What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/the-witcher-recap-season-1-episode-6-rare-species.html

The Witcher S1 Ep 6: Rare Species 

By Scott Meslow

You know that freelance life: If work comes your way, you should probably take it, because you never know how long it’ll be until the next opportunity arrives. So it’s no surprise that “Rare Species” begins with Geralt finishing one monster hunt and then jumping almost immediately into another. A mysterious old man named Borch Three Jackdaws, flanked by two fearsome warriors named Téa and Véa, enlists the witcher’s help to track down the Witcher equivalent of the most dangerous game: a green dragon.

Even more than most Witcher stories, this adventure smacks of a classic fairytale. The dragon hunt comes at the behest of a king, with four different teams — including an earthy gang of dwarves and an archetypal white knight who happens to be traveling with Yennefer — who are all vying for the prize. The winner will get to keep the treasure the dragon has been hoarding, and lordship over a vassal state. I’m surprised the king didn’t throw in the princess’ hand in marriage as well. (Of course, Geralt’s real motive is spending time alongside Yennefer again.)

Part of the fun of The Witcher is watching the series poke at those old fairytale tropes, so it’s entertaining to watch the “chivalrous” Sir Eyck of Denesle kill a monster for no reason, chastely and patronizingly refuse to share a tent with Yennefer, and end up with explosive diarrhea before a rival sneaks up and slits his throat. But the danger of riffing on fairytales is that your actual story can turn out fairly simple. As soon as Geralt scoffs when Borch mentions golden dragons, it is very obvious that Borch will turn out to be a golden dragon. I’m not sure The Witcher actually cares if we’re surprised by this twist — but it does take some of the punch out of scenes like Borch’s “death,” because when a person who is actually a dragon falls off a cliff, it’s probably safe to assume they’ll just use their wings to get out of it. Which is, of course, exactly what happens.

But if the adventure is a little more perfunctory than usual this time around, it’s because this episode is ultimately more interested in exploring the bond between Geralt and Yennefer. Geralt is clearly jealous when Sir Eyck shows up with Yennefer in tow. Later, when they hook up in Yennefer’s tent, it’s the most intimate and emotionally honest we’ve seen either of them act with anybody. Even their argument about Yennefer’s obsession with killing the dragon and stealing its heart — a snake-oil cure for her infertility — feels like the kind of painful, truthful conversation both characters are otherwise lacking.

All of this is good on paper. The problem is that I’m still not convinced The Witcher has earned it yet. I like Geralt and Yennefer individually, but I’m not sure a single passionate sex scene, which happened just one episode ago, is enough to convince me I should care about whether or not they’re together. And when Yennefer figures out that Geralt’s final djinn wish was to bind his own life with Yennefer’s, I had more or less the same reaction she did: Quit being such a creepy stalker, Geralt.

Meanwhile, in another time and place, Ciri and Dara are still being led astray by the Doppler, who is still disguised as Mousesack. Dara is sharp enough to realize something is wrong, and after a brief scuffle with the Doppler, Ciri runs off into the woods. Along the way, she loses the support of Dara, who abandons her — which, like Geralt and Yennefer, might have hit me a little harder if The Witcher had found time to make Dara into a three-dimensional character, or to build his relationship with Ciri into an actual bond. And then — so it seems — the Black Knight manages to grab her and drag her off to a nearby town for … well, for whatever presumably nefarious purpose he’s been hunting her so desperately.

Back at the monster hunt, Geralt and Yennefer discover the green dragon they were looking for, which is dead but cradling an egg. At that moment, Borch reemerges as the gold dragon, revealing that his real motive in hiring Geralt was protecting the egg. Geralt and Yennefer team up to fight off the other dragon-hunters, and Borch manages to survive the scuffle with the egg intact.

There’s a lot of talk in “Rare Species” about parents and children, so it’s not exactly necessary for Borch to spell out the episode’s theme by asserting the importance of offspring. Geralt and Yennefer may be infertile, but there’s more than one way to have a child, and it’s becoming very obvious that this will end with Geralt, Yennefer, and Ciri forming their own surrogate family. (Of course, he’ll need to win Yennefer back first.)

So as the episode ends, that’s where things stand with our heroes — but if The Witcher is going to really dig into this world, it probably needs to start establishing what’s interesting about Geralt’s enemies. And that’s why the coda to the episode is, at least theoretically, pretty interesting. So far, we’ve only seen the Black Knight from Ciri’s perspective: a remote, frightening figure with a stoic expression and a weird helmet. But when the Black Knight thinks he’s in a room with Ciri, something interesting happens: He takes off the helmet and becomes human. He offers her food and drink and, most importantly of all, support: “All I’ve ever wanted is to help you fulfill your destiny.” He even, finally, gets a real name: Cahir.

Unfortunately for Cahir, he didn’t get Ciri after all; he got the Doppler, who is furious that Cahir didn’t disclose Ciri’s true power. He steals Cahir’s form, and after a brief fight, runs off into the night. Cahir is comforted by the sorceress Fringilla, Yennefer’s former classmate, who reassures him that something called the White Flame still burns in him, and that his righteous mission will eventually succeed.

Is any of that enough to make Cahir the good guy? No. But he seems to think he’s the good guy, and that’s interesting enough.

Stray arrows:

• The dwarves are full of gossip about the Nilfgaardian zealots waging war across the Continent, and even speculate that the army will eventually head toward Cintra to square off against Queen Calanthe, so this particular story must take place … I don’t know, a few years before the fall of Cintra? A decade? It’s very hard to piece this timeline together when your protagonist is aging so slowly.

• As a real bummer of a parting gift, Borch gives Geralt and Yennefer a brief prophecy: Yennefer will never get her womb back, and Geralt will lose her someday. (“He already has,” says Yennefer bitterly in reply.)

• This is kind of a minor nitpick, but: If a Doppler also copies the contents of someone’s brain when it copies their body, how does it screw up all the questions about Mousesack’s past in Skellige? Wouldn’t it just dig into his memory and use whatever it finds there?

• This djinn thing is a clever way to account for why two characters would keep bumping into each other.

• I guess when you’re a dragon with a hoard of treasure, you can afford to buy a witcher one of everything on the menu, and as many overflowing cups of ale as he can drink.

• Dragon colors as ranked by rarity, per Geralt: green, red, black, gold.

• That bug-eyed monster pointlessly killed by Sir Eyck of Denesle is a hirikka, which I’m sorry to say are even rarer than dragons. They look totally different in Andrzej Sapkowski’s original stories.

• Honestly, most dark-fantasy shows could benefit from at least one lengthy, wacky fart scene.

• I can’t find it streaming anywhere yet, but “Rare Species” features another Jaskier ballad — this time, a tribute to Yennefer — which plays over the opening credits. It’s catchy, but it doesn’t have the wonderful, maddening “God this has been stuck in my head for two weeks?” quality of “Toss a Coin to Your Witcher.”

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/article/you-recap-season-3-episode-10-what-is-love.html

You S3 Ep 10: What Is Love

By Jessica Goldstein

Joe says Shirley Jackson wrote that suburbia is where people go to come apart. I say Joe, you’re from Brooklyn, and you were just as fucked up there as you are in Madre Linda.

We are treated to yet another flashback, just in case you were still wondering, Did something perhaps happen during Joe’s tender childhood to make him this way? Nurse Fiona “moved to Ohio,” which is presumably the human equivalent of “we sent the dog to a farm,” and Joe hates himself for not killing her shitty boyfriend. The only good part of this flashback is that when Joe says his mom hated him for shooting and killing her abuser, his friend suggests that Joe actually has no clue how his mom feels: “You’re making it up.” See, this is the kind of audience-surrogate shit I was talking about!!

But let’s do what I wish this show would’ve done and stay in the moment. Joe stashes his bloody shirt under the trash can of diapers. While Joe fantasizes about his escape with Marienne, Love declares: “I think it’s time for us to try for another baby.” Joe swears that he wants nothing more in this world. Can she tell he’s lying? I’m going to say … not yet.

Doesn’t Joe realize that leaving town with Marienne right now would make her the prime suspect in Ryan’s murder? Marienne eventually raises this concern via the cops who want to interview her, but I’m surprised it didn’t occur to Joe, given all the time he spends committing and then covering up his crimes. When Marienne calls Joe to say Ryan is dead, she immediately understands that this will blow back on her. Joe’s take: Let’s focus on the positive. Because this aspect of the show was designed specifically to torture me, of course Marienne is like, “I’m glad he’s dead.” Remember, whenever Joe does a bad thing for Marienne, even when it’s something she told (or would have told) him not to do, it is, deep down, something she wishes for because women don’t know what they want. Only Joe can see to her truest desires and realize them on her behalf.

Joe tells Marienne that he and Love are separating. Marienne invites him and Henry to get out of town with her and Juliet while the Ryan drama dies down — not suspicious at all!!! Joe, ecstatic, says he has to “tie up a few loose ends,” and then he looks down at the tarp hiding Theo’s body and sees it … twitch. With life! Can Joe kill Theo now that he just pinky-swore never to do a bad thing ever again?? He decides that he must save the teen who loved and fucked his wife. Joe tells Theo that Love fooled everyone, then gets him to a hospital.

In the cage, Sherry and Cary are (understandably) getting a bit heated over the thing where Cary accidentally shot Sherry in the ear. Cary goes, “I AM A FEMINIST,” and pushes back on the idea that he “shot” his wife: “I grazed you.” So Sherry picks up the gun and just shoots him! Like, not a graze. Definitely a shot in the leg. Incredible, this whole sequence. I hope she didn’t hit a major artery.

Back at home, Love is scrolling through baby names with her lipstick on and her hair done. I don’t want to encourage a string of homicides, but I can’t pretend it doesn’t really bring out Love’s best, aesthetically. But her reverie is destroyed when she takes out the diaper trash and discovers Joe’s bloody shirt.

At the bakery, Love overhears all the neighbors gossiping about Ryan’s murder and its possible connection to the Natalie investigation. Love puts it together: Ryan is Marienne’s ex, and Joe killed Ryan because he’s still obsessed with Marienne. She goes back downstairs where her captives are fighting about grazing. The way Sherry says “Heyyy” is just fantastic. Love is here for some girl talk: “Joe is cheating.” Sherry’s instant response is: “Love, kill him!” Joe was abusive, Sherry rationalizes. “Everybody will believe you! It’s always the husbands!” Her crazy eyes are phenomenal. She thinks she’s nailed it, but Love walks right up to the glass and accuses Sherry of being a “fucking monster.”

Having done the mitzvah of dumping Theo at a loading dock, Joe goes to Dante’s to pick up Henry so he can start his happily ever after with Marienne. Except Dante reports that Love picked Henry up hours ago. So Joe goes home to find Love cooking roast chicken — which is such a great choice: the dish to prove she’s an excellent cook and serve with very murder-y implements. She’s ready to have a little chat. Joe knows she knows. So the wonderfully tense question becomes: How does Love plan to kill Joe?

Love cannot believe that Joe was off killing for some other woman while Love (thinks) she killed a teenager for him. (Why don’t these seasoned homicidal maniacs make sure their dead bodies are dead before abandoning them in ditches and/or basements?) Joe doesn’t tell her that Theo is alive. Instead, he brings up James, the ex. And what Love did to him (murder). He says, gently as possible, that he wants a divorce. I write in my notes: Okay, but who gets the human aquarium and custody of the humans inside it?? Henry starts to cry, so Love leaves to take care of him, and while she’s away, Joe grabs the knife and holds it under the table.

Love returns to tell Joe that she took care of James while he was sick and then he didn’t want her anymore. But she didn’t mean to kill him. She dosed him with this paralytic — because she just wanted to talk! — but overdid it. But Joe doesn’t have to worry because now she’s letting it absorb through the skin … because it was on the handle of the knife! Did you guys watch Justified? If not, you should — it’s great (Margo Martindale and baby Kaitlin Devers, among other treats!), but for those of you who did, it’s all very “it was already in the glass,” right? “No one will ever love you like I do, Joe,” she says as he falls to the floor. “Something to think about while you’re lying there.” This show is so much more fun when Joe isn’t the craziest person in it.

Love is, in my opinion, a little too confident about her dosing skills. After texting Marienne from Joe’s phone telling her to come over ASAP, she leaves Joe alone with the giant knife AND his phone. I can’t believe she didn’t take his phone!

Matthew still can’t reach Theo. But he sees Love drive away from the Quinn-Goldberg house and decides to pop over. They left a door unlocked, which I guess is the luxury of knowing the most dangerous people in the neighborhood already live with you? Matthew finds Joe and, through some tortured blinking-as-communication, learns that Theo is at the hospital. Because Matthew knows he’s dealing with multiple scumbags, he leaves Joe there to be tortured or killed by Love, or to torture and kill her in return, or whatever.

I love everything that’s going on with Cary and Sherry in the cage. He keeps pawing around at the edges because “the weak spot will reveal itself.” Sherry makes him stop, and they have a great conversation about how much they’ve always loved each other, even their pre-optimized selves. Sherry spots the keyhole in the door handle and realizes — FINALLY — there must be a key hidden inside. Cary was right; there is a weak spot. Sherry concludes that the weak spot is Joe and Love’s relationship: They don’t trust each other.

Love returns home to find Joe still on the floor. Again, if I were her, I would not be so cavalier about the placement of his body or his inability to regain movement. Marienne arrives, and Love tells her that the text from “Joe” was, in fact, from Love, the wife to whom Joe’s announcement of an imminent separation is breaking news. Though Love has that spiky tong thing (look, I’m not a chef) in the back of her jeans, Marienne has no clue how close she is to be a casualty of the Quinn-Goldbergs’ failed marriage. Love outs Joe as Ryan’s killer, and the horror starts seeping in. Then Juliet knocks because she has to pee, and Love says, Sure, use my bathroom, and I’m like, Marienne, you DUMB-DUMB, why would you BRING YOUR DAUGHTER INTO THIS HOUSE just to PEE go PEE in the YARD or your PANTS who CARES.

But upon seeing this daughter, Love wilts. She tells Marienne to disappear. “Ryan is just the beginning of what [Joe’s] willing to do.” Marienne encourages Love to do the same — to listen to the little voice in her head telling her that she deserves better. “That is your partner.” As someone who has been hard on Marienne for being a boring plot device where a person should be, I will say: That is excellent advice; thank you, Marienne.

Marienne and her daughter leave, and Love has a new vision: single motherhood. But just when Love goes to kill Joe in her favorite manner (throat-slitting), Joe springs to life and INJECTS HER with some heart-slowing shit she was growing in their garden this whole time! Very into the idea of literal suburbia being the cause of at least one death this season. (You can read more about wolfsbane on this list of “10 Plants That Could Kill You!”) Love sobs out her dying words: “We’re perfect for each other.” And her final blow: Henry will know that Joe is a monster.

While I understand that Love had to reach the end of her story here, I am so bummed she won’t be in the next season. I feel like we have maxed out on Joe’s whole deal, and it would be much more interesting to follow Love into her next crazy chapter. Think of the juicy flashbacks we’d get if we could see Love and Forty as little kids! With the au pair! And their psycho parents!

Now Joe has a problem: Supposedly he did everything he did for his son, whom he has now left motherless. So Joe decides to leave Henry in Dante’s care. Godspeed, Henry.

Joe writes a fake suicide note from Love that he sends out to the Madre Linda HOA listserv. In the letter, Joe-as-Love rips apart this neighborhood and pins everything on Love: the murders of Natalie and Gil, the entrapment of Cary and Sherry. And: the murder of Joe. To this end, Joe cuts off two of his toes (!) and bakes one of them into a chicken pot pie (!!!) and puts another in a little keepsake box next to evidence from all the other murders (!!!!!!!). Joe puts their wedding album in the oven, turns up all the gas burners, and torches it.

In voiceover, Joe tells us, “It worked. There was just enough half-charred evidence, including two toes.” Just in case you were wondering what the fuck was going on there re: toe-chopping. Love became a “bit of a folk hero,” he says, more famous than Beck. (Was Beck all that famous, though? I feel like nobody in Madre Linda ever mentioned her.) The important thing is that there’s an article about Love on the Cut, which is almost as good as an article on her being on Vulture. I’ll accept it.

Theo is in a wheelchair but gets picked up from physical therapy by Matthew, expressing emotions and being a good dad. Jackson and Andrew take over “A Fresh Tart” but rename it “Well-Behaved Women Rarely Make History,” ugh. New faves Cary and Sherry write a book called Caged and go around preaching about a “radical couples-therapy technique” that involves, you guessed it, their own version of the human aquarium.

Marienne is still the “you” in You, but Joe is saddened to learn that she took Love’s advice and vanished without leaving a forwarding address. Joe believes he is destined to find her and, given Marienne’s past reactions to Joe crossing every boundary she has explicitly asked him not to cross, maybe he’s right? He has followed in the footsteps of another delusional American before him and gone to find his beloved in Paris. Women of the world: Be on the lookout for an eight-toed man limping through Le Marais who swears he’s just looking for love.

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/article/outlander-season-6-episode-2-recap-allegiance.html

Outlander S6 Ep 2: Allegiance 

By Maggie Fremont

Welcome back to the Ridge, where yes, before you ask, people are still secretly huffing homemade ether in their surgery. Morale is low, guys. I mean, people aren’t even excited that Bree invents matches. Matches! Kind of a wild thing to choose as your first invention when you literally traveled back in time to warn your parents that they die in a house fire, but okay! All of this is to say that Fraser’s Ridge’s air feels heavy and is only getting heavier.

Jamie is still dealing with two highly delicate situations that could easily become major conflicts at any moment. Let’s start with his dealings with the Cherokee. Last week, he took on the job of “Indian Agent” to be a liaison between local tribes and King George only because the other option for the position was Richard Brown, and that guy objectively sucks as a human being. Of course, taking a position that once again ties Jamie closely to the crown is risky, seeing that he knows the Revolutionary War is coming and plans to be on the side of the rebels fighting the crown. Awkward, right? He runs into a major problem right away, as is Jamie’s way.

Jamie meets with Cherokee leaders who are requesting that England supply them with guns. Settlers are not respecting the treaty lines (surprise, surprise!) and encroaching on their land and hunting grounds, and they would like to be able to defend themselves. Seems reasonable. Still, Jamie is hesitant to even agree to broach the subject with England. This choice bothers Young Ian, Jamie’s number two here, a great deal. But Jamie has his reasons.

Before explaining himself, though, he needs to have sex with his wife. In a truly wild and unnecessary scene, two Cherokee women try to have sex with Jamie because it would be like an honor or something, but he politely tells them no … and then is so revved up that he goes home and immediately requires some time alone with his wife. Claire is very into it! These grandparents are horny as hell. Afterward, Jamie’s pillow talk consists of asking for some clarification on the Revolutionary War: Does Claire know which side the Cherokee will fight on? Basically, he’s worried about giving the Cherokee guns from the crown because it would most likely mean that when the war comes, they’ll be fighting for England and against Jamie — he’d be arming his enemy. If he doesn’t get them guns, it puts them at risk right now, but they might be more apt to take up arms against England when the time comes, which might ultimately be better for them anyway. Unfortunately, Claire’s U.S. history is a little fuzzy, and she can’t be of assistance.

Jamie decides not to tell Major MacDonald about the request from the Cherokee, but Young Ian can’t keep quiet any longer. So Jamie has to explain the basics of the Revolutionary War and his reasoning for his actions — and remind Ian that now that he is on the whole time-travel thing, he needs to remember that knowing what’s to come is both a blessing and a curse. And that’s that on that. Or so Jamie thinks.

Claire might not have the deets on the Revolutionary War, but you’d think Jamie might ask the other two time travelers he knows just as, like, a basic due diligence kind of thing. I mean, Roger was a history professor and Bree studied history for a while and was fully aware of the significance of the Battle of Alamance last season, so maybe she might have some intel? But no, Jamie is satisfied with his decision. Ian, not so much.

Many things are going on at the Big House this week, but the most pressing is certainly that Marsali goes into labor — and the situation is precarious. Claire is terrified that she might have to give Marsali a C-section, which will save the baby but not the woman who has become her surrogate daughter (okay, but seriously, the development of the Claire-Marsali relationship throughout the run of this show is Outlander at its best). Eventually, Roger rouses Fergus from his latest drunken stupor and gets him to his wife’s side. Fergus proceeds to use some, uh, tactics he learned while living in a brothel to help Marsali along. When everybody in the house can hear Marsali screaming out in pleasure, they’re all like, Uh, I gotta go see a guy about a thing. Except for Claire, God bless her.

Bree ends up bumping into Ian, looking quite distressed. Unlike his uncle, Ian has more questions about the role the Cherokee and other tribes might play in this impending war. Bree has some answers, but none that make Ian feel any better: She tells him how, yes, a new nation will be formed after the war, and although white people will tell all the Native tribes that they are a part of it, they won’t be, not really. She tells him how they’ll be forced off their land and about how much they will suffer. Ian feels heaps and heaps of guilt — that blessing and a curse thing Jamie was talking about is real. And it’s because of this guilt and knowledge of the future that, later, Ian will refuse to drop the subject with Jamie. He tells his uncle that because they know about the injustices the Cherokee and other tribes will face, shouldn’t they give them every opportunity to defend themselves? He vows to help them, even if Jamie continues to refuse.

Back at the Big House, Marsali safely delivers a baby boy. It seems like maybe Marsali and Fergus have turned a corner, but it doesn’t last long. Their son is born with dwarfism, and once Fergus realizes this, he runs out of the room; he can’t even look at the boy. It’s pretty fucked up. Marsali, however, showers that little baby with so much love and affection. And she won’t be the only one — a few days later, Jamie comes by Marsali and Fergus’s cabin and overhears Ian inside. He has come to give the baby, Henri-Christian, a blessing. Ian confesses to Marsali that he had a child too, when he was with the Mohawk. He doesn’t say anything more, but it completely puts everything into perspective for Jamie. Next thing we know, Claire finds Jamie writing a letter to the governor recommending they give the Cherokee the guns they’re requesting. Now Jamie knows that he fights so hard on their behalf because they’re Ian’s family, and Ian is his family. “Come what may,” he says, knowing he only has so much control over his future.

The second delicate situation Jamie is still managing is that of Tom Christie. Jamie may think he has more control over this situation than the Cherokee one, but the jury’s still out. Control is Tom Christie’s problem too. He doesn’t have enough of it on Fraser’s Ridge. He builds a big church, and Jamie tells him he needs to turn it into a Freemason meeting house where all people are welcome and also threatens him after learning of a rumor spreading among his people that Claire might be a witch, after a funeral in which the deceased wasn’t actually dead. Tom isn’t a fan of Claire’s for several reasons, but mainly it’s that she isn’t afraid to stand up to his idiotic ideas about health care and women. He has no authority in this place and so tries to hold on to what little authority he has elsewhere — mainly with his daughter, Malva. Malva has been Claire’s little shadow, wanting to learn as much as she can about healing. Tom hates this. One day, after being reamed out by Jamie, he takes it out on Malva, who he finds studying some papers instead of doing chores. He goes to whip her with his belt, but because of his lame hand, he’s unable to. It’s only because of this that he decides to let Claire operate on it. Claire says she has to wait until the wound on his other hand heals, but whenever that operation does take place, it should be an interesting dynamic to watch. Claire may be scared of the ghosts that haunt her and of losing Marsali, but she’s not afraid of someone like Tom Christie.

Other Notes

• Wow, what a funeral to kick off Tom Christie’s new church, huh? Granny Wilson is being laid to rest only for her to wake up … and then die a few minutes later. Claire immediately realizes the woman is suffering from an aortic aneurysm, but no one else really gets that. Hey, at least it gives Mrs. Wilson enough time to give her son-in-law notes on her terrible funeral (okay, fine, they make up before she officially dies). What a way to go out!

• Henri-Christian’s birth is only complicating the dire situation between Fergus and Marsali. When Claire finds more bruises on Marsali’s wrist, she asks her straight up if Fergus is doing this to her. Marsali explains she was so fed up with him being drunk that she lost her temper and attacked him — he grabbed her to defend himself. She also says that Fergus has been drinking because he blames himself for what happened to Claire and Marsali at the hands of the Browns. All of this points to everything getting worse before it gets better.

• Roger’s young friend Aidan has certainly grown attached to him. Aidan shows up at Roger and Bree’s cabin one night and tells them he got lost on his way home. Roger offers to walk him back. He has a soft spot for Aidan and his mom, Amy. No good can come from this.

• While Bree gets annoyed that everyone is more interested in her getting pregnant again than her inventions, it turns out that she and Roger are trying to have another baby. Even with the war coming? These people are looney tunes.

• Lizzy and Kezzie AND Josiah are flirting SO HARD. I’m scared.

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from Den of Geek: https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/black-sails-xxiii-review/
Black Sails: XXIII review

Black Sails S3 Ep 5

By TS Rhodes|February 21, 2016|

Sometimes the waiting is all there is.

Blackbeard, of course, could not have been a part of the beginning of Black Sails. Beside him, even the power and attitude of Charles Vane becomes almost childlike. In many ways, Vane is the heart of this series’ whole story. He is the rebel, in all things, and it is the spirit of rebellion that drove history’s pirates.

I felt that this week’s episode was a matter of pacing. After attacks, explosions, capture by the Maroons, we needed an episode to pause, reflect and begin the momentum toward the next crisis. This is it – not a rip-roaring adventure, but something necessary for the whole

Last week Blackbeard, Vane and company escaped from the blockade of Nassau port, this year we see them on the high seas. Blackbeard immediately breaks a tradition (fictional, but plausible) that the pirates don’t attack Spanish vessels, for fear of reprisals against New Providence. For action’s sake we get a good fight and a well-managed suicide. The rest is a rather spun-out reflection of what the Spanish ship was carrying.

Papers detailing British holdings in the Caribbean. What shall we make of this?

If the Spanish were to attack Nassau in sufficient numbers, the English and the pirates might need to join forces to hold them off. There’s historic precedence. Port Royal became “the wickedest city on earth” when England could not afford ships to protect the island of Jamaica from Spanish invasion. The Jamaican governor at the time fixed his problem by opening his city to pirates – as long as the pirates promised to defend the colony.

That deal was only negated by the great earthquake of 1697, which dropped a third of Port Royal into the ocean. The earthquake effectively ended an entire phase of piracy.

Once the situation with Vane is properly set up, we slip back to Nassau to enjoy seeing Max as a mover and shaker in the new society.

Max has made herself a power in her world the hard way, and she doesn’t mind risking her reserves to keep her place at the top. She now has more than enough money buy men far more well-funded than Rogers. And her cleverness in transforming so much of the treasure from gold into gems is complete. She will not buy her future with Spanish gold, but with valuables that dropped mysteriously out of the sky.

It’s no accident that Rogers had earlier dropped a line about raising his own version of the black flag and going to war against the insurance companies. Nor is Eleanor’s sudden attraction to him mysterious. Rogers has been battered by fate. The historic man clung to his one accomplishment – getting the pirates out of Nassau. This version of Rogers seems far more larcenous.

I’ve always wished that there was a better way to explain how little cash was required to become rich during the early 1700s. Jack Rackham gave us some idea when he spoke of 800 years of carousing off his share of the Urca gold. Today, Woods Rogers points out that Max is offering him five year’s tax revenue. This was a time when a person could carry enough money to make his or her fortune.

The screws are tightening. The revelation of the Spanish spy means Rogers has just been informed that he can’t go straight unless he comes up with double the enormous quantity of valuables already available to him in Nassau. (This is the weakest part of the whole episode, buy the way. The idea that such a lowly spy would know how much money Spain expects is pretty flimsy. Add to that the fact that Spain cannot possibly know exactly how much money was recovered, or that it will expect no less than a 100% recovery, is complete madness.)

These vast amounts of money seem to have tamed Anne Bonny, at least for now. But it hasn’t quite overcome Jack Rackham. Jack has always wanted to make a name for himself, so his desire to go back and “take the pardon” so he can keep his name is logical. “I’ll be back in just a few hours” however, could well be on some famous list of famous last words. When IT, whatever exactly IT is, goes down next week, Jack will be in the middle of it.

And, lastly Flint. Yes, he’s an angst-y and conflicted pirate. But with Silver’s help, Flint polishes up his sliver tongue and goes into battle in the way he does best.

Flint is now talking a full-scale rebellion, a Pirate Nation. This is what we came here for. “What does a colonial power do when the men who power it lay down their shovels, pick up swords and say, “No more?”


So, the pieces are in place.

This is it. I hope the pirates change history. It won’t happen next week, but it can start next week, and I want this season to end with the skull and crossbones flying over a new nation.

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from the Review Geek: https://www.thereviewgeek.com/hightown-s2endingexplained/
Hightown – Season 2 Episode 10: Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Hightown S2 Ep 10: Fool Me Twice

26/12/2021 by Greg Wheeler

Does Frankie stay behind bars?

Episode 10 of Hightown Season 2 begins with Jackie assisting the forensic team as they investigate Frankie’s pad. The place is awash with blood stains, especially under the UV light, as the department realize they have enough to incriminate Frankie. Christmas has come early for the police and with Frankie behind bars, it seems the Cape is on the up.

Renee heads in to visit Frankie, who’s not exactly thrilled to see her. She actually came to tell him that she’s in love with Ray and moving in with him. She’ll still let him see Frankie Jr. of course, organizing meets and keeping him as a father. Frankie though is seething, trying to get under Renee’s skin and telling her that Ray is using her. He also promises that she’ll be looking over her shoulder for the rest of her life.

Does Ray get his job back again?

Heading back to Ray’s, she asks him about kids. He’s enthused about this but interrupts Renee, telling her he needs to get his job back…just before she’s about to reveal she’s pregnant. However, that would mean retracting her statement against him originally. Renee’s not exactly happy about it but eventually does agree to do just that.

In front of the board in Massachusetts, Renee admits that Frankie is to blame for what happened with Ray and embellishes, claiming she had no choice but to lie in order to stop Frankie from killing her. She puts on a big show, complete with tears and a quavering voice, as she admits that Ray is completely innocent.

What is Osito’s plan?

Osito’s intel gains him a swanky suit… and not much else. Alan hasn’t followed through with the hearing and he’s stuck in his cell with Vernon. To make matters worse, Vernon has tested positive on a drug test. Osito senses an opportunity though and decides to expand his operation from behind bars.

With Vernon being moved to Frankie’s wing, Osito tasks him with getting close and making a big play to claim his throne. The actual specifics of this make a whole lot more sense later on!

Osito won’t be there to see things through though. He’s made bail but Alan is there to see him. He promises this isn’t over and will do his best to keep an eye on him. If Osito messes up again, he’s putting the smug guy behind bars right next to Charmaine. Osito simply laughs and walks away, threatening him as he does.

In the morning, Osito’s threats push Alan into action. He tasks Leslie and Jackie (who have now buried the hatchet and are on kissing terms again) with moving Charmaine on Thursday. Unfortunately, with Ray now back as Sergeant, there’s a big problem.

Does Ray learn the truth about Renee?

Ray is given the unenviable task of breaking the news to Alan that he’s out of a job. Understandably, he doesn’t take it well. Alan has worked his way up from the bottom and when he finds out how Ray has managed to weasel his way back to this position, he’s absolutely livid.

Off the back of this, Ray heads in to see Frankie. He tries to get under Ray’s skin, pointing out that Renee has killed before (Jorge) and he doesn’t know her. Not really. Frankie scoffs as he walks away, “She played you for a chump…again!”

Ray next approaches Jackie and asks her to be part of his New York taskforce. He also asks about Jorge’s death. She spills all the details about the inconclusive crime scene and how Frankie swears he didn’t kill Jorge. As Ray searches, he heads to the gunshop and learns Renee came in and bought a bullet. He puts two and two together, figuring out that Renee actually killed Jorge.

Instead of admitting to it though when Ray asks, she reveals instead that she’s pregnant. Ray is caught off-guard but he’s obviously happy. When he presses her on more truths, she outright lies and claims there’s not.

How does Charmaine get away?

Meanwhile, Jackie and Leslie head out to transport Charmaine. En-route though, she ends up getting her period, staining the front of her trousers. Unfortunately Jackie lets her guard down, uncuffing Char who headbutts the officer and rushes into the woods.

The result of her leaving sees Leslie throw Alan and Jackie both under the bus when she’s questioned over her actions. She blames Jackie and puts her career ahead of the shell-shocked woman, pointing out she was hired by Ray and is a loose cannon. There’s going to be an investigation and given Jackie was the one who took off her handcuffs, that’s not going to go well for her.

The thing is, it’s also the night of Ed’s retirement party. Jackie clearly isn’t in the right headspace but thankfully still shows up. While together, Jackie opens up and laments how everything is changing, wishing things could go back to how they was before.

How does Hightown Season 2 end?

In the midst of this though, Jackie relapses, drinking again and sending herself into a spiraling depression. She rings Ray, asking for help, but he simply tells her to go inside, assuring her that everything always works out. With Jackie’s life out of control, she heads back to her father’s dealer and is invited in to take drugs… and potentially more.

That same night, Alan receives a call from Boston PD. They’ve received intel about the Jamaican cleaning ladies burying a body – a body by the name of Jorge Cuevas. The man involved in this brawl happens to work at Bayside Cleaners, which sees Alan immediately get to work gathering information.

Does Frankie actually die?

While this is going on, Vernon heads into Frankie’s wing with a makeshift shiv. He stabs the guy multiple times, leaving him a bloody mess on the floor before he’s eventually taken away. Does he survive though? As we don’t actually see him dead, the blows to Frankie’s kidney and/or liver do seem to hint that they’re not completely fatal, and officers did arrive at the scene pretty quickly to break things up.

While it’s left on an ambiguous note (like most of the storylines this season) it would hint that Frankie is still alive. When Vernon messages Osito and tells him “It’s done”, Osito believes he’s in the clear. Personally I don’t think he’s dead and if Starz renews this for season 3, he’ll be back with a vengeance.

What happens to Charmaine?

After getting away in the woods, we catch up with Charmaine late on, hitchhiking and slipping away from the Cape. She’s been desperate for a fresh start since Aileen died and it appears she’s now got her wish. It seems unlikely that we’ll see her again if this show is renewed.

The Episode Review

Well that was an awful ending to the season, wasn’t it? There’s absolutely nothing resolved, there’s no repercussions for any of our characters and everything is left wide open for a potential third season. Whether this one will actually be renewed though remains to be seen – especially at the time of writing this recap.

Ray is back as sergeant, with Alan’s career hanging in the balance. At the same time, Jackie’s hearing, Renee’s potential arrest, Frankie’s wellbeing and the future for both Osito and Charmaine are left wide open and unresolved.

More annoying than all of this though is Jackie’s relapse… again. It puts a massive downer on the whole affair, especially given how well she’s been doing.

Hightown’s second season has been an improvement over the first but it still suffers from some of the same issues, namely that involving its characters. Jackie is a tough character to root for, especially as she keeps pushing everyone away, while the supporting players like Ray and Renee are difficult to warm toward. In fact, Alan is probably the most likable character here and he gets the most unlucky ending!

The season ends with many questions left unanswered; a frustrating way to end what’s otherwise been a pretty good season of drama.

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from cnet: https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/the-book-of-boba-fett-episode-5-recap-the-best-diversion-ever/

The Book of Boba Fett S1 Ep 5:
Return of the Mandalorian

Sean Keane
Feb. 1, 2022 8:00 a.m. PT

Episode 5 of The Book of Boba Fett dropped onto Disney Plus last Wednesday, bringing the former bounty hunter closer to war over Tatooine's criminal underworld in the seven-part live-action Star Wars series. The deadly Pyke Syndicate is making a move to take over the desert world, forcing Boba (Temuera Morrison) to recruit some muscle to drive the invaders out.

His muscle includes a master assassin, some Gamorreans, a ferocious Wookiee, a cybernetically modified gang and a rancor calf, but last week's episode ended with a musical hint that the Mandalorian is going to join the gang.

This show is set around five years after Return of the Jedi and shortly after The Mandalorian season 2. Let's don our beskar armor and step into the torrent of SPOILERS for Chapter 5.

Reuniting with Mando

This whole episode – entitled Return of the Mandalorian – feels like it belongs in The Mandalorian season 3, since it follows our old buddy Mando (aka Din Djarin, played by Pedro Pascal). He reunites with his clan, has a present forged for Grogu (aka Baby Yoda), breaks up with his clan and travels to Tatooine to get a new ship to replace his lost Razor Crest.

Mando wields the Darksaber in this episode.Lucasfilm

It ends with Boba's partner Fennec Shand (Ming-Na Wen) tracking Mando down and recruiting him with a big bag of credits. However, Mando clearly feels like he, Fennec and Boba are buds since they teamed up in season 2 of The Mandalorian.

"Tell him it's on the house," Mando replies, throwing the credits back to Fennec. "But first, I gotta pay a visit to a little friend."

The bag with Mando's present for Grogu is folded to look like the little guy's adorable wee head, squee. Since Mando requested that the Beskar staff be forged into armor, maybe it's a teeny tiny Baby Yoda-shaped Mandalorian helmet (even though the bag is the wrong shape for that)?

Excuse me while I learn how to fold cloth like a little Grogu head.Lucasfilm

It'd be amazing if we saw Grogu in next week's episode, but we likely won't meet him again until season 3 of The Mandalorian. I'd be OK with being wrong about this, though.

This is the Way

Early in the episode, we learn that Mando is using the Darksaber – a Mandalorian symbol of leadership he won from Imperial Moff Gideon – as a handy decapitation tool while bounty hunting on a space station. This work leads him to the survivors of his Tribe, the Armorer and Paz Vizsla.


They're as intense as ever, and the Armorer recounts the Darksaber's origin (which we've previously heard in the CGI animated series Rebels). It was constructed by Tarre Vizsla, the first Mandalorian to join the Jedi Order, over a thousand years ago. After his death, it became a symbol of conflict and ultimately leadership among the clans of Mandalore – but it must be won through battle.

"If, however, it is not won in combat and falls into the hands of the undeserving, it will be a curse unto the nation," the Armorer says. "Mandalore will be laid to waste and its people scattered to the four winds."


In Rebels, Sabine Wren simply handed the Darksaber to Bo-Katan Kryze in the final season of Rebels, allowing Bo-Katan to unite the clans of Mandalore against the Empire. Apparently this broke the rules.

A mildly Terminator 2 flashback reveals exactly what went down during the Empire's subsequent Purge of Mandalore – a massive fleet of TIE bombers absolutely wrecked the planet's surface and blew up its domed capital, Sundari (which we last saw in the epic final arc of The Clone Wars).

The Empire laid waste to Mandalore, because they're jerks.Lucasfilm

Conveniently, the Children of the Watch – the orthodox Mandalorian group Mando is a part of – were "cloistered" on the moon of Concordia, so they avoided the attack. That moon is where we first met the Death Watch, a splinter group that opposed Mandalore's pacifist government and joined constant troublemaker Darth Maul during the Clone Wars, adding fuel to the idea that Children of the Watch are an offshoot of the Death Watch.

So yeah, this episode gave us a hefty dose of Mandalorian lore (Mando-lore?), and it is truly delicious. Unfortunately, Mando also admits to having removed his helmet and gets kicked out of the club.

Now this is podracing

Even though he's alone again, Mando doesn't seem particularly bothered about the rejection. He travels to Tatooine to meet mechanic Peli Motto (Amy Sedaris), whom he and Grogu befriended in season 1.

Mando tries out his sweet new ride.Lucasfilm

She reveals the replacement ship she found to be a sweet Naboo N-1 Starfighter, as seen in The Phantom Menace. After they fix it up through the power of montage, Mando brings it on an epic test flight.

It's time to party like it's 1999, because part of his journey mirrors a chunk of Episode I's pod race. He travels into Beggar's Canyon (but doesn't bull's-eye the womp rat) before leaving Tatooine's atmosphere.


He also has a close encounter with New Republic Capt. Carson Teva (Paul Sun-Hyung Lee), who tracked the Razor Crest after saving Mando and Grogu from death by icy arachnids. It's all pretty wizard.


Observations, WTF questions and Easter eggs

This episode was directed by Bryce Dallas Howard, who previously helmed Chapters 4 and 11 of The Mandalorian. Her dad, Ron Howard, directed Solo.

We get a sweet one-shot when Mando delivers the Klatooinian bounty.

The scene where Mando is swinging the Darksaber at the Armorer is similar to Sabine doing so in the Rebels season 3 episode Trials of the Darksaber, which is among that show's best.

Paz Vizsla feels entitled to the Darksaber because it was forged by his ancestor, but his relative Pre Vizsla lost the weapon (and his life) to Darth Maul during the Clone Wars.

 
The battle between Mando and Paz reminded me of Oberyn Martell versus The Mountain in Game of Thrones, due to the Pedro Pascal connection, the fight's David versus Goliath nature and Mando sneakily slashing at Paz's limbs.

Peli dated a Jawa, and they're apparently "very furry." We've never seen what the scavengers look like under their cloaks, so we'll just have to take her word for it.

The mechanic also owns a BD droid, a charming model prominently featured in excellent 2019 video game Jedi: Fallen Order (which is getting a sequel). It's our first time seeing one in live action, and Mando has a nice rapport with it. He sure has changed his stance on droids.

As cool as the N-1 Starfighter is, where on this tiny fighter is Mando supposed to carry captive bounties? I guess he's just gonna bring in their heads from now on.

It sure seems like Grogu is destined to sit behind Mando in that old astromech droid port.

X-Men #16-20: The Vault

Collects X-Men (2019) #16-20. One era ends and a new one begins as Jonathan Hickman's acclaimed run enters the Reign of X! In the wake of the Earth-shattering events of X OF SWORDS, the Captain Commander of Krakoa makes a fateful decision that will affect all the island-nation's residents! And when the Shi'ar Empire asks the X-Men for help, Cyclops, Storm and Marvel Girl answer the call! Elsewhere, the door to the Vault swings open at last. But time moves differently inside the Vault - and for the beings who emerge, it's been a very, very long time since they entered! And Krakoa's future is at stake when one of mutantkind's greatest threats re-emerges: Nimrod is online! Then, it's time for the Hellfire Gala - and a changing of the guard, as Krakoa's very first team of elected X-Men debuts!

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from Cnet: https://www.cnet.com/culture/entertainment/hawkeye-episode-5-recap-marvel-show-big-bad-steps-out-of-the-shadows/

Hawkeye S1 Ep 5: Ronin

Sean Keane
Dec. 17, 2021 8:43 a.m. PT

After the return of a superspy last week, episode 5 of the Marvel Cinematic Universe series Hawkeye dropped onto Disney Plus on Wednesday. Exceptional archer Clint Barton is trying to save Kate Bishop from the consequences of his slaughtering New York City's criminal underworld as the masked vigilante Ronin in Avengers: Endgame, before returning to his identity as Hawkeye.

Clint and Kate (Jeremy Renner and Hailee Steinfeld) briefly teamed up to face off against Maya Lopez (Alaqua Cox) and her Tracksuit Mafia goons, but the surprise appearance of Black Widow assassin Yelena Belova (Florence Pugh) turned the danger level up too high for Clint. He told Kate to go home, but that doesn't seem like a solution since her family is wrapped up in the criminal conspiracy.

The fifth episode revealed who the mastermind behind that underworld plot is. It's time for Netflix and SPOILERS for an episode titled Ronin.

The "Observations and Easter eggs" section will also contain minor SPOILERS for Spider-Man: No Way Home (which came out in the US on Friday), but we'll have another warning before that so you can read most of this recap safely.

The Big Guy

Their partnership seemingly repaired after Kate rescues Clint from Maya, the Hawkeyes chill out with their firefighter buddy Grills and the unnamed Pizza Dog (who'll absolutely be called "Lucky" next week).

However, Kate gets a series of texts from her new assassin pal (and boxed mac and cheese cook) Yelena, revealing that her mom, Eleanor Bishop (Vera Farmiga), hired the Black Widow to kill Clint. She also receives a slightly blurry photo of Eleanor with a familiar man in a white suit jacket.

"Well that's the guy I've been worried about this whole time," says Clint. "Kingpin."

Wilson Fisk (Vincent D'Onofrio), aka the Kingpin, was the major villain of Netflix's canceled Daredevil. We last saw him being dragged off to prison in that show's finale, which took place before Thanos' genocidal Snap in Avengers: Infinity War.

This episode confirms that he survived the Snap. He was presumably released in the five-year period before the Avengers brought everyone back and likely used the chaos to reclaim much of his power (until Clint ruined it as Ronin).

It's unclear if Eleanor took out the contract on Clint under orders from Fisk or if she was acting alone, but the revelation that she's under the Kingpin's thumb isn't a major surprise. 


In the first episode, the 2012 flashback suggests the Bishop family was in some kind of financial trouble and present-day Kate heard the late Armand III confronting Eleanor, saying "I should've known that this empire of yours would be built on a lie." It's likely Eleanor turned to Fisk for help sometime after 2012, and Armand was displeased when he learned of Fisk's involvement.

We also saw Eleanor making a concerned phone call after Clint left the Bishop penthouse in episode 4 -- almost certainly letting Fisk or Yelena know about the Avenger's snooping.

Clint dons his Ronin costume to confront Maya and stop her from getting close to his family. He Batmans around the used car lot and immobilizes her Tracksuit Mafia boys before taking her on directly. Their fight is awesome, but Clint manages to reveal a vital detail about the night he killed Maya's dad, William.

It turns out that during Clint's bloody rampage through New York City's criminal underworld, he tracked down William and his crew following a tip from an informant working for Fisk. After learning this, Maya turns the tables and almost murders Clint before being stopped by Kate.

The plot thickens further when Maya's underling Kazi (Fra Fee) meets her afterward. Turns out he was mysteriously absent the night Clint killed her dad. Presumably Fisk used Clint to get rid of William and his crew for some reason.

Now it seems like he's having Kazi maneuver Maya into a situation where Clint will kill her, giving Kazi a chance to take her place, before Yelena ends Clint. Or something like that -- it's just the kind of big, complicated web of murder Fisk is great at.

In the comics, Fisk adopted Maya after killing her mob enforcer father, and she turned on him after learning that he's a jerk (with a little help from Daredevil). Since MCU Maya is getting her own Disney Plus show, she's clearly going to follow a similar path.

A chunk of this episode is spent with Yelena, who was among the billions Blipped away by Thanos in 2018.

It happened after she and fellow Widow Sonya (Yssa Mei Panganiban) track down another Widow, Ana (Annie Hamilton), in their mission to release all of their "sisters" from the clandestine assassin program's brainwashing. Just as it was revealed that Ana hadn't been brainwashed and just used her skills to get stupidly rich, Yelena turned to dust.

After Yelena Blips back, Ana tells her Sonya got rich too. Since we know Yelena subsequently started working for the morally dubious Contessa Valentina Allegra de la Fontaine (aka Val), it seems she decided to do the same. Smart choice.

During her heart to heart with Kate, they debate Clint's morality. Both make fair points; He's both a decent guy and a killer. However, Yelena's grief over Natasha's death and false belief that Clint is responsible has fueled her vendetta against him.

Given the survivor's guilt Clint expresses at the Avengers Assembled marker outside Grand Central Terminal, they'll likely come to some kind of understanding and maybe give Fisk a good firm kickin' in the series finale next week.

Observations, WTF questions and Easter eggs

Fisk isn't the only Netflix alum to return to the MCU this week, as previously hinted at by Marvel Studios boss Kevin Feige. Matt Murdock, aka Daredevil, (Charlie Cox) has a cameo as Peter Parker's lawyer in Spider-Man: No Way Home. He gets Peter out of the legal trouble created by Mysterio revealing his identity.

Yelena wants to see "the new and improved Statue of Liberty." It turns out that means adding Captain America's shield, presumably in honor of Steve Roger's apparent sacrifice in Endgame, as seen in No Way Home's final battle.

Fisk is at the center of a Marvel Comics event, Devil's Reign, because Disney loves synergy. In the mainline comics continuity, he's New York's mayor and has amassed an army of supervillains as part of a plot to get rid of the city's superheroes.

I think I preferred Ana's 2018 bathroom color. The 2023 shade of green is a bit too dark.
Did Ana and Sonya end up watching Sex and the City together? That house seems like a pretty sweet location for binging a show. Maybe they've reunited for HBO Max's sequel series And Just Like That?

How did Yelena find out that Natasha had been killed? It's likely the Avengers made a public announcement after Endgame, but we know Val twisted the truth and made Yelena think Clint was responsible.

"You're the only thing that matters to me." Eleanor almost certainly started working with Fisk to make sure she could provide for Kate.

Kate's would-be stepfather, Jack Duquesne (Tony Dalton), is arrested after Kate tells Eleanor about his connection to the Tracksuit Mafia. It's likely all smoke and mirrors. In Daredevil, Fisk had people at all levels of law enforcement. Jack could well have been the person who connected Eleanor with Fisk in the first place.

The chat between Kate and Yelena is delightful, with the latter sounding exactly like Melina Vostokoff and Alexei Shostakov (the fake parents we met in Black Widow). It makes sense, since she lived with them at a formative age.

Yelena asked for mac and cheese in Black Widow's 1995 flashback. She is a connoisseur.
Kate leaves at least six messages for Clint, but he really doesn't seem like the kind of guy who actually listens to them.

The Tracksuit Mafia lads reference prominent tracksuit wearers in pop culture -- hip-hop group Run-DMC (they're listening to Christmas in Hollis), American track and field 1968 Olympic gold medalist Tommie Smith (whose sporting career ended after he and fellow athlete John Carlos raised their fists to protest racial discrimination during the medal ceremony), The Royal Tenenbaums and Tony Soprano.

"Meet me tonight." Clint gives Maya a very loose time frame, and it's actually pretty inconsiderate to have someone standing outside in late December. Rude and mean, Clint.

We still don't know what the mysterious Rolex is all about. It better be spectacular after all this hype.

Grills mentions having the "new outfits" for Clint and Kate. I guess they'll be decked out in purple for the last episode.

Fisk looms over Kate and Clint in the final shot of the initial credits sequence.

Action Comics 1007-1011: Leviathan Rising

Action Comics #1007-1011

The adventures of the Man of Steel continue in North America's longest-running comic book series, headlined by fan-favorite writer Brian Michael Bendis. Clark Kent dives deeper into his role as an investigative reporter, but will he uncover something so big and so dangerous that not even Superman will survive to break the story?

The terror organization Leviathan has transformed from a Batman menace to a global DC Universe threat, and Clark Kent is hot on their trail. But even Superman may be in for more than he bargained for as Leviathan undergoes a hostile takeover by a new, mysterious player. Someone has outmaneuvered the current leader, Talia al Ghul, along with the leaders of Kobra, the DEO and even the queen of the spy game, Amanda Waller herself. All bets are off as the players make themselves known in the universe-changing Leviathan event!

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/article/evil-season-2-premiere-recap-episode-1-n-is-for-night-terrors.html

Evil S2 Ep 1: N is for Night Terrors

By Maggie Fremont


Hello, friend. Are you feeling simultaneously blessed, stressed, and possessed? Cool, me too. Blessed because, after a year and a half, our favorite “Satan is a hairy horned beast who’s super into therapy” show, Evil, has returned to us. Stressed because, hi, uh did you hear that the truly terrifying show Evil is back? And possessed because, well, you get it. Evil is on again! And it wastes absolutely zero time getting us right back into the circumstances that left our jaws on our respective floors when season one ended in January 2020.

In case you need a refresher (I do suggest fans rewatch at least the season one finale before diving into season two): Serial killer and Leland Townsend’s henchman Orson LeRoux had been cleared of all charges and released back into the world where he promptly began to threaten Kristen Bouchard and her four daughters in increasingly creepy ways. The season-one finale heavily implies that Kristen had enough, went to Orson’s home with an ice ax, and bludgeoned the guy to death. At the very end of that episode, Kristen walks into her bathroom, pulls out a rosary, and the crucifix burns her hand. Now, both we, the audience, and Kristen know that a crucifix burning your skin is a bad sign. Like, one of the worst. To those who believe, it signals that there’s a demon inside you. All of this means that for a year and a half we were left to ponder a truly shocking twist: Could Kristen be possessed?

We’ve yet to fully explore that aspect of Kristen’s current predicament, but the season two premiere gives us a whole lot more info in regards to Kristen’s possible trip to murdertown. The episode shows us that whole crucifix-in-hand sequence again and then goes further: We watch as Kristen efficiently cleans all the blood off of her ice ax and hangs it back up in the closet. The whole thing has a very, “go back to bed girls, mommy has to cover up a murder!” vibe. She does not drink one canned margarita. She does, however, set up a session with beloved king, her therapist Dr. Boggs.

With a smirk on her face and a confirmation about doctor-patient confidentiality, Kristen tells Boggs that she killed Orson. This entire scene is such a great example of Evil at its best. Kristen is laying out how and why she killed Orson (she even made sure Orson’s wife had an alibi that night knowing she’d be the first suspect!!), and although she’s very clear about what she did and not having any regrets, she isn’t exactly matter-of-fact about it — you can see her trying very hard to hold back some, well, excitement. Meanwhile, Boggs is attempting to take in this insane confession and the fact that his patient isn’t exactly processing things in a normal way without his brain melting out of his ears (something that could probably happen on this show). Katja Herbers and Kurt Fuller are so good here, making this scene so incredibly unnerving right under the surface.

Boggs gives Kristen a prescription to help with some psychosomatic symptoms (the burn!) and he warns her that “the body has a tendency to object even when the mind doesn’t.” Later, Ben tests the rosary for Kristen and learns that the cross is made of cobalt, which is a great conductor of heat, so if it was near a curling iron or something it could have become so hot it would burn her. He remains highly suspicious of his friend, though, so watch that space!

We’ve yet to get any real clarification on what’s up with Kristen — and remember, this is the show that had a woman maybe give birth to a goblin in a field and breeze by it, so anything is possible — but we should begin preparing ourselves with whatever self-care coping mechanisms you currently have at your disposal.

There’s much more going on in “N Is for Night Terrors” than dealing with the idea that Kristen Bouchard may or may not have the devil inside her. (This! Show!) There’s work to do! Our little assessor team has been called in by Bishop Marx. David attempts to explain the team’s new theory about what’s going on with their work, Satan-wise. You know, that whole thing about how the devil is trying to corrupt an entire generation by somehow corrupting the eggs at the RSM Fertility Clinic — a theory that is very well supported by many of the events that took place in season one. Marx is pretty much like WTF that seems wild and it is truly staggering to think about what this priest will and won’t believe. Anyway, they are going to keep looking for ways to contact people who have used that clinic (aside from Kristen!!). In the meantime, Marx has a new case for them to look into, handed to them with great interest from the Cardinal.

The Cardinal has become friendly with a new parishioner who’s been donating a lot of money to the church (yes, this tracks). This parishioner, it turns out, sold his soul to the devil when he was a teenager — that’s a diabolical subjugation, if you remember your season one possession lesson — and he’d like one exorcism, please. Marx asks the team to assess and see if he warrants one. Sounds like an easy enough gig, right?

Well, the new parishioner turns out to be Leland Townsend. BECAUSE OF COURSE IT IS. What a delight it is to watch Leland face off against David, Kristen, and Ben; Ben trying to push their buttons and them pushing back. It doesn’t matter that we don’t for one second believe anything Leland is telling them about trading his soul for the devil to kill a bully of a bus driver, or that he has an eight tattooed on his ear to count down how many months he has to get this team to help him expel the devil from his soul. And it doesn’t matter that the team doesn’t for one second buy it either. The setup itself is such a hoot, and the shifting dynamics help make the changes in Kristen all the more obvious. She’s thoroughly enjoying publicly calling Leland out on his bullshit. It is interesting to note how long it takes her to divulge intel she already has on Leland — especially his real name and that he’s engaged to her mother — to the team.

Eventually, the three of them end up at Leland’s apartment, telling him that part of the process is to examine the residence for any demonic infestation before making their assessment. Leland mostly cleans out the place — although he does mess with them a bit by leaving things out like a copy of Joshua Green’s Devil’s Bargain on his nightstand. Two major things happen during this examination: First, they find a copy of the sigil map hidden behind a baseboard with Leland’s notes all over it in various languages — not only is he working with the same info they are, but Kristen now knows for sure that Sheryl was feeding Leland info. The second thing is that Ben gains access to the webcam on Leland’s computer so they can spy on him (Kristen’s idea!).

The assessment doesn’t end there. Kristen needs proof that Leland is just your run-of-the-mill raging psychopath and not a demonic one, so she heads to his office to give him her handy questionnaire of 567 true or false statements. Here Leland reveals what he is truly after: There are two months before David is ordained and Leland wants Kristen, who Leland can tell has let darkness in rather easily, to tempt David away from the priesthood. Kristen scoffs and tells the guys that her assessment of Leland as a psychopath stands. There’s no way they should give Leland exactly what he wants by way of an exorcism; he’s playing them all, including the church. Unfortunately, Bishop Marx doesn’t much care. Kristen calls him out for this all being about money and again, yes.

It doesn’t matter. Marx is going to recommend an exorcism and he wants all three of them there to act as the skeptics in the room. They can see if Leland’s just faking it for themselves. So that should be fun at some point!

Leland’s not done wreaking havoc on their lives. That night, Ben opens up Leland’s spy cam to see what he’s up to and finds Leland sitting right in front of his computer screen. It all seems pretty normal until Ben realizes that Leland is following his movements. Does he know that Ben’s watching?? Leland gets closer and closer to screen and then lets out a maniacal laugh, and aren’t you just so glad this show is finally back?

Church Bulletin

• Ben has other scary things invading his home! Forget George, who spent season one haunting Kristen’s dreams, and say hello to Ben’s night terror demon — I hope her name is Suzanne or something — who is super into nipple play. Ben is understandably shaken up, but hey, Leland did warn him.

• My Lostie heart was filled with joy watching Michael Emerson taunt a character named Ben (also: saying the name Faraday).

• Kristen went to Leland/Jake’s first wife Janie for information again and now poor Janie’s in a coma! Coincidence or demons? The eternal Evil question!

• Honestly how DARE this show try to make us feel bad for dentists. But that’s exactly what happens as Lexis’s bloody teeth saga continues: The kid is basically hemorrhaging blood from her mouth as her insanely sharp incisors (vampire teeth!) start coming in. The dentist knocks her out to perform surgery and pull them out … but an under-anesthesia Lexis straight-up bites that woman’s finger off. Well, almost off. IT’S JUST HANGING THERE!! I am forever changed as a human.

• Kristen started climbing because she had webbed feet as a kid??!!

• David is still trying to force God to talk to him, this time exhaustion and pain do the trick (after a run he puts rubbing alcohol on his stab wound and passes out). He once again has the vision of him in the field with Kristen in a white dress walking toward that Satan beast scything wheat … but this time, Leland pops up for a solo dance party. Weird!

• Only one episode in and we’re already gifted with David Acosta in a turtleneck. What a treat! Remember last season when a character coined the phrase “Fleabagging it” in reference to hooking up with Evil’s resident Hot Priest (in training)? Promise me you’ll never forget it, okay?

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

from Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/article/euphoria-season-two-episode-three-recap-ruminations-big-and-little-bullys.html

Euphoria S2 Ep 3:
Ruminations - Big and Little Bullies

By Iana Murray

Please indulge me in my bitterness about the Cal cold open. A good quarter(!) of the episode is dedicated to his senior year of high school — a bloated flashback that revels in the nostalgia of open-top car rides, skinny-dipping, and first love. This is the year he meets a freewheeling Marsha who teaches him the power of cunnilingus, but it’s also the year he falls for his best friend, Derek. After graduation, the pair sneak off to a gay bar where they share a kiss on the dance floor. But before he can soak in the joy, Marsha tells him she’s pregnant. Just as he gets a taste of the life he could have, his trajectory is irrevocably shifted. But this is the longest backstory yet that devotes far too much time to the idea that teenagers have always had the same hopes and dreams and desires. For better and for worse, Euphoria has always been a show about teenagers today and how modernity is a corrupting force in one’s coming of age. But by observing Cal, there’s something to be said about how adolescence today isn’t wholly unique. Cal and Nate are actually a lot alike as broken men weighed down by what’s expected of them. The only difference is that Cal’s repression has a paper trail while dating apps have given Nate the luxury of staying anonymous.

Cal’s segment is just the latest development to indicate Euphoria has stretched itself so thin that it can’t handle its ensemble anymore. The structure of last season gave Euphoria a sense of focus, allocating a good amount of time to each character’s story. Now that the framework is gone, the show is a meandering mess. While certain characters have taken precedence (Rue, Lexi, and, I hate to say it, Cal), others have had a major downgrade in screen time (Jules, Kat, Maddy). Part of me understands that’s just the ebb and flow of storytelling, that some characters have to be sidelined to let others flourish. But part of me just also really misses Jules, who only functions now as Rue’s girlfriend.

Cautious of Elliot, she questions him about his intentions with Rue but remains evasive when asked about her own relationship. (Rue and Jules running away to have sex afterward feels like retaliation against Elliot’s suggestion that they aren’t affectionate.) Despite the awkwardness, it’s a moment that lays the foundation for this trio’s new friendship. They joke and share secrets, but there’s also the simmering tension with the awareness that they’re all kind of attracted to each other. Knowing Euphoria, it won’t be long before this friendship stops being platonic.

Meanwhile, Lexi has an epiphany after the run-in with Cal at Fez’s work. “Lexi realized there was a reason she never tried to intervene before,” Rue’s voiceover says. “She was an observer; that’s who she was.” So in a meta twist, Lexi storms out of her house onto a film set where she is the multi-hyphenate filmmaker asserting control of her narrative. It’s immediately followed by a mockumentary sequence where Lexi explains the play she’s writing, an autobiographical story following the perpetual outsider living in her sister’s shadow. It’s a ridiculously fun reprieve from her angst, but the issue is … we saw this last week. The scenes are different, but the message is the same: she’s passive and wants to change. It has the vibe of me in college struggling to meet the word count and opening thesaurus.com so I can make the exact same point with more sophisticated synonyms.

Cassie is too occupied with getting Nate to like her to notice Lexi’s play. She starts waking up at 4 a.m. to shower, shave, and gua sha herself to doll-like perfection. But Nate won’t even give her the satisfaction of his gaze, let alone attraction, and the more he ignores her, the more she craves his attention. What was first a careful, intricate routine escalates to pure desperation. In the end, her efforts amount to nothing, as Nate cancels their weekly date to make up with Maddy. Again and again, we see that Cassie simply wants to be loved, but it’s also mildly infuriating that Sam Levinson apparently doesn’t know how to write her if she’s not attached to a man.

This is all to say that “Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys” is indicative of this season’s primary issues that are beginning to surface: the preoccupation with unnecessary details, the stagnant pacing, the imbalance of time spent with each character. But Rue’s scenes are the saving grace of this episode. The callback to the dick-pic lesson from last year is a shameless piece of fan service, but it also has its purpose. For all of its lack of subtlety, the contrast between Rue’s eccentric guide to “getting away with being a drug addict” and how she puts those instructions into practice speaks to how far she’s fallen. In her mind, lying and gaslighting is a kind of well-planned heist, a thrilling ruse made light with a wink to the camera. What we actually see is remorseless manipulation, as Rue tries to hide her relapse from Gia. The cutting back and forth between her imagination and reality highlights what a charismatic but unreliable narrator Rue is.

To make matters worse, Rue decides to get into dealing, concocting a “fucking genius” master plan that involves blackmailing students with dirt from the cloud. She takes her idea to Laurie, and miraculously, she convinces her to lend a suitcase full of opiates. (Martha Kelly’s inscrutable deadpan continues to be a highlight.) After an NA meeting that night, a suspicious Ali questions her, and she destroys their friendship with her casual cruelty. Zendaya and Colman Domingo are at their best since “Trouble Don’t Last Always,” as Rue weaponizes the intimate details they shared last Christmas against him. Played out through Domingo’s expressive countenance, his anger gives way to confusion and unspeakable pain. Ali can threaten with fatherly concern, but it’s Rue’s indifference that stings the most. With Jules still in the dark about the relapse, the only person Rue has now is Elliot. Things can only go terribly wrong from here.

I’m also starting to think Euphoria has no idea what to do with Jules anymore. Let’s just run everything that happened to her last season: She moved to town, had sex with Cal Jacobs, fell in love with a catfish that turned out to be Nate, got blackmailed by Nate, left town for a bit, and broke Rue’s heart. Compare that to what she’s doing now: She made it official with Rue and … she’s conflicted about it. I know, I know, it’s only episode three and there’s plenty more to come, but it’s almost like her story is over. (Note that every major character except Jules and Elliot has had a scene from their perspective.) But there is so much more that can be interrogated. To the show’s credit, Jules’s storyline has never been about her gender identity; it’s merely just one component of it. But the casual reveal that she’s wearing a binder at Elliot’s interrogation is treated as little more than a setup for a punchline. Surely, Jules deserves better than that.


Another Round

• Lexi is out here stressing over how much of a side character she is, meanwhile my man Ethan is getting absolutely ZILCH to do this season. Some crumbs, please, I beg!

• I love the series of dares that Rue, Jules, and Elliot pull off because I don’t think Euphoria has ever been so … childish. This show is so focused on the big ideas that it’s easy to forget these characters are just kids — ones who think it’s hilarious to piss in the middle of the road.

• After the conversation between Cal and Nate about the lost disk, Cal tries to confront Fez again, only to be met by the brutality of Ash and the butt of his shotgun. Very poorly thought-out plans by both Jacobs men. Cal now has a nasty head injury, and Nate has been caught in his lies.

• Kat’s story continues to go in circles, as it considers the idea that she isn’t secure in herself enough to be in a relationship. This week, she meets Ethan’s condescending parents and stumbles when asked to talk about herself. At that age, it’s perfectly okay not to have a firm sense of identity, but for Kat, it’s debilitating — and that feeling is all too relatable.

• With Rue away working on her master plan, Jules and Elliot grow closer, but his open-hearted affection strikes a nerve. “But I’m sure Rue told you all that,” he adds. “You guys are in love, right?” Jules’s silence and dejected look in response say it all.

• The episode’s title, “Ruminations: Big and Little Bullys,” derives from the painting of the same name in which Robert Rauschenberg reflects on his early life. If this is supposed to be a reference to Cal … Rauschenberg, sweetie, I’m so sorry.

What did you miss? For a review of the last episode, click HERE

Dexter S2 Ep 1: It's Alive

from Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It%27s_Alive!_(Dexter)

Plot

Since murdering the Ice Truck Killer five weeks previously, Dexter Morgan has been followed by the suspicious Sgt. James Doakes and thus cannot satisfy his urge to kill. Trying to act "relentlessly normal", he goes bowling almost nightly with his co-workers. Dexter is finally left alone when Doakes gives up and takes a night off; he pursues a blind voodoo priest named Jimmy, but finds himself ultimately unable to kill him. At a crime scene, the victim's mother pleads with Dexter to kill her son's murderer, gang lord "Little Chino". Seeing the woman's young daughter, he is reminded of having witnessed his own mother's brutal death as a child.

After leading Doakes to believe that he is bowling for the night, Dexter brings Chino to Jimmy's killing room. However, Chino wakes up in the middle of Dexter's procedure and manages to escape. Meanwhile, Dexter's sister Debra exercises incessantly and is barely able to sleep as she struggles with memories of her ex-fiancé, Brian Moser, trying to kill her. When she returns to work, Sgt. María LaGuerta expresses concern about her emotional stability. However, Debra is determined to resume her life. When she takes Dexter's girlfriend Rita out to a bar, a man recognizes Debra as the fiancé of the Ice Truck Killer. She instinctively punches him when he touches her shoulder, certain that he was trying to grab her.

Rita takes her children Astor and Cody to see the imprisoned Paul, who continues to insist that he was framed by Dexter and that his missing shoe would prove his innocence. Rita tells him that there is no shoe, despite having found it over a month ago. She later admits that she found the shoe, but refuses to acknowledge that Dexter is involved. That night, she receives a call from the prison and learns that Paul has been killed by another inmate. Flashbacks show the attempts of a teenaged Dexter to feel his heartbeat. In the present, Dexter and Debra watch a news report showing a team of scuba divers recovering thirty garbage bags from Biscayne Bay, each containing parts of Dexter's mutilated victims. As he watches, his heart races.

Production

The first season of Dexter followed the same storyline of Jeff Lindsay's novel Darkly Dreaming Dexter, the first in the series of novels on which the television show is based, albeit with many additional elements and altered characters. When writing the second season, Daniel Cerone said that the writers "didn't see the opportunity in the second book" to continue on the path that they hoped to go down and chose to depart from Lindsay's second Dexter novel, Dearly Devoted Dexter. Instead, they chose "to turn our biggest card up - "What if Dexter's bodies were discovered?" - and just chart that course throughout the season." According to executive producer Clyde Phillips, they decided to resume the second season storyline five weeks after season one's finale "so all of the emotional resonance of what each [character] went through will continue as if that were the actual passage of time, so they're still dented and rocked by what has happened." Cerone added that "The nice thing with Dexter is it's actually the lack of emotional resonance." Speaking about Dexter's situation at the beginning of the second season, Hall said, "I think his world is pretty rocked. He encountered [his brother], a person he never anticipated encountering, someone who sees him for who he is, accepts him as such, and he really has no choice but to do him in ... he's still reeling from that, and any footing he's able to establish for himself is pretty much immediately pulled out from under him."

With filming beginning on May 21, 2007, "It's Alive!" marked the permanent relocation of production from Miami to Los Angeles. Five episodes of the first season were shot on location in Miami, which Cerone said was "a bigger hassle than it was worth". Showtime programming chief Robert Greenblatt said that "It just became impossible, production-wise, to shoot the whole show [in Miami]",[6] because of the overlap between Dexter's production window and Florida's hurricane season, making property insurance costly. A small crew flew to Miami with Hall and filmed, according to producer Sara Colleton, "a lot of pieces—not just Dexter walking in and out of his door or car, but also scenes that we know we'll need and can use", which the writers then worked into the episode and others. For the episode, Biscayne Bay was substituted with a set in Los Angeles, while most on location scenes were filmed in and around San Pedro and Long Beach, California.

Reception

"It's Alive!" brought in 1.09 million viewers in the United States, making Dexter the first Showtime series to attract over a million viewers with a season premiere, while an additional 414,000 people watched the late-night encore. The ratings were 67 percent higher than the series pilot and 40 percent above the first season's average. The episode attracted 471,000 Australian viewers on its first free-to-air broadcast. In the United Kingdom, the episode drew 348,000 viewers, an increase of 50,000 from the pilot. Production sound mixer Patrick Hanson and re-recording sound mixers Elmo Ponsdomenech and Joe Earle, received a Creative Arts Primetime Emmy Award nomination, in the category Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (One-Hour), but lost to the sound mixers of the Lost episode "Meet Kevin Johnson". Stewart Schill, the editor of "It's Alive!", received an Eddie Award nomination for Best Edited One-Hour Series for Non-Commercial Television. However, the eventual recipient of the award was Sidney Wolinsky, for The Sopranos.

The episode was positively received. Writing for Variety, Brian Lowry called the second season's opening "a bloody winner" and said that Hall's performance "remains a towering achievement". IGN's Eric Goldman thought that the episode's biggest problem was "having to follow up such a great first season", but called "It's Alive!" "a solid episode". He praised Dexter's flashbacks and Dexter and Debra's storylines, though he said that Doakes' following Dexter was "ridiculous" and that LaGuerta's overhearing Lt. Esmee Pascal's private conversation was "a bit contrived". Keith McDuffee of TV Squad "love[d] the flashbacks to a young Dexter and living Harry". Regarding the episode's end, he wrote that "just as Dexter's heart beats out of his chest, as does ours." Paula Paige, writing for TV Guide, said that the episode "made for some exciting, heart-pounding fear" and called the discovery of Dexter's corpses "a fantastic storyline". She commended Benz for "develop[ing] her character, Rita, into a person instead of just the shell of one she appeared to be".Blogcritics' Ray Ellis commented, "If ['It's Alive!'] is any indication, Dexter's second season looks to delve deeper into the psyches of its characters. It certainly sets up a number of plot complexities and new devices that offer a myriad of new developments." The A.V. Club critic Scott Tobias stated that "the writers have done a solid job setting the table for season two".