Ozark S3 Ep 5

from Vulture.com

https://www.vulture.com/2020/03/ozark-recap-season-3-episode-5-it-came-from-michoacn.html

Ozark Recap: A Very Responsible Citizen
By Brian Tallerico

Photo: Steve Deitl/Netflix

“It wasn’t what I thought it would be and I wasn’t who I thought I would be.” —Marty Byrde

With very few exceptions, Ozark has been a show about a man playing it safe in a dangerous world. Even Marty himself admits that he’s been scared for years, and now he’s … not. He survived what he thought would be the end of his life — the day that the leader of the drug cartel that employs him took him prisoner. Now that he’s home, he’s become almost like Jeff Bridges’s character in Fearless, unable to see real danger because he survived that which he thought would kill him. As Ben Davis says, “He’s vibratin’.”

What does this mean for the arc of the overall show and the dynamic between the Byrdes? While Wendy certainly wanted a less risk-averse husband who didn’t destroy her plans, this alternative may not be better. At least the old Marty was predictable. This one could be dangerous. And the fact is that Wendy used to be in charge and in control — a headstrong Marty doesn’t necessarily help her need to be the one at the top of the ladder. It feels like he’ll be by her side at things like the horse farm deal and court hearing, but he’s quickly onto the next thing, not lingering in the moment long enough for Wendy to catch up.

The fifth episode of the third season opens with Agent Maya Miller convincing her superiors to pull Marty out of the cartel operation and turn him. She’s the first to speak the main theme of the episode: “We don’t know who came back from Mexico.”

Marty thinks he knows: The Beast Slayer came back. He confidently tells Ruth not to let Frank Jr. loan shark through the casino, which leads to a simmering turf war between the two. For now, it’s just an annoying kidnapping of Ruth and bird shit on Frank’s car, but these two are stretching the limits of the term “untouchable.”

Now that he’s not beating up her husband, Omar Navarro can communicate with Wendy again. At first, he sounds downright encouraging, telling her to expand the empire and buy a horse farm in Kentucky. This afternoon. She asks the tough question as to why Navarro let Marty go, and is surprised to hear that the drug kingpin thinks Wendy’s meek husband is a lot like him. He wants to win.

The tougher Marty Byrde pressures Sue the therapist to get Wendy to commit in session to hire Maya before playing a few mind games with the federal agent himself. Where are we going with Maya Miller? Wendy digs up some dirt on the agent that she thinks will convince Marty to let his plan to turn her go. It has the opposite effect, as Marty offers up a scumbag on a silver platter, basically telling Miller that he can help her defeat crimes if she looks the other way while he commits crimes. She doesn’t take the bait.

Meanwhile, Charlotte Byrde is nervous about how close Erin Pierce is getting to the truth about her mother and the Byrde empire. It’s a really difficult position in which to put Charlotte, especially as Erin gets closer to one of the casino lackeys, a young guy named Tommy (Tyler Chase) who also works for Frank Cosgrove. He could easily spill everything about the casino. He even knows who Helen is. This is dangerous for everyone involved.

And now we need to talk about the least effective and craziest subplot of the year so far: the love affair between Darlene Snell and Wyatt Langmore. In this episode, Wyatt lies about the altercation between Darlene and Wendy so they can keep custody of Zeke. Later that night, he has sex with Darlene. If anyone thought this was a mother-son dynamic, think again. Why is Wyatt attracted to Darlene? Is it just because she treats him with respect? Is she the first person to not paint him with the Langmore curse? And why would Darlene be attracted to Wyatt? It feels more manipulative from her end — then again, most of her activity has an ulterior motive. Darlene and Wyatt reopening the farm drug trade can only lead to problems, but the writers need to figure out a way to weave it more organically into the rest of the season soon. For now, it feels like an inconsistent subplot. Although Darlene’s key line to Wyatt does feel thematically akin to what Marty is going through now: “There’s pain that uses you, and there’s pain that you use.” Marty feels like he’s using his pain.

As all of this is going down, Wendy learns a harsh lesson at the Kentucky horse farm. Men with guns show up in the middle of the day and castrate the stud horse there, much to the owner’s dismay. It turns out the horse was owned by Navarro’s nemesis in the cartel drug war. Wendy calls Navarro, furious that he ruined what she thought was a legit business venture. She learns quickly that she has no say in the matter. She thought she was a partner, a general in the war, but she is a soldier. And she will do what Navarro tells her to do. As Marty leaves Maya Miller’s hotel room, Wendy could be the one stuck with no allegiance and no friends right now. A lone wolf Wendy Byrde is a dangerous thing.

Dirty Laundry

• Charlotte’s little smile after she tells dummy Tommy “you thought wrong” is amazing. She loves playing tough guy, and you can see her mother’s fearlessness in her.

• There are a few great cuts in this episode. “She’s got no fucking idea how scary her mom can be,” says Charlotte about Helen, and then cut to Wendy putting on makeup, almost as if she knows the line applies to their dynamic too.

• Before that, there’s a fun cut from Erin asking if the dude bro brought beer to the horse farmer talking about how “every stud has needs.”

• Wouldn’t Navarro bug the casino? It feels like he’d at least place one in Marty’s office after the latest debacle, right? Or are they worried Miller would sweep for them? Still, it feels like Navarro would put more surveillance on this entire situation. Maybe soon.

• Ruth and Ben are an increasingly cute couple. Why am I starting to worry about Ben in the way I worried about Andy on The Outsider?

Action Comics #1001-1006: The Invisible Mafia

THE INVISIBLE MAFIA

Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Penciled by Patrick Gleason
Published Jul 2018-Jan 2019


   So like I just kind of reiterated, DC Universe struck - and I listened. I always said that I'd make it back to this publisher, because again like I already mentioned they're the best selling books for a reason. I've never been short of praise for Brian Michael Bendis, whom I honestly believe got me back into comics firmly when I thumbed through a few issues of X-Men he wrote ages ago. Him defecting to DC meant that it was only a matter of time before I'd be back.
   In this series, Superman is reeling with the fact Lois and Jon have been off world being trained by Kal-El and what's left of Krytpon. But Clark's wife is back and is secretly running around undercover. Also, there's a scary red cloud that's flying around and killing mobsters coupled with a new suspicious reporter named Robinson Goode... COULD THERE BE A CONNECTION?!?! HMMM...
   Just more amazing stories from the master BMB. I've missed his writing, and I'm stoked I get a chance to flip through his awesome pages again. I give this one a 9/10.

Batman #51-53: Cold Days

COLD DAYS

Written by Tom King
Penciled by Lee Weeks and Tony S Daniel
Published Jul-Aug 2018

   So with the advent of DC Universe, I realized that they're really doing kind of a Marvel Unlimited vibe which finally allows me to read more of these books. Honestly, I never wanted to "quit" Tom King - because he's such an incredible writer. Honestly between him and Brian Michael Bendis, it's got to be the reason these books manage to stay at the top of the charts. Like seriously... Find me a month on ComicChron that a Batman book wasn't literally at the top of the list.
   In this arc, we see Batman struggling in his post-Selena breakup depression. Somehow he managed to fake jury duty to acquit Mr. Freeze. Because why not? What else is he gonna do? Over all though, this was a pretty decent story - and further cements how much I missed Tom King's incredible story telling. I give this one a 9/10.

The Wire S5 Ep 8: Clarification

from Slant Magazine

https://www.slantmagazine.com/tv/the-wire-mondays-season-5-ep-8-clarifications/

The Wire Recap: Season 5, Episode 8, “Clarifications”


February 25, 2008


By Andrew Johnston
Photo: HBO



“It ain’t a side of a story, it’s just a lie”—Terry

In “Clarifications”, one of the most seismic events of The Wire’s entire run—you know what I’m talking about—is treated surprisingly casually and accorded less build-up than the deaths of a zillion other characters over the years. Perhaps more than any other incident this season, the death of Omar calls attention to the delicate balancing act David Simon has assigned himself.


Other HBO series that have been allowed to run their full course—Six Feet Under and The Sopranos—also generally featured season-long story arcs, but theirs were customarily looser than those on The Wire, making it easier for creators to provide closure on several seasons of continuity while simultaneously wrapping up the business at hand. The extent to which the fake serial killer plot has polarized The Wire’s fan base suggests that even if Simon has a satisfying ending to the current story up his sleeve, some fans will complain that he didn’t pay enough attention to resolving the big picture. On the other hand, if the final two episodes dwell heavily on tying up loose ends and escorting characters to their final fates while ending the current story arc in a somewhat perfunctory manner, half the audience could walk away feeling as if they’d spent a whole season having their chains jerked.


When commentators compared The Wire to fiction, they often pick the sprawling, society-spanning novels of Charles Dickens and Anthony Trollope as their reference points. But the technique of giving each season its own theme has a more immediate antecedent, series crime fiction, and it may be useful to look at The Wire through that lens. The shift in tone between Season Five and its predecessors has attracted a lot of criticism, but such shifts are fairly common between volumes of, say, Ed McBain’s 87th Precinct mysteries (where the vibe could be more serious or less depending on which regular cast served as a given book’s protagonist) or George Pelecanos’ Dimitri Karras/Marcus Clay novels, where the atmosphere fluctuated depending on the year the novel was set and how old the characters were at the time (this is also the case with Walter Moseley’s Easy Rawlins mysteries). Of course, none of the above examples have as much inter-series continuity as The Wire. Simon may not be venturing into unexplored territory as The Wire closes, but he is trying to do the sort of alpha/omega reconciliation that can make or break the reputation of a writer—or a series.


“Clarifications” is concerned first and foremost with resolving the story at hand, and at that level it’s surely one of the season’s best episodes. But there are also lots of character florishes that subtly point toward the series’s ultimate resolution, making it an episode worth reappraising after we see how everything finally plays out.

Despite the earnest intentions behind McNulty’s scam, he’s often appeared to be having the time of his life as he manufactures evidence and dupes his bosses. This week, however, the chickens come home to roost. So far, we’ve mostly seen him dealing with peers and subordinates during his investigation, never having to deal with anyone who ranks higher than Jay Landsman, who has never seemed terribly concerned with the particulars of murders as long as the clearance rate is high enough to keep him out of trouble. As the episode begins, McNulty is being grilled by the full departmental brass, including Rawls and Daniels, and it’s soon clear the heat may be more than he can take. “I’m all for a little kinky shit every now and then…”, says Rawls, whose colleagues might not laugh so hard at the wisecrack if they knew of the bars he frequents. Rawls is an asshole no matter how you slice it, but the scene also reminds us that he’s a damn good cop and, potentially, a more effective commissioner than Daniels might be. Baltimore’s black power brokers would balk at a white commissioner, we’ve been told more than once, but incumbency is a strong weapon, and I wouldn’t be surprised to see him hold onto the job as the series ends—though of course it all depends on how and when he learns the truth about McNulty, and what he chooses to do about it.


The frustration that Dukie displayed when asking Cutty how to escape his situation has solidified into rigid determination, as we learn when we see him doggedly looking for work. Dukie’s visit to a sneaker store leads to the return of a familiar face: Bodie’s old running mate Poot, who claims to have gone straight because he just got tired of life on the corners (he conveniently neglects to mention that he’s done time in Jessup since his last appearance). Poot says he’d like to help Dukie but couldn’t hire him even if there was an opening because he’s just too young for the job, then hilariously suggests that Dukie resume slinging rock until he’s old enough for legit employment. That might deter a lesser kid, but Dukie keeps forging on until he gets what could be the lowest-level gig in town, helping an old-school junkman who collects scrap metal in a horse-drawn cart. As we saw with the end of Season Three and with Namond’s fate at the end of Season Four, Simon isn’t above handing out happy endings when he feels like it, and I sure as heck hope Dukie survives Episode 60 with his dignity intact—if not, his perseverance could end up seeming an exercise in audience manipulation rather than an example of a determination we would all do well to emulate.

It’s been fascinating to see (and attempt to predict) how various characters respond to McNulty’s ruse when they learn the truth about it. I was sure he was going to spill the beans to Carver when he approaches him at the Western for help getting the manpower Lester needs to go after Marlo. Certainly, Carver is among those I’d expect to react the most negatively to the hoax. If the ruse ends the careers of McNulty, Freamon and others (as seems very likely), at least there’s a competent crop of successors waiting in the wings. We’ve already seen Carver display strong leadership this season, but it was a treat to see Syndor in action as a field general. He’s clearly turning into the cop that Lester could have been if he hadn’t been exiled to the pawn show division for all those years. In any event, given the well-documented parallels between Kima and McNulty, I didn’t expect her to react quite so vehemently to the truth, though I suppose her famous diligence should have tipped me off. Lester’s indulgence counts for a lot, but with Bunk, Kima and Beadie all lined up against him, I wouldn’t be at all surprised to see McNulty pull the plug on his scam early in the next episode and then spend the remainder of the series trying to get the genie back in the bottle.


Tommy Carcetti is usually portrayed as a pretty sharp guy, but it was colossally stupid of him to only visit white politicians in Prince George’s County, and even dumber of Norman Wilson to have let him do so: According to Wikipedia, the population of PG County was 62.7% African-American as of 2005, and with a percentage like that you can be sure that black folks have been the dominant ethnic group there for many years now. It’s a mistake that would have been inconceivable in real life but which makes sense as a plot device to force Carcetti into bed with Clay Davis and Nerese Campbell. The payoff is one of my favorite Wire moments ever: Carcetti telling Davis, “It scares me to think what damage you could do with two votes on the liquor board.” Davis laughs his ass off in response, but the mayor obviously wasn’t kidding.

I’m going to skip over the issue of the intriguing scene in which Lester Freamon blackmails Davis—as well as, basically, everything that goes down at the Sun—because so much of it is setup for the last two episodes and is relatively hard to evaluate independently. This leaves us, of course, with the most discussion-worthy element of the episode, the death of Omar Little. There are many thematic ways to interpret his unglamorous death, including the possibility that it’s a critique, a la David Chase, of audience bloodlust. I don’t think that’s the case: For all its grit, The Wire has always been much more inclined than The Sopranos to give viewers what they want. As noted in this comments thread, his death evokes the killings of Jesse James and “Wild” Bill Hickok in ways that speak to the underlying nature of the entire series.


At first, I was a little annoyed that Omar’s death slipped through the cracks at the Sun in the same way that the killings of Prop Joe and Hungry Man did—yeah, I thought, we get it, the point’s been made: the folks at the Sun, even Gus, have no clue what’s really happening in Baltimore. Upon further reflection, this made me realize something interesting: Simon admirably resisted the temptation to add a stand-in for himself to the fictional Sun staff—if he had, there would have been a reporter who knew full well what Omar’s death meant (in the behind-the-scenes book The Wire: Truth Be Told, Simon described the struggle he experienced when he fought his bosses—successfully—to be allowed to publish an obituary for the real-life Bubbles). The episode ends with a curious scene in which the medical examiner switches the tag on Omar’s body with that of another corpse (which sort of looks like it could be the body of prosecutor Gary DiPasquale). The scene plays as if the ME isn’t quite sure that the body is Omar’s and is trying to verify his ID somehow; as I pointed out in a comment predating this recap, the tag clearly gives Omar’s age as 47, a flat-out impossibility that contradicts the statement earlier in the episode that he’s supposed to be 34. It could just have been a production goof (one exacerbated by how long the director let the shot linger), but I couldn’t help thinking about what deeper meaning there could be to the authorities having contradictory info about Omar on file.

The first thing that came to mind is the possibility that the contradiction is supposed to indicate Omar’s metamorphosis from a man into a legend, a transformation made obvious long ago when we saw kids arguing for the right to “be” him in their game of cops and robbers (or vigilantes and dealers, rather). We haven’t seen much evidence yet of Prop Joe undergoing a similar transformation, but it’s not hard to see it happening if Marlo’s business strategies inspire nostalgia for a more peaceful time. Over the course of The Wire’s run, as we’ve seen the destructive effects of “progress” on the urban middle class in all manner of ways, the series has been described by many as a eulogy for a dying way of life.

But what Simon could be doing—which sounds very similar but isn’t quite the same thing—is illustrating the process by which the present becomes history and history becomes myth. Much as the culture of the camp on Deadwood is so different from our own as to make that series sometimes seem like it took place on another planet rather than merely in another time period, the Baltimore of 2002-08 is going to seem so different to the Marylanders of 2064 as to appear legitimately alien. Calling The Wire an elegy implies that the passage of everything it depicts is worthy of mourning, and that’s clearly not the case. Simon’s brand of storytelling is so close up that this might take a few years to become apparent, but The Wire just might be the equivalent of a series that, by focusing on forgotten people and mundane events, illustrates how the decadent prerevolutionary French state began turning into the unrecognizable industrial nation that it had become by the end of the 20th century.

For more recaps of The Wire, click here.


This article was originally published on The House Next Door

Peaky Blinders S5 Ep 6

from NME.com

https://www.nme.com/blogs/peaky-blinders-s05e06-michael-finale-ending-recap-tommy-alfie-solomons-tom-hardy-bbc-one-2550357

Peaky Blinders season 5 episode 6 finale review: Tommy finds ‘the man he can’t defeat’ – Himself

ByChristopher Hooton
22nd September 2019

Cillian Murphy in 'Peaky Blinders' as Tommy Shelby (CREDIT: BBC)


A reinvigorated Peaky Blinders capped off its fifth season in style tonight, with a tense and eventful finale that teed up what will probably be the show’s biggest and final rivalry.

WARNING: includes spoilers…

We opened amid Tommy’s latest visit to the office of Winston Churchill. The Prime Minister is about the only man without a Shelby surname that Tommy seems to respect, and though used sparingly has served as a guiding force for our protagonist. This was especially true tonight, Churchill giving Tommy his blessing in attempting to take down Oswald Mosley and affirming what Tommy suspected: that he’s actually trying to do a good thing here.
READ MORE: What to expect from Peaky Blinders season 5, according to the stars and crew

Mosley and his affiliated gangs have represented the most overt danger to Tommy this season, but it was revealed in the finale that an existential threat has secretly been growing in his own family. It’s a testament to how commanding Cillian Murphy has been in the role of Thomas Shelby MP that I’d never really considered the possibility of a fellow gang member coming for his crown, even though this is a pretty classic mob drama storyline. Michael made his pitch to take over the family business tonight however, which went down about as well as a virgin mojito in the Garrison.

To be fair to Michael, his plan to provide the Peaky Blinders’ long-serving members with a comfortable retirement was pretty altruistic and fair. He was sorely lacking on the PR front however, and he should have known that the idea of Tommy taking the name of a dead man (‘Mr Jones’, the episode’s title) and rubbing out his legacy would have infuriated the elder Shelby. How did Michael go from just-happy-to-be-here new joiner to would-be usurper? It’s a shame we didn’t get to see how America changed him, and I’d love to see this slowly revealed through flashbacks in the final seasons. With his plan for a non-aggressive takeover quite literally going up in flames, Michael decided to engage the secret “second option” – we’ll get to that later.

The return of Alfie Solomons was the big moment tonight, found haggard and scarred but still very much alive by Tommy in a parlour room in Margate. TV shows just can’t resist bringing folks back from the ‘dead’ lately, and while Alfie’s return did feel a little like fan service, his scene in the finale was irresistible and beautifully written, accompanied by trademark anachronistic music that was actually piped into the room through a gramophone, a very cool touch.Cillian Murphy (Tommy Shelby) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One)

Alfie’s even more powerful since being ‘resurrected’ apparently, with a statue of him being erected back in the motherland. “I am planning on making a pilgrimage to stand in my own shadow,” he charismatically informed Tommy. In a scene that saw (the actually thoroughly lovely) Margate totally roasted, Alfie seemed to support Tommy’s efforts to decapitate British fascism, and I think we can expect to see him back more fully in season 6.
READ MORE: Peaky Blinders season 6 – everything we know so far

Elsewhere in the episode, Polly resigned instead of taking sides in Tommy and Michael’s impending war, Charlie quite irresponsibly informed Tommy of the history of suicide in Tommy’s family, and the Garrison’s double-crossing bartender was outed, his brains making a mess of the pub’s ceiling.

The attempted assassination of Oswald Mosley at one of his rallies was the centrepiece of the episode, soundtracked by the band Idles who are just a perfect fit for Peaky Blinders and especially this anti-fascist storyline. Sam Claflin has portrayed Mosley brilliantly this season, really nailing that corners of the mouth downturned, wireless radio-style posh British accent, and coming across very menacing even though he’s not directly inflicted any violence.

Tommy’s hit might well have been a success – altering the course of history – had Finn not screwed things up, letting slip about the assassination plot to match-fixer Billy who promptly phoned it in (to the Irish? Dark parts of the government? That remains to be seen). The Peaky Blinders were foiled at the eleventh hour by mysterious forces at the rally, sniper Barney (who was played fleetingly but wonderfully by Cosmo Jarvis this season) being shot in the back of the head and Aberama Gold getting stabbed to death in the wings.Finn Cole (Michael Gray) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 06

This final sequence was sharply edited and provided an edge of your seat ending to the season, though the aftermath felt a little hurried and probably should have been cut or else extended. We very briefly saw Tommy back at his manor trying to figure out what exactly went down at the rally, before marching into his misty grounds with a gun to his temple in a cliffhanger of a cut-to-black.

Tommy’s inability to put himself out of his own misery has been a through line this season, even being referenced by fellow soldier Churchill tonight. Tommy told Alfie that he’ll keep going “until he finds a man he can’t defeat”, and that man is proving to be Tommy Shelby himself. He has so far managed to put an end to anyone causing him or his loved ones pain, but not the man responsible for the most hurt.Sam Claflin (Oswald Mosley) in ‘Peaky Blinders’ | Series Five (BBC One) | Episode 06

Will Tommy ever escape his demons, or is he fated to remain in a living hell, one that will eventually include a second world war? This may be the key question as Peaky Blinders starts to wrap up, but first there’s the matter of Michael, who may well have been involved in the foiling of the Mosley assassination. Michael would seem an easy fly for Tommy to swat right now, but a lot can change in the years between seasons, and the millions Michael is dangling will bring him considerable sway.

A strong finale to a strong season of Peaky Blinders, which wisely introduced politics without getting too political, and served up a more layered, enthralling story than we’ve previously seen.

Doom Patrol S1 Ep 4: Cult Patrol

from Den Of Geek:

https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/doom-patrol-episode-4-review-cult-patrol/

Doom Patrol Episode 4 Review: Cult Patrol

Doom Patrol encounters the Cult of the Unfinished Book and needs a not-so-helpful magician to prevent the apocalypse.

By Aaron Sagers|

March 8, 2019|

This Doom Patrol review contains spoilers.
Doom Patrol Episode 4

The world of magic is introduced to Doom Patrol this week with a fourth episode that, while good, is a frustrating detour from the main mission of finding the Chief, and stopping Mr. Nobody. But, as far a two-episode side adventure goes, “Cult Patrol” succeeds largely due to the arrival of Mark Sheppard as Nonstantine chaos magician Willoughby Kipling, a character straight from the comic books.

Sheppard is the kind of actor who automatically injects any show he’s on with energy, and mischief, and Kipling is one those roles he seems born to play (and reunites him with Supernatural producer Jeremy Carver).

The heavy drinking sorcerer who is “very big in the world of international strangeness” was a creation of Grant Morrison for the Doom Patrol comics when he wasn’t granted permission to use John Constantine. That move works for the show because now Doom Patrol can utilize the talents of Mr. Sheppard without complicating matters by bringing in Constantine, who is currently in use over on Legends of Tomorrow (though I would love to see Matt Ryan’s John, and Sheppard’s Willoughby meet).

Bringing magic into the mix on Doom Patrol is not especially odd, either, considering the kind of Kipling trades in. A melodic blue horse/unicorn/demon Baphomet, and spells involving rosary beads and hot sauce, or backwards Beatles lyrics, fit within the weird world of DP. Plus, the minions of the Cult of the Unwritten Book (Dry Bachelors, The Hoodmen, Little Sisters of Our Lady of the Razor were just three we met) are a fun threat for the team to fight against.

I was surprised by the legit superhero moments in the episode where Cyborg reveals his sonic cannon – which was a solid visual effect – and Kipling pulled out a flaming sword as they pit magic vs. science against the hordes. Similarly, Rita has her own hero moment in a brief, but thrilling act of stopping Kipling from killing Elliot.

But just because we’re getting super powered action, the show continues to balance character development, and emotional subplots. The mystery deepens about the nature of Larry’s negative entity, and the lack of control he has over it. And I find his to be the most compelling character journey, especially compared to Cyborg who is beginning to come off more and more as an arrogant jerk.

The Rita/Cyborg stuff, with him constantly reminding her he knows where she stands, gets old fast. I don’t think the show has done enough with Rita yet, and it was refreshing to have her console the boy about the “beautiful, horrible” world. It isn’t that she needs to embrace being a hero, but, as good as April Bowlby is at talking to herself in scenes, I want her in on the action more.


This speaks to a growing concern I have about the series. While it makes sense to split the team up to deal with various threats, the pattern of separating Cliff and Jane prevents them from bouncing off other characters. It is a treat to see more Brendan Fraser this week, however, as he is forced to confront his perceptions of himself (and Jane).

It would also appear the show is going there with Jane’s origin, by introducing us to her core persona Kay. It will be interesting to see how this show handles the topic of sexual abuse. And while Hammerhead is the defense mechanism in the church, or to waking up in Cliff’s arms, I hope Jane comes back soon. And hope they both escape Nurnheim soon, because, well, “Nurnheim sucks.”

After last week’s compelling “Puppet Patrol,” that at least involved the mystery of where the Chief had gone, this episode is an entire departure. And the absence of Timothy Dalton and Alan Tudyk (and Tudyk’s meta narration) is felt. It would be disappointing if Doom Patrol experiences the same weakness as Titans of frequently breaking from the main plot, even though it does so with solid episodes.


As much as I enjoyed Kipling’s debut on Doom Patrol (and love Mark Sheppard in the role), “Cult Patrol” ends with a frustrating cliffhanger. The Decreator seems like too big of a threat to introduce four episodes in on this series when there has been very little progress made about the main mystery.

Keep up with all our Doom Patrol news and reviews here.

Black Monday S1 Ep 6: 122

from Vibe.com

https://www.vibe.com/index.php/2019/03/black-monday-episode-6-122-recap

Erin Simkin/SHOWTIME

'Black Monday' Puts Self-Identity Against The Truth: Episode 6 Recap

March 5, 2019 - 11:59 pm by Keith Nelson Jr.

Blair and Keith question their sexual identity while Mo puts on an engagement party for Blair and Tiffany, putting a number of relationships in jeopardy.

On Black Monday, identity can either make or break you. In order to mask his homosexuality in Jammer Group's aggressively heterosexual environment, Keith buys his colleagues prostitutes and refers to Dawn as “Rodney Dangertits.” On this week’s episode, Black Monday plays with the sexual identity of two of its main characters: Keith and Blair.

Blair’s sexuality appeared to be clearly heterosexual in this season's first five episodes. But, at the end of episode “243” and much to his bemusement, Keith confronted Blair about accusing him of being gay and how interesting it is given it came from Blair. In this week’s episode, Blair uses his relationship with Tiffany to prove to Keith that he’s not gay and has another climactic kiss, further complicating his sexual identity. But, the handling of Keith’s own sexual confusion was handled a bit oddly by the show’s writers.

Episode “122” takes place 121 days after last week’s episode when the first intimation of Blair’s homosexuality was made, and even that was vaguely memorable. Yet, in the first five minutes of this week’s episode, Blair’s already  willing to change his favorite color from pink to “gunmetal grey or camo” and gets flustered when Tiffany mispronunciation of Uruguay sounds like “you’re a gay.” Perhaps the Black Monday writers wanted to show how the seed of doubt Keith planted in Blair’s head grew into a full-fledged paranoia over the last four months. While that would be a rather clever use of the time jump between episodes, this felt a bit more contrived.

The best message on identity from this episode actually involves a toupée and vomit. In the episode, Keith is reluctant to go to a predominantly gay aftershow party with his boyfriend in fear of being seen by people that may know him. Keith is willing to make himself violently sick to the point of projectile vomiting in order for him to skip his family trip and see his boyfriend’s show; He can’t simply go to the party. When he finally arrives at the party near the end of the episode, he’s no longer donning his signature toupée and decides to pierce his ears to fit in. Doing this allowed him to not only be less recognizable but also freer; a very profound take on identity.

Unfortunately, it’s this newfound sexual freedom that could cost him his legal freedom as more people know his secrets.

Erin Simkin/SHOWTIME

The Language of Secrets

Whether it’s Dawn’s husband secretly poking holes in condoms after voicing his desire to have a child in previous episodes or Blair questioning his relationship with Tiffany after his kiss with Dawn in the past, Black Monday characters in this episode wear their secrets on their skin. The escort Mo brought as his date to Tiffany and Blair’s engagement party knows Tiffany’s father’s name even though they presumably just met.
Black Monday used the language of secrets in previous episodes.

In episode “364” Keith’s former colleague Ty told Blair that Keith quit because he sucked, which made Keith visibly uncomfortable. Later in the episode, Ty told Blair he was talking about Keith quitting due to Ty finding him performing oral sex on another man. Secrets being such a foundation of the Black Monday world means the writers can give seemingly unimportant characters with wild connections to the main cast of characters.

But, the fun in Black Monday starts and ends with its leading man, Mo.

Erin Simkin/SHOWTIME

The Stench of Mo

The 1987 Wall Street crash gives the show its purpose, but Mo is Black Monday. His vulgarities and amorality permeate almost every character on the show. This episode was a 29-minute example of the good and bad of having Mo’s stench on you. Dawn rationalizes not having sex with her husband without a condom by stating “I bought a bunch of Trojan stock, so I’d kind of be working against myself.” This mirrors Mo’s joke in episode “364” about keeping stocks in condoms even as former First Lady Nancy Regan downplayed the AIDS epidemic as he knew AIDS was going to be around for a while. These little Easter eggs are what keeps the Black Monday universe believable.

Mo’s stench can also linger in the funniest ways. The episode starts with Jammer Group traders Yassir X (Yassir Lester) and Wayne waking up in a hotel room to a dead body after a wild night of drug binging. At the end of the episode,  the pair find out it was all a prank schemed by Mo. Yes, Mo waited nearly six months since Wayne’s LaGuardia Spread risk in episode “295” to execute a complex and dangerous revenge plan, which didn’t take into account factors he couldn’t control like Wayne pointing a gun to his head and pulling the trigger to avoid his arrest. But, for a guy like Mo who lives in a God complex, this makes more sense than it should any regular human being.

We’ll have to wait until next week’s episode to see if Mo’s stench wears off on Dawn or suffocate the last bits of their relationship’s life.