Bat’s history we know so well and turning it on its head. Thomas and Martha Wayne are no longer victims in the story of Bruce Wayne’s life. Instead, its revealed that Thomas has ties to both the corrupt Mayor Hill, as well as the mobster Carmine Falcone. The Waynes are no longer the philanthropic symbol of hope for Gotham, which puts Bruce (and Batman) in a perilous predicament.
After the events of episode two, “The Children of Arkham”, we learned that Bruce’s empire rests on the unjustly earned laurels of a corrupt man who wrongfully committed citizens like Esther Cobblepot to Arkham Asylum. When faced with these revelations, Bruce is forced to learn how to reconcile the man he knew as his father with the criminal seen in the Penguin’s videos. If that wasn’t enough, he has to grapple with maintaining control of Wayne Enterprises while also protecting Gotham from the rampaging Children of Arkham.
Thomas Wayne isn’t the only one whose true colors have been on full display for Bruce. His childhood friend, Oswald Cobblepot (the Penguin) also made it known that he works for the Children of Arkham and his plan is to take back Gotham from people like Bruce Wayne. Bruce may be right about Cobblepot’s character, but the episode forces Bruce to look at things from an outside perspective. Actions speak louder than words and everything Bruce (and Batman by association) does only sinks his cause further and further. By the end of episode three, Harvey doesn’t believe a word Bruce says, Cobblepot is acting CEO of Wayne Enterprises, and Bruce is the madman who belongs in the Asylum.
And that, my friends, is “New World Order” in a nutshell.
There’s not too much to discuss in the way of actual gameplay within Batman: TTS. What Rob said in his initial review of episode one is still accurate now. There are some graphical issues (like how off it looks when Batman holds a steering wheel), but it’s the usual fare for a Telltale game at this point. Performance is better than previous games but the bugs and syncing issues have become expected. (Believe me, I hate even writing that.)
What I’d rather discuss is the nature making “decisions” in a story we know so well. For instance, I wonder at the choice of using Harvey Dent as the mayoral candidate. Sure, it’s a canonical decision, a familiar character for bat-fans, but it’s also a tortured story we know well: Harvey’s descent into Two-Face. At the end of episode two, choosing to save Catwoman seemed like a no brainer because 1. I’m big into vagina loyalty and 2. I knew Harvey would eventually lose his mind. It felt more important for me to save the one who was more likely to be at my side by the end the five episode arc rather than the one who would likely become my enemy.
In fact, by the time I started episode three, I’d already written off Harvey as a villain. I was kind enough, of course. I flirted with Harvey at the hospital like the good boyfriend I am, but whenever there was an option to choose someone over Harvey, I took it. It became this self-fulfilling prophecy because I knew he had the opportunity to turn on me at any moment, so there was no point in trying. Maybe that is the point of the series, the point in using Harvey as opposed to a new, unknown, character. Because we know how Harvey’s story ends, does this change how we, as Bruce and Batman, treat him?
None of this is to say Harvey isn’t likable. Travis Willingham does a great job bringing, ahem, both characters to life. In fact, much of the voice acting has been top-notch through three episodes, but that’s what you get when you hire some of the best in the industry.
The real twist in “New World Order” didn’t come from Harvey like I expected (though, him walking in on a naked Bruce after a night alone with Selina was, dare I say, a wee bit uncomfortable). Instead, it arose from the final moments when Vicki Vale drugged Bruce and announced herself as Lady Arkham, the master puppeteer behind the Children of Arkham.
Now, I want to pause for a moment here because I was genuinely shocked by this turn of events. Sure, Vicki was acting a whole lot of suspicious through most of episode three, but I thought maybe she had just joined Twitter or something. To find out that she was responsible for the Children of Arkham was both wonderful and kind of confusing. I LOVE that a female character like Vicki is the big bad in a Batman game. At the end of episode two, I thought we’d see the Joker as the leader behind the Children of Arkham, but I’m incredibly pleased that isn’t the case. Too often Batman stories rely on the Batman/Joker dynamic as a source of tension instead of writing a genuine villain. That being said, I hope we learn more about Vicki’s background in episode four because the move felt so out of left-field that it ultimately left me feeling like it was just the most shocking decision instead of the one that made the most sense in terms of the story. (I’m assuming Telltale will give her her due.)
BUT WHAT THE HELL, VICKI? You were the Chosen One! I picked you over Gordon! I would have saved you before Selina Kyle! I LOVED you!
(Most of my confusion over her betrayal is probably due to not wanting to admit my heartbreak.)
At the end of the episode, here’s how my choices played out (these stats may be different now that the game has been out a few more days):
Batman: The Telltale Series episode four is slated to release sometime in November, with episode five coming at the end of the year.
This week on The Flash: Mirror Master does some magic tricks, Jesse dons her new suit, and Barry and Iris have trouble with PDA.
Spoilers through The Flash season three, episode four: “The New Rogues.”
Mirror Master
This week’s episode of The Flash, “The New Rogues,” starts with a flashback to the day of the explosion in Central City. We are introduced to Sam Scudder and Rosalind Dillon who are interrupted by Leonard Snart. After a scuff, Snart drops Sam on the top of a mirror and holds a gun to his head to kill him. Just then, they hear the explosion. Snart runs off, but Sam and Rosalind are both hit by the particle accelerator.
Back in the present, Scudder is revealed to have been trapped inside of the mirror, where he realizes he has developed the power to go into any reflective surface and then out another. In one of the best moments in the episode, Cisco starts to name him when Harry yells, “Mirror Master” stealing Cisco’s chance. Scudder breaks Rosalind out of Iron Heights and the Mirror Master/Top team-up begins. With Snart out of the way, Scudder decides that Rosalind and he can rule the city. Since the show is called, “The Flash” and not “The Mirror Master,” Barry and Jesse must take care of him and Rosalind before the show’s over.
Jesse Quick
Last week ended with Harry giving Jesse a costume, saying that he believed in her. I want to take a moment to express my love for Jesse. Violett Beane plays Jesse Wells so well, she is a joy to have on The Flash. Since last season, she’s had affections toward Wally and we finally see her make a move by kissing him. Wally rejects her advances, saying that she is from a different earth and would be leaving soon. Eventually, he comes around and they share a very sweet kiss. They are a great couple and both great additions to the cast. I would totally watch an “Earth-2” show with Wally and Jesse taking out bad guys as a duo.
As far as Jesse Quick, she gets her first field experience taking on Top and Mirror Master. After dismissing Barry request to stay back, she confronts Top and falls off a building. Barry saves her but her confidence is shaken. By the end of the episode, she regains her confidence thanks to Wally, and takes down Top. Her and Harry hope back to Earth 2 at the end of the episode. I don’t know what the long-term plans are for Jesse Quick, but I hope she’s back very soon.
PDA
After 3 seasons of missed opportunities for Barris/Irry (let’s go with Fliris), we finally get to see Barry and Iris take things to the next level. This introduces a new, important, and highly comical, kink into their family/team dynamic. Joe took Barry in after his mother’s death and father’s imprisonment, which makes Joe a surrogate father for Barry. Joe is, in fact, Iris’ father. That dynamic alone makes things strange. This week, Barry and Iris heat things up on the couch just as Joe walks into the house. In the flash of an eye (pun intended), Barry turns off the music, turns on the lights, and replaces his glass of wine with a bottle of beer. Joe realizes all this and refuses to make eye contact. It was hilarious to watch; however, Iris is not happy about the whole situation and asks Barry to talk to Joe. That talk goes over as well as you’d imagine, leading to another awkward family moment. Just when Iris stands up to settle things once and for all, an alarm goes off which means Barry and Joe must get going. Iris’s reaction is so good. So many times, shows like this struggle with the relationship area of the hero (I’m looking at you Arrow!). You spend several seasons building up a relationship and then you struggle to keep the drama going. I think The Flash has solved that formula thanks to Joe. I love that Iris and Barry and still committed to each other and are going to work it out, but the dynamic of working together and being around Joe all the time will add the needed drama to keep the relationship fresh for a while.
Killer Secret
In “Paradox”, we learned that Iris and Joe’s relationship was not the only thing affected by Flashpoint. We find out that Cisco’s brother was killed and that Diggle (from Arrow) had a baby boy instead of a girl. In the closing moments of that episode, we learned that Caitlin has developed ice powers like that of her Earth-2 doppelganger, Killer Frost.
In “The New Rogues,” Barry is trapped in a reflective object by Mirror Master. Cisco and Harry figure out a way to get Barry free, but it all depends on they achieving a low enough temperature. They can’t seem to get the temperature low enough. When the alarm sounds, everyone runs off leaving the machine running to try and free Barry. Caitlin walks behind the object and freezes it enough for Barry to escape. Barry doesn’t see her but the team knows that it wasn’t the machine that set him free. The episode ends with a pretty big shock moment. As Caitlin is trying to enjoy a warm shower, she unknowingly freezes the water. Once out of the shower she looks at herself in the mirror to find, not only are her lips turning blue, but she now has a white stripe in her hair. It will be interesting to see how Caitlin is developed and if “Killer Frost” makes a return.
The New Harry
In a show full of amazing actors, Tom Cavanagh has probably been my favorite. The first season, he got to jump between wise mentor and evil super villain. Then, in season two, he was the grumpy, over-protective father. Now, in Season three he shows up to get the team’s help with his daughter, who is now a speedster. The team decides that they operate better with a Harrison Wells on the team, and Harry has the great idea to send an invitation out into the Multiverse for a replacement Harry. The ensuing montage of Cavanagh playing the Wells characters from the Multiverse is hilarious.
The team settles on a prime candidate who is basically Harrison Wells which a sense of Humor. Harry doesn’t like it and says he has a bad feeling about it. However, in the end, the team brings New Harry–who likes to be called, “H.R.”–into the fold. Once again, The Flash is reinventing Dr. Harrison Wells and the amazing and talented Tom Cavanagh is rising to the occasion. I’m excited to see the Dynamic that H.R. will be bringing to the team.
Final Thoughts
The Flash has started season 3 very strong. We are still seeing the ripples of Flashpoint and, with the next few episodes highlighting Caitlin, we are clearly not out of the woods yet. I would put this amazing cast up against any other cast on television today. They are all brilliant and make the show a joy to watch. “The New Rogues” was a lighter episode with more comedy then we’ve had this year but it also sets up what’s coming very nicely. If you aren’t watching The Flash, it’s time to catch up.
Quote of the Week:
Harrison Wells (Earth 2): I care for you too…you jack-wagon.
Pitch Season 1, Episode 5: “Alfonzo Guzman-Chavez” Thursday, October 27, 2016
I was enthralled and excited after watching the pilot of Pitch (as can be seen in my review of the episode). I saw the potential of the show in regard to character development, stories about a female navigating a male-dominated world, and the exploration of a rookie pitcher. I have not felt that same excitement when watching the subsequent episodes of Pitch, though. Don’t get me wrong, I still enjoy the show, but the magic that encapsulated Pitch’s pilot seems to have diminished.
This week’s episode of Pitch, “Alfonzo Guzman-Chavez,” revolves around the MLB trade deadline, which is the last day that a team can trade any players who do not have a no-trade clause. This is a stressful time for nearly everyone in the baseball world: players, managers, GMs, and owners. The players who have a no-trade clause have to deal with the uncertainty of what their team will look like tomorrow while all of the other players have to worry what state they and their family may live in the following day. While I understand the fear and anxiety that accompanies the trade deadline, the way it was portrayed at certain times seemed forced. The main example that sticks out in my head is when Lawson stands up in the locker room to tell everyone to not worry about the deadline. He gives one of his Lawson speeches about how they just have to power through and stay off social media. If they are going to be traded they will be informed by the front office, not by twitter. My problem with the speech is that it was framed as the Mike Lawson, the sage baseball veteran, telling all the newbies that everything will be okay. But for most of the team, this is NOT their first trade deadline. That is not to say that the deadline isn’t nerve wracking no matter how long you have been in the league, but Mike’s speech read more as an exposition to the viewers than an authentic speech to his teammates.
Although Ginny has been assured she will not be leaving the Padres, she is freaking out that Blip might be traded. If Blip leaves she won’t just be losing a teammate, she will be losing her family. If Blip leaves so does Evelyn and so do their twins and that is the only family Ginny has in San Diego right now. Ginny basically lives at the Sanders’ house: she eats dinner there, plays video games with the twins, and she vegges out on their couch. For goodness sakes, Evelyn even makes Ginny set the table!
Ginny is so worried about the potential of Blip leaving that she becomes obsessed with following up to the second news about potential trades around the league. She even enlists Eliot to help her figure it all out. In my second favorite scene of the episode, Ginny calls Eliot up to find out the likelihood of Blip being traded. Eliot goes into a long winded explanation of how fantasy baseball works (which completely went over my head) and tells her that if A through Z happens, there is a 0.5% chance that Blip might be traded. The only thing Ginny hears though is “Blip might be traded.” (Side Note: I need Pitch to have more Eliot scenes EVERY WEEK.)
One of the reasons that Ginny is so sensitive to The Sanders leaving her is because of her old friend Jordan. Ginny and Jordan were teammates in High School and instantly became best friends at first sight. They were inseparable: they watched TV together, they drank beer behind the bleachers together, they loved Katy Perry songs together. But Jordan’s home life was not so peachy and he was raised by a single father who also happened to be an alcoholic. Jordan’s alcoholic father also happens to be the drunk driver who crashed into the Baker’s truck killing Ginny’s father. After the accident, Jordan moved away. That is the entirety of the Jordan story (or at least as much as Pitch wanted to show us this week).
Apparently, the memory and scars of Jordan fuel Ginny’s anxiety about the trade deadline. Amelia convinces Ginny that she holds all of the power in this situation and she should go talk to Oscar and demand that Blip not to be traded. This interaction goes as poorly as it possibly can, and actually almost backfires because Oscar had not considered trading Blip until Ginny mentioned it. In the end, Blip stays and Tommy, the pitcher who was an ass to Ginny at first and then started to be nice to her, was traded.
What bothers me most about the episode is how the flashbacks were handled. In previous episodes, the flashback tied explicitly to the present situation, making it feel like a “problem of the week” while also giving us some of Ginny’s background. The connection between Ginny and Jordan’s friendship to the trade deadline is a stretch. Jordan moving away after his father kills Will Baker does not echoes Blip leaving Ginny (which I will get to in a second). An argument can be made that Jordan and Ginny might correlate closer to Ginny and Tommy’s relationship, especially since he was the one who ended up being traded. Up until the end of last week’s episode when he reluctantly invited her for drinks with the boys, he was an absolute jerk to Ginny. This week, they are somewhat more friendly and they run the stairs of the stadium together to blow off steam. Are they suddenly best bros now? Pitch seems to expect the audience to accept that Tommy and Ginny are close now, because the show tells us they are, instead of demonstrating that these two have forged a connection.
My biggest problem with the flashback though is the connection between Jordan’s father and Will Baker’s death. If that aspect of Jordan and Ginny’s friendship did not exist, I think that the flashback could translate to Ginny’s current situation with Blip. Ginny has been an outcast for most of her life, so for her to find someone like Jordan who she could trust, would mean a lot to her in the same was as her finding someone like Blip and Evelyn. There seems to be a chunk of the story missing. An entire episode is spent showing their blossoming friendship and then he just moves away after Will dies? What happened between Jordan and Ginny before he moved away? By wrenching Jordan and Ginny’s relationship away in the manner they did, it cheapens their bond.
Blip and Evelyn
Of course, I need a section about these two because they are my #RelationshipGoals.
Evelyn is super excited because the price of the house she has had her eye on just dropped by half a million. Blip isn’t able to share in his wife’s excitement though because there is a trade deadline coming up and no one is safe. After spending the past 24 hours stressing about his status on the Padres, Evelyn kicks him out of the house and forces him to spend time with Mike Lawson. While shooting pool with Mike, we learn that Blip is literally the Relationship Rainman. After Mike ignores a call from a girl, Blip goes through the following logic:
If Mike isn’t going to bang a random girl there must be another girl he cares about
If Mike won’t tell Blip who this girl is, that means he doesn’t want Evelyn to know about it
Mike doesn’t want Evelyn to know who he is sleeping with because he knows she will tell Ginny
If Mike doesn’t want Ginny to know who he is sleeping with that means it is someone she cares about
MIKE IS SLEEPING WITH AMELIA
Guys, Blip is an actual genius.
Meanwhile, Evelyn and Ginny are having a nice night in with wine and TV where Ginny just cannot stop obsessing about Blip possibly leaving:
Ginny: “The Padres without Blip is like Destiny’s Child without Beyonce.” Evelyn: “I love my husband, but he’s no Queen Bey. Kelly Roland maybe” Ginny: “Okay but you get my point”
When Blip finally comes home everyone gets an alert on their phone suggesting the likelihood of Blip being traded has increased. While Blip wants to relax and NOT talk about being traded Ginny will not stop talking about it and finally, Blip explodes at her. I sometimes forget how young Ginny is until scenes like this (and well her singing along to Katy Perry). She is not old enough or mature enough to realize this is not all about her. She is only 23 years old and her whole life has been baseball. She didn’t go to college, she didn’t experience milestones that most young adults experience and because of this she can be oblivious in certain situations. To Ginny, Blip being traded means she will be losing her best friend and family. To Blip it means being forced to move his entire family to a new and strange location. It means ripping his sons from the only life they know. And until this moment, that wasn’t even a thought Ginny considered.
But because it is impossible for Blip to stay angry at Ginny, he comes into her lockerroom and they sit together in silence during the last seconds until the deadline hits, knowing that they have each other’s backs.
Other Things
Mike and Amelia get in a fight after her car is vandalized while at his house and he accidently calls her a groupie. So to say “I’m sorry” Lawson treats her like a groupie and gives her a super expensive loaner car a gesture which Amelia does not appreciate. So Amelia recruits Eliot to return the car back to the dealership and has an utterly amazing emotional breakdown, revealing to Eliot that she is sleeping with Mike, and that she is not a groupie, and that Eliot is wrong for making her tell him about their relationship, and that she is a strong independent woman, and that Eliot needs to stop judging her. Mind you, Eliot does not say a single word throughout Amelia’s entire rant. I will reference my statement earlier I NEED MORE ELIOT. Oh, also Amelia and Mike finally tell Ginny about their relationship.
Oscar (who I still hate) is getting pressure from the new head of the franchise to decrease the Padres’ budget by 2 million dollars before the deadline, a feat which Oscar declares near impossible. So he spends the entire episode being a raging douche while playing out scenes from Moneyball and yelling at Ginny that baseball players are just pawns and that the MLB can do whatever they want with them.
South Park Season 20 Episode 6: Fort Collins Original Air Date: October 26, 2016
Midseason has arrived at the town of South Park. While the buildup of the storyline has kept the audience in suspense, Season 20 has been lacking a certain luster. I still have no idea what the writers have in store for us, but I pray that it is something amazing. If we look back on this season thus far, it appears that South Park has lost its way. Maybe it’s because I memba the good ol’ days serialized storytelling throughout the season became the norm.
With the game, South Park:Fractured But Whole, releasing in 2017, maybe Matt and Trey are stretched too thin. The jokes this season just don’t seem to pack quite the same punch as prior seasons or episodes. I’m not even going too far back when each episode was standalone. I felt Season 19 delivered fantastically while keeping to serialized approach throughout the whole season. Season 19 touched on so many issues (SJW’s, gentrification, LGBTQIA, cops shooting kids) and was hilarious in doing so. This season’s jokes fail to land majority of the time. While we did get some moments like #wienersout, they do not seem to link up as a full story as they did last season.
“Fort Collins” continues the trend of portraying Cartman as an absolute enigma. He seems to have genuinely changed this season but I can never quite shake that feeling that he is up to something. His dream sequences on Mars were one of the highlights from this episode. Matt and Trey also added a nice touch with certain small details such as martian settlements in the shape of vaginas with balls. Will Cartman revert to his old ways or will be stay this new gentle figure that he is now?
Trolltrace.com has almost become fully online. The Danish are ever closer to being able to triangulate all the trolls in the world with the help of a very smart and funny girl who devised emoji analysis. “Fort Collins” has been the first to get hit. RIP MLKKK. It seems that skankhunt42 will be found out inevitably.
Somehow, memba berries are caught all up in this mess as well. I never thought I would say this but it seems that Randy was truly onto something when he said that the memba berries are the reason that Garrison will get elected. No matter what they do, these memba berries cannot be destroyed. They also have been behind the scenes fueling Caitlin Jenner. It appears that the only thing that can save the turd sandwich is none other than skankhunt42.
Don’t get me wrong, the buildup for the resolution of the plotline is killing me. This episode has me craving for answers on what is too come. So many twists and turns have arisen from this episode with the darker side of the memba berries and Caitlyn Jenner, but when has South Park been about twists and turns?
If I look back on what made one of South Park’s episodes that the fans enjoyed the most (“Make love, not Warcraft”), the reasons why many loved the episode so much was that the viewers, could relate to it. South Park has been known for being able to churn out episodes in a week’s time (see “6 Days to Air”). This allowed Matt and Trey to be relevant and make fun of whatever was current in the news. It is a part of the secret sauce that made South Park so great. With the storyline approach across the season, you no longer need to stay very relevant. Even when they do stay relevant, sometimes the jokes seem forced to fit into the overall storyline somehow.
All that being said, I have faith in Matt and Trey. I know they will deliver before the end of the season comes to a close. If they don’t I’ll just continue munching on my personal huge helping of memba berries.
This week on Supergirl: So many new faces that my live-action Young Justice might become a reality and ALEX & MAGGIE 4EVER.
Spoilers through Supergirl season two, episode three: “Welcome to Earth.”
OH BUDDY. I don’t know how I’m supposed to compose my thoughts after an episode like “Welcome to Earth.” Supergirl is already the best of the DC shows on the CW. Now, the other shows have some serious catching up to do. Not only did Lynda Carter (Wonder Woman!) appear as the president of the United States, but we also finally met Mon-El (the man in the pod) as well as the new face I’m most excited for: MISS MARTIAN.
Hello, Megan!
The Alien Amnesty Act
The president visits National City because she’s signing into law a piece of legislation that would allow aliens to become U.S. citizens. On the surface, it’s a fairly common staple among comic book storylines: a law that would “out” aliens/superheroes/mutants/inhumans to the human population under the guise of giving them freedom. Not all aliens are a fan of this move and one such alien, Scorcher (not named by Cisco, clearly), decides to take up her issues with the president directly.
As far as villains of the week go, Scorcher is pretty mundane. It’s how the team go to facing her that was exciting. Kara, for all her saving the day, is positively anxious with it comes to the prospect of meeting the president. Her reaction is how I imagine most of us would feel upon learning we were about to meet the Obamas. Melissa Benoist shines the brightest when she is cast in a heavy “adorkable” light. It’s a quality we love about her, even if does make her somewhat oblivious to certain dangers, like the possibility of the president not being who she seems. (A dominator in preparation for the “Invasion!” crossover?!)
Just an aside: I know that we’re supposed to be all “boo L Corp technology” but I think it would behoove the DE-freaking-O to have some of kind technology that detected an alien. Even if it’s just a silent alarm. At this point, they seem more lax with security than STAR Labs (though not quite as atrocious as the Arrow Cave). They let random NCPD detectives in for routine treatment like it’s Urgent Care. Nearly every politician has been an alien. Come on, J’onn, be a teensy more paranoid.
Introducing Mon-El
Everyone has already complained about Mon-El using a clearly Kryptonian name to introduce himself; I won’t tread old ground. (However, I would like an explanation, CW.) Chris Wood, as Mon-El, is, in my opinion, much more likable than even Hoechlin as Superman. He’s got that “I want to be a bad boy who doesn’t care but really I have a heart of gold” thing down pat. Clearly, he’s a case of wrong place, wrong time, and Kara, shockingly has a bias against his “kind”, which comes into play into a huge way over the course of the episode.
Mon-El isn’t Kryptonian, not like they initially thought. And for someone who so deeply hates Daxamites like the Kryptonians do, you’d think that Kara would have recognized him as an “other” beforehand. Maybe that’s where the irony for Kara’s hatred and snap judgment comes in. She was willing to be accepting for a man who was her “own”, but once she learned he was from the Montague house, all hell broke loose.
After realizing that she was too rash, Kara apologizes to Mon-El for being kind of an asshole and making irrational decisions where a Daxamite is concerned. She conceded that he wasn’t as bad as originally intended and even though his radio attempt to Daxam is probably going to bring hell down on National City (I watch a lot of Sci-Fi, I can read the signs), he isn’t some evil, kill everything, kind of person. Daxamite. I don’t know the terminology.
ALEX & MAGGIE SITTING IN A TREE
Nothing about these two is subtle. TV outlets are reporting that there’s a hint of romance brewing between Alex and Maggie, and guys, I just have to know, were we watching different shows? Because let me recap what I saw with my two gayballs in my head:
PHOTOGRAPHIC EVIDENCE OF FLIRTING
There’s no way these two aren’t hooking up, and I, for one, couldn’t be happier unless Sara Lance made her way to National City to have sex with errrybody.
Maggie Sawyer is a detective for the NCPD and she shows up wearing black almost as well as Alex, ruffles a few feathers, takes Alex to an alien dive bar, and then divulges her quick and dirty background. I don’t know about you, but if I were Alex, I might feel like that was a date. Maggie gets personal, but never to the point where she feels out of control, because she’s not that kind of gal. )And can I just say how great it was that both Maggie and the show were nonchalant about Maggie’s sexuality?) The pair bond over a good cop/bad cop interrogation, like the badasses that they are. Alex is still kind of a baby gay, at least to the viewers. She’s not quite a unicorn like Waverly Earp, but not Sara Lance, either. She’s into Maggie, but Maggie knows how to drive the ladies crazy. She plays it cool and casual by letting Alex save her and then rides off on her motorcycle to another date. Boom. Sploosh.
So much gay is about to happen on Supergirl, ladies and gents.
Also in the realm of gayness, was Lena Luthor hitting on Kara at the end? OH BABY. (I actually think no and that they’re playing up a potential Kara/Mon-El romance down the line.)
MY BOO, M’GANN
When J’onn made his first appearance last season, I lost my mind. J’onn Jones is a character who has had my heart for a long time in DC comics. He’s kind but powerful. Loving and unknowingly hilarious. (David Harewood is amazing as the character.) But better than J’onn is M’Gann, the last daughter of Mars. I read the spoiler over the summer that she was making an appearance on the show but I never dreamed it would actually happen. With all the heart and hope bursting forth from Supergirl, M’Gann should fit right in with her bubbly and quirky persona.
Now our live-action Young Justice team is almost complete.
Other Thoughts
I appreciate the “Kara as a reporter” side story more than I’ve had more time to digest it, but when compared to everything else I’ve written about, it just falls to the side for me. I love that Snapper Carr actually cares about reporting news for news’ sake and isn’t just some old white dude we’re meant to hate.
I relate to Kara completely when she mentions that she can’t write neutrally about a subject she’s passionate about. Look at my post history. I’m the same.
James and Winn have kind of become stand-ins, right? I want more for the both of them, and maybe that time will come, but right now, they’re just drones, it seems like.
Arrow Season 5, Episode 3: “A Matter of Trust” Original Air Date: October 19th, 2016 Grade: A-
AAAAAAAAAHHHH!!
This week’s Arrow episode has left me speechless. And that really doesn’t happen often. “A Matter of Trust” was able to highlight Diggle’s dilemma, the slow building of the chemistry of Team Arrow 2.0, Bratva initiations, and Oliver’s mayor struggles.
The episode started off with a good ol’ classroom lesson of “Vigilante-ing 101”. The scene looked straight from a Lord Mesa drawing that you’d find on your Instagram feed with Felicity and Oliver teaching the art of hitting people. Three episodes in and Oliver has still not allowed the new recruits to go in the field with him. Not that I blame him. Wild Dog was on my ‘dislike’ list basically in the first episode, but in “A Matter of Trust”, I kind of wanted to punch him in the face. Low key, though. Low key.
I mean, come on. How could “get back to your training” be translated as “go out and mess everything up”? Seriously bro?
This entire episode focused on Oliver and the team trying to deal with the repercussions of Rene (Wild Dog) ignoring Oliver’s orders. Sigh. I do not like that dude. He needs to chill and stop hating on everyone.
Speaking of ‘chill’, let’s just talk about Oliver for a second. In the beginning of the episode, he dropped a drug dealer off a building. Significant? Insignificant? Just for giggles?
Here we go again. Back to square one with the killing. Personally, I liked lighter-toned Oliver better, but I guess when the producers said they were bringing Arrow back to its roots, they really meant it. Hopefully, the show can pull it off. Maybe one episode they could dig a little deeper into his struggle with killing again. At the moment, his “I’m going to start killing again” idea seems a bit random. I know they mentioned it was because of Laurel, but it still feels too forced, and like I said, random.
The ‘magic’ element of Arrow that was introduced in season 4 and ongoing in season five, also seems a bit out of place. Sure, Damian Dahrk has magic powers. Constantine? Bring it on. Vixen? Go for it. But a teenager with a thousand-year-old magic mummy rag? Um… what? I wish the producers could incorporate his backstory into the plot line more. But all in all, I’m glad the mentions of magic have decreased this season. Quite frankly, I could rarely tell what was going on in season four.
Right here on Arrow, we were able to witness Cody Rhodes’ (aka Stardust, on WWE) debut into acting! Did you know Derek Sampson, the villain of the episode, had never acted before? Honestly, if I wasn’t aware of the Summer Slam drama summer of 2015, I don’t think I would have known. I just had to shout him out for his acting skills this episode. Good job, Cody Rhodes.
I really, really am enjoying the flashbacks this season. Even in the earlier seasons, when Anatoly was first introduced, I liked his character a lot. I’m glad he was brought back as a familiar figure for Oliver to turn to during the Bratva initiation. The flashbacks are beginning to really show the change Oliver had made mentally during his ‘5 years away’. I noticed the switch from “charming, no-killing Oliver” to season one Oliver Queen. Everything these past few seasons is really coming together, just with these flashbacks. All the seasons are finally being knit together. At least, that’s what I feel like. One question: when will the flashbacks interlock with the current plotline? Maybe Anatoly will return to Starling City, or Oliver will become a Bratva captain again?
Then again, I don’t think being a Bratva captain will put Oliver Queen on good terms with the public. You know. Being mayor of Starling City and all.
Mayor Oliver Queen has been a really cool side to see, by the way. From billionaire playboy, to night club owner, to broke and jobless, to mayor, Oliver Queen has had his ups and downs, career-wise. His job now will force him to have to compartmentalize. Is he the Green Arrow or Mayor Queen? He can’t be just one or the other. However, with his new team, he can easily balance the two. All aspects of the plot are like moving gears to make a well-oiled machine work.
I’m glad this season won’t just be vigilante-ing and Olicity. This episode included some problems Oliver is having as mayor as well, and while Thea is no longer Speedy, she can still make mistakes. The moments with Thea during this episode were meant to reassure viewers that she’s still a major character in the show, and she’s not just the person who does Oliver’s mayoral work. While we’re still on the topic of Oliver being mayor, the scene of Oliver’s conversation with his security guard seemed a bit similar to his moments with Diggle in the first season. Running away from his security detail? Season five Oliver seems to be an uncanny replica of season 1 Oliver, which seems to be an ongoing theme this season.
Another major component of this episode was Diggle’s, ah, problem. We saw the emotional struggle and fallout from Andy’s death that was not quite addressed in season four. Watching Diggle’s internal conflict (in the form of a Deadshot?) was incredibly heartbreaking to see. Andy’s death and the repercussions of the battle with Darhk are the consequences of being a part of Team Arrow. I have a feeling that Diggle will not join up again anytime soon.
Next week’s episode will be a perfectly timed episode about Team Arrow getting Diggle out of jail (at Lyla’s plea). Hopefully it will be primarily focused on Diggle’s character. Maybe we’ll meet baby John. (Well, technically, we were supposed to already know him, but Flashpoint. And stuff.) Many questions. Many predictions.
All I know is, OTA’s back.
(OTA means Original Team Arrow. It’s a thing. I swear.)
Watch Arrow every Wednesday night (8/7c) on the CW.
This week on Legends of Tomorrow: the JSA is grumpy, Ray makes a boo boo, and Sara flirts with no one. 🙁
Spoilers through Legends of Tomorrow season two, episode two: “The Justice Society of America.”
After last week’s premiere, “Out of Time,” I was cautiously optimistic about the second season of Legends of Tomorow. The first season of Legends was rough, only really coming into its own in the final few episodes. While the premiere had those similar roller coaster tendencies (issues with pacing and a superfluous Oliver guest bit to introduce Nate Heywood), there was hope for what the show could be in the coming months. Especially with, dare I even say this, Rip Hunter in the wind.
“The Justice Society of America” was a much more focused affair than the premiere. Legends does well when the episodes stay in one place, giving the group time to breathe and assess situations. In the second episode, they’re still in 1942, a year that at the end of last season Rex Tyler told them to avoid at all costs because it meant the end of the line for the group. But the Legends aren’t so good when it comes to following directions, ever, so after saving Einstein and New York City at the end of the last episode, the Legends ran face-first into the Justice Society of America.
Justice Society of America
The JSA is a staple in DC comics and with all the callbacks to Crisis on Infinite Earths and Flashpoint this year, I’m extremely excited for what The CW has up their sleeve for the crossover. The Legends version of the JSA consists of: Hourman (Rex Tyler), Stargirl, Captain Steel, Dr. Mid-Nite, Obsidian, and Vixen (the ancestor of the hero we saw in Arrow last season). These heroes aren’t too happy to see time travelers in their midst. In fact, they’re downright hostile. Vixen eager to toss them into a crater and saying sayonara, Hourman doesn’t give them two seconds to explain themselves, and Captain Steel isn’t pleased to learn he’s gonna be a daddy in the coming years. (For real tho, Nate. Give the man a moment before you spring all that on him.)
Compared to the Legends, the JSA is like an all-star team, working with one another toward a common goal. Meanwhile, the Legends can’t decide when or when not to fight in any given situation. Ray doesn’t fight with the rest of his team when the JSA shows up but he has no problem blowing their cover in front of a bunch of fully-armed Nazis. Stein gladly takes up the role of leader because it’s the 1940’s and he is tickled to feel superior. Nate doesn’t think to warn anyone about his hemophilia, even though it could kill him. No wonder Rip left you goofs. (I’m kidding, they’re better off.)
The JSA is on a mission: stop Krieger and the Nazis from winning WWII.
The Legends are intent on helping them with that goal and do so by making Stein sing and then ruining the Nazi party time. Eventually, the bickering leads to Krieger becoming superhuman, a ridiculous-looking beast of a man who stomps through the forest after our heroes. (The fact that someone filmed, okay’d, and edited that chase scene into the episode has me believing that no one on the Legends team takes this show seriously. That’s probably for the best for a show like Legends.)
New Additions and Leaders
I’ve had Sara pegged as the leader since about halfway through last year. She can be reckless and has sex with everyone (one of the many things I love about her), but when the job needs to get done, she’s there. She’s the first one willing to sacrifice her own life but she’ll be damned if any of her teammates get left behind. And besides, she did the voice-over this week, so that kind of clued us all into what was happening.
Also, Sara is the best wingman on the team. Not only is she forming a cute brother/sister bond with Jax, but she never lets her teammates be embarrassed. For instance:
Nazi: “Lorenz is said to be over six-feet-tall.”
*Sara crouches*
Bonus, she has no chill:
With the Waverider and its Legends leaving 1942, one might imagine that we’ve seen the last of the JSA. However, Vixen has already been confirmed to be a major player this season on Legends, so I have no doubt that she finds the team and asks for their help to get revenge on whoever killed Hourman. Of all the members of the JSA, she seems most likely to join up.
Timelines are so confusing
Between Barry screwing things up in Flashpoint and now Reverse-Flash screwing things up in Legends, I think the Speedforce needs to get its speedsters in check. I cannot keep track of all the different changes in time and what it all matters anymore. Intellectually speaking, if I try too hard to grasp the events in Legends, I’ll lose my mind. Eobard Thawne is controlled by timeline anymore because technically, he doesn’t exist. Barry made him exist. That, of course, makes him the most dangerous villain in the Arrowverse right now. Him taking out Hourman took a matter of seconds and I have no doubt that right now if he were to fight the Legends, they would lose.
The thing that confuses me the most about the timelines is that, since there are no more Time Lords, what’s to stop the team from say, returning to the same time over and over until they get their screw-up right? Like, if they say, “Okay, Ray, this time, maybe don’t punch a Nazi in the face and blow our cover” and redo the mission. Granted, that’s boring television, but it’s what my mind wonders in these situations. Do they leave a “what if” in the past kind of like Flashpoint did? These are the questions.
Random Thoughts
Wait, there are people who didn’t know Victor Garber could sing? Have none of your monsters seen Annie? HAVE NONE OF YOU SEEN CINDERELLA WITH BRANDY?!
Hourman not only called Sara “Ma’am” but shushed her to the side in favor of Stein? He’s lucky she’s kind of patient these days, otherwise she would have beat Reverse-Flash to the punch.
Jax and Sara are my favorites because they’re always trying to get laid. Gotta love that determination to romance women in different eras. Also, it’s nice that it’s not the charismatic white dude who is schmoozing with all the females. Kudos, Legends. I love a good smutty character.
Reverse-Flash is infinitely better than Savage, even after only two episodes.
Legends of Tomorrow airs Thursdays on The CW at 9pm EST.
Today Lucasfilm announced that Donald Glover will be joining the cast of the upcoming 2018 Han Solo stand-alone film as a young Lando Calrissian. The iconic role was portrayed in the original Star Wars trilogy by Billy Dee Williams.
We first met the character as the administrator of Cloud City on the planet Bespin in The Empire Strikes Back. The new film will focus on Lando’s earlier years and audiences will see the backstory between him and the owner of the Millennium Falcon that was hinted at in Empire.
Per the press release:
This new film depicts Lando in his formative years as a scoundrel on the rise in the galaxy’s underworld — years before the events involving Han, Leia, and Darth Vader in The Empire Strikes Back and his rise to Rebel hero in Return of the Jedi.
Glover (The Martian, Atlanta) joins Alden Ehrenreich (Beautiful Creatures, Hail, Ceasar!) who had been cast as Han Solo a few months ago. The film will be directed by Phil Lord and Christopher Miller (The Lego Movie, 21 Jump Street).
“We’re so lucky to have an artist as talented as Donald join us,” said Lord and Miller. “These are big shoes to fill, and an even bigger cape, and this one fits him perfectly, which will save us money on alterations. Also, we’d like to publicly apologize to Donald for ruining Comic-Con for him forever.”
The untitled Han Solo film is set to be released sometime in 2018.
The veil has finally been lifted on the NX as Nintendo has released the first look trailer of their new console, the Nintendo Switch.
https://youtu.be/f5uik5fgIaI
The Nintendo Switch is a hybrid console. It will allow its users to dock it to a station connected to their TV for traditional console usage or undock it for on-the-go play.
When undocked, Switch owners will be able to attach Joy-Con controllers on either side of a high-definition screen for portable gaming.
Nintendo Switch games will not be pressed on discs, but instead arrive on game cartridges similar to those seen on the Nintendo DS and 3DS. The change of medium makes sense as spinning discs would only lead to a disaster if you’re on-the-go.
The internals of the device will be powered by a Custom NVIDIA Tegra processor. It’ll allow the Switch to be supported by fully custom software, including a revamped physics engine, new libraries, advanced game tools, and libraries. NVIDIA additionally created new gaming APIs to fully harness this performance.
NVIDIA also states they’ve optimized the full suite of hardware and software for gaming and mobile use cases.
Nintendo also released a sampling list of Nintendo Switch Partners. The list includes:
Nintendo Switch will release in March 2017. No official release date or price has yet been announced.
South Park
Season 20, Episode 5 – Douche and a Danish
Original Air Date: 10/19/2016
The latest episode of South Park, “Douche and a Danish,” aired during the third and final presidential debate. While most of America was tuned into the debate, South Park offered up a very lackluster episode. The little preview that South Park Studios released earlier in the week gave a glimmer of hope of an intense show ridiculing Trump, we are instead given a very toned down, neutral position on the election.
The biggest gem to come out of “Douche and a Danish” is where the writers point out where certain Trump supporters stand. As with most of society, people tend to favor the side that favors the group to which they belong. Once the issue becomes personal, people get offended and switch sides. “You were cool with fucking immigrants to death but finger in the ass is where I lose you?” While women are clearly the group being marginalized in tonight’s episode, it’s easy to see this applied to any ethnicity, religion, or sexuality (even trolls).
This is where South Park’s ingenious writing really gets shown. Correlations can be seen between the trolls movement with any of these minority groups. They were enjoying their lives until they started getting marginalized and hated on. Once their existence was threatened, the trolls needed to band together in order to survive. The personal story of Dildo Swaggins helped to make the viewer empathize with the trolls. It really brings up the question if trolls are really bad people or if they are just misunderstood in society?
Matt and Trey also laid down some foreshadowing for the rest of the season with Gerald instructing his new found friends on how to troll. Gerald states that you troll one group of people to hate one thing, then supporters troll on the haters which grows more haters. Sound familiar? Sounds like this very thing is what happening in a certain school in Colorado. It makes you think that perhaps Cartman, who seems to be leading the very ideas that are further dividing the boys and the girls, might be trolling everyone?
The other side plots were also advanced this episode. We find out that the lovable delicious memba berries are the cause behind all the problems in America. They cause civilizations to get lazy and stop trying to progress. Instead of trying to fix things, they decide to remember the good times that they had. The memba berries even try to the eater believe that new movies like Star Wars are great even though they aren’t really as great as the original.
The episode ends with our possible troll Cartman sending a VHS tape to Denmark saying that he knows how to fix their issue. What exactly is Cartman building up to? While this episode was very mediocre, let’s hope that Cartman’s grand finale will be epic in the end.
Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy are back and bigger than ever. Check out the teaser trailer that dropped today where we are treated to a wonderfully intimate moment between Drax (Dave Bautista) and Peter Quill/Star-Lord (Chris Pratt).
Pratt, Bautista, Zoe Saldana, Vin Diesel, and Bradley Cooper reprise their roles as unlikely heroes saving the galaxy a crisis at a time.
Joining the team will be two familiar characters: Yondu (Michael Rooker) and Nebula (Karen Gillan) as seen in this poster also released today. Notably missing through is Star-Lord’s father played Ego the Living Planet (played by Kurt Russell).
We see you Baby Groot!
Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 comes out May 5, 2017.
Syfy’s 12 Monkeys is headed to the future when it returns next year for its third season and they’ve recruited the help of fellow time traveler to up the ante.
Christoper Lloyd, best known for his role as Doc Brown in the Back to the Future trilogy, has been cast in a guest role as Zalmon Shaw, the father of the Pallid Man. Shaw is described as “a charming but deadly cult leader who preys upon other’s tragedies and losses in order to recruit new members into the apocalyptic cult the ‘Army of the 12 Monkeys.’”
It was also announced that Terry Matalas, co-creator and series showrunner (and a giant Back to the Future fan), will make his directorial debut in the premiere episode, which started production in Toronto this week.
In season three of 12 Monkeys, James Cole and Cassandra Railly embark on a desperate search across time to find the man responsible for the apocalypse, a time traveler who calls himself the Witness. Killing the Witness will mean saving the world. But the journey will come at tremendous personal stakes for both Cole and Railly and will call into question new alliances, old bonds, and the virtue of the mission itself.
The series, stars Aaron Stanford (James Cole), Amanda Schull (Dr. Cassandra Railly), Kirk Acevedo (Jose Ramse), Emily Hampshire (Jennifer Goines), Barbara Sukowa (Katarina Jones), and Todd Stashwick (Deacon).
12 Monkeys will return in 2017 with a ten-episode third season.
Atlanta
Season 1, Episode 8 – The Club Original Air Date: 10/18/2016 Grade: B+
Donald Glover’s Atlanta is beginning to understand its strengths as a television show that isn’t exactly like anything else on television. The most intriguing pieces of the series, unlike many of the other television portrayals of Black life in America, is the fact that it doesn’t act on extremes. There’s not this need to confine to the box of “well-to-do, I have it all together” Black women or the trope of the common struggling, miserable Black man. Earn, Paperboi, and Darius don’t have it together but they aren’t what the majority of the characters perceive them as. Paperboi, as much of a thug as the media in Atlanta defines him as, is far from it, spending most of his time just “trying to get paid.”
One of the brave things about “The Club” is how Paperboi plays with this stereotype, using it to his advantage. He flirts with women and buys bottle service to show that he can be the Atlanta rapper on the scene and when that fails and he doesn’t get paid for being present at the event, he uses the perception of him as a menacing thug to get the money he earns from the club owner.
Much of “The Club” is spent revealing the truth behind the veil that is the Atlanta club scene – a prominent fixture for many tourists and fans of hip-hop culture that has birthed an entire generation of Instagram models, club promoters, rappers and “tastemakers.” Most aren’t as fabulous or as successful as they would love to showcase, most of the celebrities are either obnoxious (Marcus Mile) or simply there for the check (Paperboi). The women that attend are never really there for anything but to make the men pay money at the bar, buying them drinks and trying to impress them. Earn seems to understand the entire concept of this, choosing to chase the club owner through crowds for
Earn seems to understand the entire concept of this, choosing to chase the club owner through crowds for Paperboi’s payment. Unfortunately, everyone in the club seems to be in on the joke except the three main characters, leaving Paperboi probably in need of a lawyer for his assault of the club owner and Darius probably rambling about the shooting that takes place at the conclusion.
The episode’s environment comes off as a Drake song that has worn out its welcome. Once you take off the Noah “40” Shebib production, the Quentin Miller-written verses and probably the Popcann-inspired samples, it’s just a fraudulent attempt to play off whatever the current trend is. Once again, “Atlanta” triumphs in driving home the point that not everything that glitters is gold. All of the characters besides the main three and Van are just ornaments circling around the truth, refusing to be present in the day.
Paperboi, Darius, and Earn could have never arrived at the club and things would continue as normal. The shooting outside of the club will probably just make things even more popular and the girls that flirt with Paperboi will be there next weekend to flirt with the next up-and-coming rapper. But thankfully, within all that mess, we’re being treated to the gold that is this dynamic trio.
This week on Supergirl: Metallo strikes, Superman and Supergirl continue to bond, Alex gets jealous, and Cadmus makes a bold move.
Spoilers through Supergirl season 2, episode 2: “The Last Children of Krypton.”
Despite the smaller budget, after two episodes, Supergirl seems to be more at home on The CW. The action sequences are much better than the ones we saw at the beginning of its freshman season and I, for one, am excited to see how this year plays out.
What has me even more excited? The departure of Superman. I know, I know. I’m a monster. Tyler Hoechlin is a lovely man who gives fans an adorkable Clark Kent with great rapport with Kara. How-to-the-ever, he’s overstayed his welcome. This is Supergirl and I selfishly want the focus back on her and her relationships. Not on Superman, a character everyone knows. Two episodes are more than enough time to portray the Kryptonians’ relationship, set the stage for more conflict, and then fly on back to Metropolis. We knew Supergirl couldn’t go forever with that whole “no-faced” Superman, so Hoechlin has done a serviceable job, but now things need to head back to the way they were. Well, kind of.
Hoechlin is pretty great at comedy though, especially this little gem of a line early on in “The Last Children of Krypton”:
Superman: “See, now, if the bullets don’t work, why the punching? Never understood that.”
Even more changes
I’ve already talked about some of the changes headed Supergirl’s way after last week’s episode. The most notable, of course, was the impending departure of Cat Grant. We’ve known that Cat, much like Superman, wouldn’t last long in the CW-version of Supergirl. It’s hard to watch her say goodbye to both Kara and Supergirl, and in a way, their parting was almost too sugar-sweet. But it was necessary and fulfilling, if a bit hard to stand at times. Snapper Carr, though rough around the edges and not afraid to bite, doesn’t seem like he’ll come even close to filling Cat’s shoes. James Olsen certainly won’t challenge Kara in the way that’s needed for her character. Which leads me to the only real option: Lena Luthor.
But don’t mind me while I sit here and mourn the loss of Cat Grant. She was over-the-top at times, but exactly the kind of superhero we needed.
Kara has to deal with not only the loss of Cat and Superman, but also the new job. While I’m still irked at her being a reporter (especially since she showed no inclination toward writing or journalism in the past), I think the struggle could be good for the character. Snapper is okay so far, but I’ll reserve my true judgment for later episodes.
Cadmus, Metallo, and Metallo 2, OH MY
First, I have to ask: why are Alex and J’onn so nonchalant about Cadmus? With how adamant Alex was about finding her father at the end of last season, it seems almost out of character that for two episodes she’s been ho-hum on going after him. I’m being a little unfair, especially since the season started on the tails of last year’s finale, but it has been quite the shift and I’m eager to getting Alex and J’onn back to real work.
That being said, I love what the show is doing with Cadmus. Cadmus’ leader is oddly mesmerizing and I’m sure I’d be following her if I had been subjected to her experiments. Metallo, too, was well done. Not cheesy and simple like most of the “villain of the week” characters we saw early on last season. There was a power to him that took down both Superman and Supergirl, and that, is a frightening prospect. It took the Kryptonians relying on the DEO for aid to beat Metallo and Metallo Jr. but that’s not the last we’ve seen of Cadmus, not by a long shot. I especially loved the callback to Superman’s “Crisis on Infinite Earths” with their Supergirl poster (CW does this well):
Alex and Kara and Clark and J’onn
The highlight of the episode, for me, came in the form of the conflict between two pairs of characters. First up, Alex confronts Kara about Superman and how, since his arrival, she has felt left out and not needed. When Kara tells her that she’s thinking of leaving National City for Metropolis, Alex rightly puts her in her place. Kara may enjoy the time she spends with her cousin but National City needs her. Alex needs her.
It’s this need to be useful that drives Alex to helping Winn in all his geekiness. Winn is the character who has benefited most from the network (and job) switch. He’s no longer the quirky IT guy who shows up to make a joke and hack something. He has a purpose outside of just being infatuated with Kara. Being allowed to blossom, to swoon over Superman, to make gadgets and technology, Winn has grown into a much more interesting character. And I need him and Alex to banter more often.
I need Alex to banter with everyone more often.
Actually I just need more Alex.
Chyler, please.
And then there’s J’onn and Clark. The two are forced to work with one another to learn more about Metallo’s impenetrable skeleton, but these an uneasy respect between them. Clark doesn’t like that the DEO keeps Kryptonite, which makes sense given that it could be used against Kara. However, since the world was held hostage by Kryptonians last season (in an attack that rendered Clark useless), it seems only smart that the DEO keep the material. Just, maybe, they vet their agents a little better. Don’t let that traitor from The 100 guard your precious resource. Also, I think Superman is a bit selfish in his concern. Yea, I said it.
Random Thoughts
I still hate Superman’s suit.
I wish Cadmus hadn’t been so mwahaha evil right from the start. It makes sense, but one of the things I loved about Young Justice was that not everyone in Cadmus was bad. Misguided, sure, but not evil.
I’m so excited for the upcoming episodes. Mon-El on a misunderstood tear through the city? Alex meeting and, I assume, falling in love with Maggie Sawyer? MISS MARTIAN MAKING AN APPEARANCE?! Yes, please! (Did I spy my girl M’Gann in the trailer for next week??)
Grab your cowboy hats! It’s time to head back to the wild west as Rockstar has announced Red Dead Redemption 2 for Fall 2017.
Announced on Twitter with a teaser image, Red Dead Redemption 2 will “tell an epic tale of life in America’s unforgiving heartland,” according to the game’s website. RDR2’s world will also provide a foundation for a brand new multiplayer experience.
Not much is currently known about what the game will offer, but details will be forthcoming as the first trailer and look at Red Dead Redemption 2 will release Thursday, October 20 at 11 AM ET.
For now, all we have is the teaser image of seven men walking on the American frontier with their weapons.
Pitch Season 1, Episode 4: “The Break” Thursday, October 13, 2016
It is All-Star week on this week’s episode of Pitch, “The Break”, and Ginnsanity is still in full swing. The country has taken to all forms of social media to make sure Ginny gets on the All-Star team by using the catchy hashtag #PutHerInTheGame. The movement seems to do the trick because 36 million people have signed a petition to get Ginny in the game and that petition has been brought to the commissioner of baseball.
Ginny currently has no chance of making the team because Lawson is the Padre’s representative (I believe that is why). Due to his age, bad back and banging Amelia, Mike Lawson’s body is failing him to the point where he can barely put on a pair of pants.
Amelia suggests that Mike skip the All-Star game to give his body some rest and she will try to get him a spot as an analyst on the post game show. Mike Lawson agrees because being a sports broadcaster falls into what he calls the “Complete Mike Lawson Experience” which consists of three phases:
Phase 1: Hall of Fame player Phase 2: Hall of Fame broadcaster Phase 3: I move to the south of France and become the greatest horseshoe player of all time.
Lawson calls Blip to let him know there is an opening on the All-Star team, and the front office should be calling him soon to let him know the spot is his (again, I think this is how it works, I am still not sure). Blip excitedly tells Evelyn, Ginny, and his kids the great news and they all start celebrating as they wait for the phone call from the front office. To everyone’s surprise, it is Ginny’s phone, not Blip’s, that rings next. The commissioner of baseball has listened to the people and decided to #PutGinnyInTheAllStarGame. Blip is visibly upset and torn. He is devastated that his dreams were crushed, but also knows that Ginny isn’t to blame. On the plus side, being passed over as an All-Star means that he can go on the long overdue vacation to Disney World with Evelyn and the kids.
Ginny doesn’t know how to react to being picked for the All-Star team. Yes, this has been her life-long dream but does she really deserve it? I mean, in truth she has only pitched in a handful of major league games. She wants to turn down the spot not only because she feels it is undeserved, but it is also bringing unwanted attention back onto her. She goes to Al for sage advice on how to handle these muddy waters, and sage advice she gets.
Al delivers a moving speech about how when he first asked his wife out on a date she rejected him. Then she saw that he was injured during combat and took him up on his offer out of pity. Fast forward many years they are happily married with many grand kids. Moral of the story: Ginny should take accept the All-Star Game pity date.
On top of all the All-Star drama, Ginny also has to deal with momma drama. Ginny’s mom Janet is in town for the weekend to visit her daughter. To call their relationship complicated would be an understatement. Ginny is convinced that her mother never has never fully supported her and is condescending and judgey. While at first she was dreading the thought of spending an entire weekend with her mom, now she is dreading having telling her mom she made the all-star team even more as she fears her mom will interpret it as a way for Ginny to get out of spending time together.
Ginny is convinced that her mother never has never fully supported her and is condescending and judgy. While at first, she was dreading the thought of spending an entire weekend with her mom, Ginny ends up dreading having to tell her mom she made the All-Star team. Even more, Ginny fears her mom will interpret it as a way for Ginny to get out of spending time together.
Since Ginny can’t spend the day with her mom, she offers Eliot up to show Janet around town and the pair plan a dinner for the following night. Each of the Baker women bring a buffer to the dinner with Ginny inviting Lawson and Amelia and Janet bringing along her new beau.
The dinner goes as poorly as it possibly could. After Kevin praises Ginny’s dad for raising such a good ballplayer, Ginny loses it, yells “Don’t talk about my dead father” and storms out of the restaurant.
The next day at the All-Star game, she looks up into the stands and sees the seats where her mother should have been sitting empty. And, in a similar fashion to the pilot episode, Ginny gets shaken when looking into the stands and gives up a home run on her first pitch.
The sad thing is that Ginny and her mother used to have a great relationship. Janet provided Ginny with the warmth and comfort that her father did not. She provided relief from the constant training and allowed Ginny to act like a girl her age. The night before Ginny’s first school dance, her father found Ginny and her mom admiring the dress she was planning to wear and gave Ginny an ultimatum: do normal things kids your age do or be a ballplayer. It is a choice no parent should force on a 12-year-old girl and is another example of the pressure and mental abuse Bill Baker forced on his daughter. Obviously Ginny chose to be a ballplayer, but that decision did not drive her mother away. Instead, Janet pulled her daughter aside and told her if it ever became too much, if she ever changes her mind, that she is here for Ginny. And one day at school, while seeing all of her classmate excitedly preparing for the Spring Fling, it did become too much and Ginny rushed home to tell her mom.
When she got home though she found her mother in the kitchen cuddling up to Kevin. And after that, Ginny emotionally pulled away from her mother and the pair’s relationship was never the same again.
After the game Ginny goes to confront her mother and, luckily, this time her post-game parental meet-up is not with a ghost. Ginny accuses her mother for blaming baseball for her father’s death but Janet quickly debunks that notion.
Janet: Baseball didn’t kill your father. A drunk driver killed your father. Baseball killed my marriage and took my daughter away from me.
When she asks Ginny why did they suddenly go from being so close to her ignoring her, Ginny just responds with “Because I was young and didn’t realize how hard it was for you.” I was very disappointed with Ginny in this episode. Her mother has done everything she could for her and has just learned the pain that her mother had to endure over the last 20 years and that is the best apology you can give her? Janet deserved so much more.
Blip and Evelyn
These two are so amazing and cute and adorable they need their own section. As mentioned earlier, after finding out Blip was passed over for the All-Star spot, the Sanders family heads down to Disney World for a family getaway. When they get to Orlando though, Blip gets a call saying that another player was injured, so he has been selected as an All-Star. Awesome right! Well kind of. Blip is ecstatic because this is the most important and special moment of his life and pissed that Evelyn is not showing the same enthusiasm. He even has the audacity of calling Evelyn unsupportive for not being over the moon about ruining their kids’ vacation yet again. Evelyn has neither the time nor the patience to listen to Blip’s whining:
Evelyn: “There’s almost a year of your marriage MIA for all of the road trips and I’ve never complained. Not once. I recap every game, every moment of your life every night and it’s the highlight of my day. I raise your sons when you’re gone. I keep your home while you’re away and I’m ready to uproot our lives if another old man decides on a whim he wants you more than the one who currently pays you. So perhaps you will allow me one single moment of disappointment upon learning our family vacation was just ruined with a phone call.”
Mic. Drop. Evelyn!
Thankfully these words resonate with Blip and he realizes he done wrong. And so, even though he goes to San Diego to play in the All-Star game, as soon as the game ends he hops on a flight back to Orlando. And when he gets into bed next to his amazing wife, he admits that making the All-Star team was not the best moment of his life. The best moment of his life was in college when he built up the courage to buy a hotdog from the concession stands after one of his games to talk to the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.
Guys, these two, I can’t even handle how much I love them. I need Fox to make a faux reality spin-off that looks into the day-to-day life of The Sanders Family.
Other Things:
I am getting worried about the Lawson and Ginny relationship. I want it to stay a friendship so badly and I think it is a great mentor relationship but I am scared that Ginny is going to start falling for Lawson. My fear is that the following storyline will occur. Ginny is going to get closer and closer to Lawson and develop feelings but not tell anyone about it and keep it to herself. Then, when she is finally ready to reveal her feelings she is going to learn about Lawson and Amelia and be crushed and lose two of the people she trusts the most. Please don’t do this to me Pitch.
So, what is up with Ginny’s brother? They did not mention him a single time throughout the episode which is weird, right? Besides Will being Ginny’s former manager, they also were pretty tight siblings. You would think that Ginny would call her brother to talk about their mom’s visit or ask him to accompany her or something. God Pitch, please don’t make him dead also!
I feel bad, but I really couldn’t care less about Oscar’s story lines.
And with that, Arrow is officially back in session.
What a cool episode. “The Recruits” meshes the feel of Arrow‘s darker first season with the lighter, witty-lined later seasons. The producers have found the perfect mix of the two to create episode after episode of action and drama and “The Recruits” is really hyping me up for the fifth season.
It’s quite clear that the “new-and-improved” Oliver went right back into the shell of unempathetic Bratva Oliver (but who doesn’t love Bratva Oliver?). This was shown throughout the entire episode, as he failed and failed again in trying to train the new team and whip them into shape. It’s as if he didn’t already learn his lesson after trying to teach Roy with the same method.
But who could blame him? We’re all reluctant to lose the Thea-Diggle-Laurel-Felicity-Roy-Oliver team-ups of the last few seasons. They will be missed. Every time there’s a scene with Thea in it, I’m itching for her to say she wants back in.
Speaking of Thea, she looks pretty swag sitting in that office especially if you take into account that a few years previously she was a rebellious teen who would do drugs and crash her new limousine. So much has changed. (Yeah, you know. I’m really sentimental that way.)
A picture of Thea looking swag in her office.
And Diggle! He’s off overseas somewhere, and he’s gotten himself into a bit of trouble, hasn’t he? Can he come back now? (And can he keep his beard?).
Also, have you seen the most recent Flash episode? With Flashpoint in the mix, Diggle never had Sara, but instead is raising a little boy named John. John Diggle Jr. AKA, Connor Hawke (as seen in the Legends of Tomorrow episode, “Star City 2046”). I don’t know if that counts as an Easter egg, but that would be a three-way crossover Easter egg. Sick.
Sigh. I miss the old team.
The Recruits
But hey, let’s talk about the new team. Evelyn Sharp, Ray Ramirez, and finally, Curtis Holt. Chances are, this season could be the birth of Starling, Wild Dog, and Mr. Terrific (respectively). Which is pretty darn exciting. I certainly hope that soon they’ll all be in the Arrow cave together working on a classic manhunt.
“The Recruits” delves into the personalities of each of the three (although we’ve already known and grown to love Curtis). Ramirez– the hot head. Evelyn Sharp– the badass who lived to prove everyone wrong. Curtis– the peacemaker with a sense of humor. And who knows, by the end of the season, fans may learn to love the new recruits just as they loved Laurel, Diggle, Roy, Thea, and Felicity.
I really love the number of comic book characters they’re putting on the show.
Speaking of, Ragman is in town and it seems to me that he could soon be a part of Team Arrow as well! Wouldn’t that be something? (A mummy in the Arrow Cave. Huh.)On that note, here were some highlights of the episode:
Oliver: “They’re too green.”
Felicity: “Some could say the same about you.”
Ramirez criticizing Oliver Queen as mayor while being on a Bluetooth with the Green Arrow.
The real life and flashback parallel about being recruited and learning teamwork. (“On the line.”)
Curtis being able to stick up for himself and the other recruits to Oliver.
Thea showing her Speedy training by jumping onto a roof IN STREET CLOTHES to eavesdrop on that AmerTek CEO
Lance’s decision to be deputy mayor and take control of his drinking problems
Um… Net Arrow? (There was a parachute arrow last episode, by the way)
So, although the plot is looking crazy, and we don’t know what’s going on just yet, I’m so excited to see what Team Arrow is going to look like this season. This episode was a wonderful introduction to all of the new characters and introduction to where the old characters are in their lives. (Not very good, by the way. Come back to Team Arrow, it’s warm and we have cookies.)
Spoilers through Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4, episode 3: “Uprising.”
For a moment, it looked like Agents of Shield might be moving away from the Inhumans. There was a mixed reception to their inclusion last season and with Lash and Lincoln both dead and Daisy on the run, it felt like they were moving on. “Uprising” goes a long way to remind you that the Inhumans are still important to this world. Agents starts with a terrorist attack that is being blamed on the Inhumans, but the actual terrorists are revealed to be Watch Dog.
Watch Dog has been upgraded. New weapons, new toys, and a laundry list of Inhumans. Yo-Yo’s finds herself on that list. While visiting a friend for her wedding, the terrorists attack the party and demand for the Inhuman to be turned over. Yo-Yo tries to help, but when her friend realizes that she is the Inhuman, she backs away from her like Yo-Yo’s a monster. Just when things look bad, Coulson and team rush in and help Yo-Yo clean up the bad guys in one, of two, pretty cool fight scenes this episode.
The conflict culminates with Yo-Yo trying to explain to her friend that she’s is still a person. The friend casts her aside and wants nothing else to do with her. As disheartening as that is, the fact that Watch Dog has access to the names of registered Inhumans is a problem that will probably stick with the show for a while.
Let’s Kill May
May’s story line has been less than stellar so far. Having been touched by a ghost in the premiere episode, May went full-blown crazy last week. This week, we find that the end result of the ghost touch is death. With that in mind, Simmons takes May to Dr. Holden Radcliffe. Together they deduce that what is affecting May is fear. Holden’s brilliant idea is to kill May. The idea is to reboot her like a computer. Kill her, let her mind reboot, and then revive her.
As you might expect, that doesn’t go well. When it’s time to revive May, the power is lost. Simmons is beside herself. Without power, there is no way to use the defibrillator to save May. Just when Simmons thinks there is no hope, Holden steps out of the room and returns with a glowing green item. He tells Simmons that is a power source that he has been working on, but in the rush to save May, no further questions are asked. What the audience knows is that the green item was Aida’s heart. You have to imagine that Gemma will be very intrigued once her emotions are back in check.
Quiet Time with Ghost Rider
Ghost Rider didn’t make an on screen appearance in “Uprising,” but we get to know Robbie and Gabe a little better. The last episode ended with Robbie and Daisy riding off into the sunset. To this point there still isn’t much clarity into what Daisy is doing, what her mission is, why she has turned her back on the team, or why she is so intrigued with Ghost Rider. Bad news is, none of that was really addressed in “Uprising,” either.
What we do get is a great moment between Robbie and Gabe, a very good street fight with Daisy and Robbie, and then a heart to heart conversation between Gabe and Daisy. This episode, for Robbie, was focused on building his character and his relationship with Gabe. This is something that is very close to the source, as the Gabe and Robbie relationship is the heart of the comic. I think Gabriel Luna is killing it as Ghost Rider. I’m so glad that he joined the team.
S.H.I.E.L.D. is Back
When we met the New Director last week, he explained how important it was to get the public’s favor before announcing that Shield was back. He was worried about the “optics” of a rogue Inhuman and former Shield Agent named Skye. Jeff is very worried about the public perception of Shield and stressed to Coulson how important a win is for the team right now. When it’s all said and done, Coulson and Jeff share a great moment where Jeff isn’t ready to go public yet because it’s not part of the plan. Coulson then shares some wisdom that he learned from Fury, “It’s important to know when to throw out the plan.”
Final Thoughts
Three episodes into season four and I feel Agents of Shield is only getting better. The war between the Watch Dogs and the Inhumans is sure to be important. There is a ghost threat that is causing fear in victims. There is still much to learn about Ghost Rider. Shield is back. Those are just the basics, there are much deeper hints for what this season has to hold from Aida, to Mack and Yo-Yo, to Jeffrey Mace. Uprising was a high point for me because I love good characters’ moments and this episode as full of them. You can tell that Uprising will act as the catalyst for what’s coming next.
It’s worth mentioning that the stinger on the show leaves us with Sen. Nadeer speaking out against shield and the Inhumans. She then answers a call that appears to be from a Watch Dog and said that she’s at her brother’s house. As she walks out of the house, the camera pans to her brother who is encased in stone as if he were exposed to Terrigen Mist. The immediate conclusion is that he was affected by the mist but has yet to come forth. However, we don’t know of another case where an inhuman has been encased for this long. There is little doubt that the lady who is at war with the Inhumans will have a sibling Inhuman before this is all said and done.
What did you think about Uprising? Any clue who the ghosts are or what they are after? How do you feel about Aida? What Inhuman do you think is teased at the end of the show? Let us know in the comments.
What in the name of Sir Isaac H. Newton happened here?
In The Flash’s premiere episode, Flashpoint, we learn Barry goes back in time and saves his mother, thus creating a second timeline. By the end of Flashpoint, Barry realizes that he must go back in time and change things back to the way they were. Only, in doing this, he doesn’t return to the original. Instead, he creates a new, third timeline. This is explained in both Flashpoint and Paradox as best as they could probably do.
Paradox starts with Barry visiting Felicity Smoke, from the Arrow. After explaining his time travel to Felicity, he searches her computer to find out if anything else had changed. Barry comes across a picture of Diggle with a baby boy. Felicity asks if John did not have a kid before. Barry tells her he had a baby girl named Sarah, not a boy. It’s unclear just how much this will impact the Arrow crew or if anything else was changed there.
Back on Team Flash, we also learn that Dante, Cisco’s brother was killed. This has created a rift between Barry and Cisco, but Cisco wants Barry to change the past to save his brother. This is only amplified by the eventual confession of Barry, and that he changed time for his own benefit while refusing to do so for Cisco.
Barry works on trying to get the team back to a happy place. By the end of the episode we see that there may be hope for Team Flash yet. The episode ends with Barry talking to Caitlin and asking if everything was OK. She is the only one that appears to not have been affected by Flashpoint. As Barry leaves the room, the camera pans out to show Caitlin’s hand smoking due to her cold temperature. It looks like we are going to see Killer Frost make a return.
Jay Garrick is Back
Barry decides that he can fix everything by going back in time again….
What he was hoping to do differently, this time, was never explained. However, while in the speed force we see a hand reach in and yank Barry out and down onto the street. He looks up to find Jay Garrick of Earth 3 (John Shipp). Jay tosses him some clothes and says they need to talk.
Jay takes Barry to a diner and it’s clear they are a little out of time. With Dawson’s Creek playing on the TV, Jay informs Barry that they are in the 90’s. Jay explains just how fragile time is by using a coffee cup as a visual aid. John Shipp is just so great on camera and you can just feel how important what he is trying to teach Barry will be to The Flash’s career.
Draco Malfoy, CSI
In Paradox we are also introduced to a new CCPD CSI, Julian Albert played by the amazing Tom Felton. From their first shot together, the chemistry between Barry and Julian is perfect. They are rivals in the best of ways. Julian is specifically tasked as the “Meta-Human” CSI. This is sure to become more important as Julian and Barry’s relationship develops. In fact, Tom senses that something is off with Barry and they have a very direct exchange before the episode is over. With most of the people that Barry interacts with knowing that he is The Flash, we lose some of the intrigue that comes with the difficulty of balancing dual lives. Julian is going to be keeping Barry on his toes this season.
Dr. Alchemy
At the end of Flashpoint, we see Edward Clariss (The Rival in timeline 2) wake up to the word Alchemy on his mirror. In Paradox we see Edward again, this time, hearing Alchemy’s voice. When they finally meet, Alchemy tells Edward that he has been having visions of The Rival and that he can give Edward that power. Edward agrees and The Rival is reborn in timeline 3.
This really brings up a lot of questions with almost none are answered. It appears that the timelines, if prompted, can merge. Alchemy appears to be the catalyst for Clariss. In Central City, several “Husks” have been found. One of them is determined to belong to Clariss. The indication is that they are shedding the skin of this timeline for another, although nothing is explained in this episode.
This goes back to something that The Reverse Flash said in Flashpoint. If Barry was to stay in timeline 2, eventually he would forget everything and timeline 2 would be the only timeline. Based on that logic, eventually timeline 3 now will be the final timeline. However, until that time comes, it looks like Alchemy might have found a way to cross streams. What will this mean for The Flash is still a mystery, but this is clearly an open door to see Kid Flash again in the near future.
Final Thoughts
I liked Paradox even more than I liked Flashpoint. My issue was Flashpoint was the feeling of a lack of development. Paradox addresses that in spades. Between Barry covering timelines and Jay explaining the fragility of time and the melding of the two timelines, Paradox was deep rooted in development for both the characters and the rules in the world of The Flash. Tom Felton is a wonderful edition to the show and anytime John Shipp shows up, the show is taken to another level. Two episodes in and there is already a lot to discuss, it looks like it’s going to be a really great season.
Did you guys enjoy Paradox? What was your favorite part from the episode? Who do you think Dr. Alchemy is? Leave a comment below and let us know.
