The Witcher S2 Ep 4: Redanian Intelligence

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The Witcher S2 Ep 4: Redanian Intelligence

from PC Gamer: https://www.pcgamer.com/the-witcher-season-2-episode-4-recap/
The Witcher season 2, episode 4 recap: Burn, Butcher, Burn


By Lauren Aitken published December 17, 2021

We've reached the halfway point with this episode, Redanian Intelligence, and we finally get to meet spymaster extraordinaire, Sigmund Dijkstra. He pays King Vizimir a visit in Redania, murdering the two advisors present. We also get to see the world through the eyes of an owl—as a Witcher aficionado, I'll bet my December wage that this is Phillipa Eilheart. The violence against elves escalates in this episode despite them finding refuge under Fringilla and Francesca in Cintra, and we meet the mysterious Sandpiper who is smuggling elves to safety from Oxenfurt to Cintra.

Triss and Ciri finally meet this episode as Vesemir calls for her to join them at Kaer Morhen. He reckons that Triss can guide Ciri in the use of her powers better than any stodgy old Witchers can, as well as make sure her needs are being met. Spoiler alert: constantly badgering a teenage girl isn't the best way to get her onside. Triss attempts to rekindle some romance with Geralt but is promptly shot down—Team Yen strikes again!—but it's clear that a strong friendship exists between the two.

Meanwhile, Geralt discovers that both Eskel and the Leshy contained stellacite, a material found in ancient monoliths that scatter the continent. He visits Istredd in Nilfgaard and the two set out to the monolith Ciri toppled near Cintra in season 1 when she screamed at Cahir. It's unclear at this point whether the monsters have been lurking beneath the monoliths or there's some kind of gateway involved, but rest assured Ciri has something to do with it.

Vesemir also finds a rare breed of flower, Feainnewedd, that grows only where elder blood has been spilt. They connect Ciri to it and figure out that, potentially, they could use her blood to breed a new generation of Witchers. After the sacking of Kaer Morghen, the keep's mage and methods to create new Witchers was lost forever. With this new combination, more unwilling recruits could be put through the Trial of the Grasses and begin their long journey on the Path.

Sigmund Dijkstra makes his grand entrance in episode 4, declaring that Cintra is ripe for the taking from Nilfgaard. This is about to throw the war in a different direction and sets up what I assume will be even more conflict in Season 3 nicely. He seems to be talking animatedly to no one in particular later on in the episode but keep an eye on the owl in the background. As I said earlier, I'm sure it's Phillipa whispering in his ear.

And finally, we return to Yen who witnesses even more degradation of Elves than ever before. The persecution of the Elves is getting increasingly more difficult to watch and Yen struggles without her powers to do anything about it. They enter the sewers on their way to find the Sandpiper and come across two Elves. While the younger elf wants to help Cahir and Yen escape, the elder is more reluctant. When a strange sewer monster attacks he flees, leaving the younger elf to drown and Yen and Cahir scramble to safety. But what's that I can hear? Another emotive ballad about a certain White Wolf?

The Sandpiper turns out to be none other than Jaskier, wearing an outfit that's more like the flamboyant purple ensemble Dandelion wears in the games. He has a new song, too—Burn, Butcher, Burn—because he's still pissed off at Geralt for leaving him. Is there anyone on the Continent who's not got a beef with the Witcher at this point? Yen approaches Jaskier and hugs him, much to the bard's surprise, and while they maintain they dislike one another, have a playful banter before he agrees to ship them both to safety. He also delivers the line "no-one leaves a taste in my mouth, thank you very much"; it's good to have my favourite bard back!

But, once again, Jaskier can't resist absolutely fucking it. When a dockhand starts to criticise his latest tunes, he bites back a little too hard and it ends up in a fight. The elder elf from before steps in to shout "Fuck humans!", sacrificing himself so that Jaskier, Yen and the rest can board the ship safely and flee Oxenfurt. Only Jaskier ends up getting himself captured, Yen jumps off the boat and the episode ends on a cliffhanger. Dammit, Jaskier!

Geralt of Trivia
-Ciri's old pal Dara returns in this episode.
-Ciri mentions December which means this version of the Witcher runs on our calendar.

The Boys S3 Ep 2: The Only Man in the Sky

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The Boys S3 Ep 2: The Only Man in the Sky

from Collider: https://collider.com/the-boys-season-3-episode-2-recap-the-only-man-in-the-sky/

BYNICHOLAS SISTI

PUBLISHED JUN 05, 2022


Compared to the explosive opener of The Boys Season 3, Episode 2 can be seen as a settling of the plot, the gears finally in motion. The full ramifications of Hughie's revelation in Episode 1 are explored, the implications of which steer Butcher into uncharted territory.

Episode 2, “The Only Man in the Sky,” mirrors the cold open of Episode 1 with a trailer for the upcoming The Deep (Chase Crawford) biopic: Not Without my Dolphin. Starring The Deep as himself and co-starring Vought Studios veteran Billy Zane as Alastair Adana, the film documents The Deep’s “Church of the Collective” saga of last season. Airing on Vought’s VTV for Women, the film promises all the tropes, twists, and turns of a classic Lifetime drama. Homelander (Antony Starr) swoops in for a special broadcast advertising his “Annual Birthday Spectacular,” featuring appearances by such influential public figures as the cast of Riverdale, Dame Judi Dench, and Rascal Flatts.

The TV these commercials are airing on is revealed to be in Billy Butcher (Karl Urban)’s apartment, where Butcher grabs a vial of Temp V from a jar, contemplating whether he should inject it. Considering his first instinct in Episode 1 was to toss it down the drain, it is striking to see his attitude shift. Homelander’s challenge to Butcher in the previous episode also influences Butcher’s decision to keep the Temp V. His rumination process plays out on screen, with his TV acting as a conduit for his subconscious doubts and fears. He injects the Temp V… only to wake up from this foreboding dream.

Butcher meets up with Mother’s Milk (Laz Alonso), discussing his plan to figure out what killed Soldier Boy (Jensen Ackles) and use it to finally take out Homelander. Butcher, Frenchie (Tomer Kapon), and Kimiko (Karen Fukuhara) are investigating Vought’s '80s superhero team Payback, which includes Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) and Gunpowder (Sean Patrick Flanery). Butcher tries to convince M.M. to join the fight, but he declines. M.M. doesn’t want to fall into the same trap his father did, dying hunched over a typewriter as he struggled to fight Vought. After Butcher leaves, M.M. spreads a collage of newspaper clippings across his bed, showcasing Soldier Boy’s collateral damage.

Butcher attends the Vought-sponsored 33rd Annual Firearm Convention and Exposition to speak to Gunpowder about Soldier Boy. Gunpowder is giving a Second Amendment lecture, opining that “if Dakota “Bob” Singer gets elected president, well, you say hello to left-wing socialism.” Butcher meets up with Gunpowder in the bathroom, and confronts him about Soldier Boy’s alleged abuse when he was his underage sidekick. Gunpowder dismisses the claims, but Butcher presents a document that quotes Gunpowder describing Soldier Boy’s “Habitual Abuse.” Butcher threatens to release the documents unless Gunpowder tells him what really happened to Soldier Boy. Gunpowder declines, insisting that Soldier Boy “never touched me like that.” Gunpowder follows Butcher to the parking garage and attacks him. Featuring a riveting, bullet-tracing sequence when Butcher gets his cheek scraped by a bullet, Butcher manages to escape by setting off some car alarms.

Frenchie and Kimiko visit supe-based amusement park Voughtland to see if Crimson Countess (Laurie Holden) can give them any intel on Soldier Boy. Continuing her development from the previous episode, Kimiko has a naïve, childlike wonder at all the colors and hoopla. Later on the episode, she reveals to Frenchie that she never really had a childhood, and this influences her demeanor at Voughtland. The two attend a presentation on Soldier Boy, which is closed out with a performance of “America’s Son” by Crimson Countess. Frenchie and Kimiko meet her backstage, and she shows them her new music video for “Chimps Don’t Cry.” They try to hold her down and question her, but she escapes out to the park and attacks them with an orb, missing them and exploding a costumed Homelander as chunks of blood and guts rain down on the park-goers.

At the rehearsals for Homelander’s Annual Birthday Celebration, Starlight (Erin Moriarty) is unexpectedly tasked with singing Happy Birthday, but Homelander says that he wants a more “J.F.K. just got rimmed out by Marilyn” version. Starlight declines, saying it’s demeaning. When Homelander continues to press, Stan Edgar (Giancarlo Esposito) comes out of the woodwork and gives Homelander a heavy dose of reality: that “76% of likely viewers will make every effort to watch tonight for Starlight. As for you, 53% might DVR… As for the PR hole you dug yourself into this past year, I’d say you’re lucky we’re putting on this farce at all.”
Image via Prime Video

A-Train (Jessie T. Usher) and manager Seth (Malcolm Barrett) call a meeting with Ashley (Colbie Minifie) and Also Ashley (Sabrina Saudin) to discuss a “rebranding” of his image. The first in a series of proposed tone-deaf ideas is a docuseries on Vought Soul, titled A-Train to Africa, which will “trace his family’s journey from the plains of Africa all the way to Vought Tower.” In A-Train’s words, “I want to get back in touch with my roots…like in Roots!” The second is an “interactive learning experience” about the slave trade titled The Middle Passage. On the way out, A-Train is surprised that they didn’t buy it. Seth tells him, “She hated it. Look man, she didn’t buy it because it’s total bullshit. You couldn’t care less about your African roots. You know it, and she knows it, and frankly, Africa knows it.” A-Train’s reply of “Yeah? You don’t have a fucking dick” harkens back to the support group scene in Season 1, when Seth admits that he lost his penis while having sex with superhero Ice Princess.

Early on in the episode, Homelander visits Stormfront (Aya Cash). He tells her to blink if she wants to wish him a happy birthday. She doesn’t blink, and he turns and walks away. As he is walking away, she finally blinks and a tear falls down her face. As part of his Annual Birthday Celebration, Homelander is tasked with the yearly heroic duty of talking a suicidal girl down from the ledge. Chelsea (Nia Roam), Homelander’s “annual birthday save,” initially seems pretty indifferent to Homelander’s lazy attempts to get her to step back. However, Homelander turns around to see the breaking news: Stormfront has just committed suicide (she is later revealed to have bitten off her own tongue, Million Dollar Baby style). Homelander stops to process the news, and his lackadaisical attitude towards Chelsea shifts to anger. He delivers a monologue about how it’s not actually his birthday, that this day was just chosen for him by a marketing department. He doesn’t even have a birthday, because he was “just poured out of a fucking test tube.” He alludes himself to Jesus, and wonders why “You get saved, while a beautiful, perfect god gets killed?” He then encourages Chelsea to jump. When she says “Oh God no, please,” Homelander replies, “No God. The only man in the sky is me.” She jumps, much to the horror of nearby spectators, as well as Ashley and the camera crew waiting below to document the moment.

After the revelation that Victoria Neuman (Claudia Doumit) is the head exploder, Hughie decides to investigate the Red River Institute. He discovers that it’s a foster home for the super-abled. While there, he happens to encounter Madelyn Stillwell (Elisabeth Shue)’s son, Teddy (Declan Sheedy) who has the ability to teleport. After a TV spot comes on showing Hughie with Starlight, Vanessa (Alexandra Castillo) becomes suspicious. Hughie lies, claiming that he’s sterile and that he and Starlight are looking to adopt. This allows him to get into the computer room and extract files with a USB drive. He gets home and pulls up the files on Neuman (aka Nadia), which are laden with gruesome photos of her dead parents with their heads blown off. A recorded interview with young Nadia (Elisa Paszt) reveals that she was taken in by none other than Stan Edgar.

Earlier in the episode, Ryan asks Butcher to watch a video he sent him, titled “Running Late.” Butcher finally pulls up the video, and it is a stop-motion Lego film set to a voicemail from Becca (Shantel VanSanten). Her voicemail is simply informing Ryan that she’s running late, telling Ryan that she’ll be home soon and to not eat too many Oreos. It’s a haunting yet beautiful slice of life. Butcher calls Hughie, who informs him that Neuman is a supe. Hughie tells him, “If we have to take them down, we have to do whatever it takes. We have to do it your way.”

Butcher once again confronts Gunpowder, who shoots him, but Butcher is able to get up and the bullets slide off his body. He disarms Gunpowder and overtakes him, revealing that he. has finally made the decision to inject himself with Temp V. After a brutal beatdown, Gunpowder finally talks, telling Butcher that the “abuse” from Soldier Boy was hazing, and that the nuclear meltdown explanation for his death was false. He claims he doesn’t know anything more about Soldier Boy’s death, and that they were working with the CIA, specifically Grace Mallory (Laila Robins). Butcher then murders Gunpowder, activating his supe eye lasers to slice off Gunpowder’s head (as well as the car behind him!).

During the broadcast of Homelander’s Birthday Celebration, a heckler interrupts the proceedings, shouting at the supe about his connection to Stormfront and her subsequent death: “Your Nazi died!” Starlight tries to haphazardly defend him, but Homelander takes the mic to object and reiterate his God status to the audience. He reminds the audience that he’s not like them: He’s stronger, smarter, and better. This signals the apex of what has been building throughout the previous episode — the complete dissolution of Homelander’s public face and his true persona. He rails against the way people have tried to control him. When he mentions this, there is a cut to Monique’s boyfriend Todd (Matthew Gorman) who leans closer to the TV, seemingly transfixed by his message. Homelander appoints himself as the savior of humanity at the conclusion of his ranting speech, saying, “You’re not the real heroes. I’m the real hero.”

Outlander S6 Ep 8: I Am Not Alone

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

Outlander S6 Ep 8: I Am Not Alone

from EW.com: https://ew.com/tv/recaps/outlander-season-6-episode-8/

By Lincee RayMay 01, 2022 at 10:06 PM EDT

Fraser's Ridge may look like a peaceful place to live on a surface level, but there comes a time when the wheat separates from the chaff, and you're left with a bunch of angry people shaking flaming pitchforks in your direction. So how did we get here?

It's those pesky fisherfolk. Trust me when I say they are the true villains of Outlander season 6.

Huddled behind the armed Committee of Safety men who have surrounded Jamie (Sam Heughan) and Claire's (Caitriona Balfe) home, they cry for the witch to be arrested. Thanks to an arsenal of weapons at their disposal, the Frasers have held their own. Among the frayed bits of fractured wood, broken glass, and dozens of smoking rifles sit a very tired and strangely calm married couple who wonder if the angry mob outside will burn the house down.

The good news is that both Lizzie (Caitlin O'Ryan) and Mrs. Bug (Sarah Collier) escaped before the siege. The bad news is that that was hours ago. When Hiram Crombie (Antony Byrne) requests an audience with Jamie, Jamie concedes. Perhaps he can reason with the unreasonable people who want to stone his wife?

Richard Brown (Chris Larkin) has the audacity to suggest that Jamie shouldn't refuse to hand her over if Claire is innocent. Allan Christie (Alexander Vlahos) reminds the crowd that Jamie slept with someone who wasn't his wife, and she ended up dead with her baby outside of her womb. Jamie should be arrested, too.

When I think things are getting way out of hand, a handful of Scots show up to defend Jamie. But it's no match for the annoying Committee of Safety brigade. Jamie tells Claire that they must go together. Suddenly, Tom Christie (Mark Lewis Jones) emerges from the shadows and vows that he will travel with the pair. Indeed, if anyone is entitled to justice, it's him.

Tom's expression is one of sadness and pain. He grants Jamie and Claire one last night in their home together before they leave in the morning. Claire is scared out of her mind, but thankful she will not be separated from her husband. Jamie is determined never to let her go. They seal the deal by making passionate love.

Although Bri (Sophie Skelton) and Roger (Richard Rankin) have no idea what's going on at the Ridge, they too have a night of passionate lovemaking in a tent on their way to Edenton. They discuss the timing of telling Jemmy the truth about his history. Bri has a lot of experience in this area and doesn't want to lie to her son his entire life. They decide to explain to Jemmy that he's a time traveler when he's old enough to understand how to keep a secret.

A wooden car Roger whittled leads to a racy interlude. Many race car metaphors led up to the tryst, but my mind couldn't get past the fact that these jokers have full-sized pillows in their tent. I salute this commitment to comfort and applaud Bri for packing them.

The next day, Bri notices that Jemmy has lice. I blame the fisherfolk. Bri insists they cut Jemmy's hair off, and they notice a mark on Jemmy's skull. Roger immediately identifies it as a "nevus," which is harmless. He was born with one. They are hereditary.

The phrase "like father, like son" hits Roger like a ton of bricks. Jemmy is his boy! The proof is in the nevus. Oh, happy day!

Meanwhile, Claire and Jamie are carted from town to town in the back of a covered wagon. Once in Salisbury, Richard Brown's plans are thwarted, thanks to the local sheriff quitting. Ergo, there is no court to hold a "fair" trial for Claire. They must move on to Wilmington.

This news does not sit well with the safety boys. They didn't sign up for this. Brown is slowly losing control of his men, and Jamie notices. Just as Claire wonders why Tom is posing as a friend versus a foe, we hear Brown remind the townsfolk that Claire is a murderer. He wants rumors to spread about her character.

The people begin to throw objects and stones at the wagon in an instant. Claire straight up punches a guy who tries to wiggle his way in, only to be slammed to the ground by Jamie's muscular body, shielding her from debris. Brown realizes things have escalated beyond his control, and he commands his team to get moving.

It's a long journey to Wilmington. The committee loosens their grip when their party arrives at a "meat camp." Think Brad Pitt in Fight Club, but in a dense forest. One of the guys escorts Jamie into a nearby tree line to relieve himself, and that's when a man peers through the foliage, nearly scaring his uncle to death. Young Ian to the rescue!

My boy is ready to roll. And he's not alone. Say the word, and Ian will let it fly.

Jamie warns his nephew that if he and Claire run right now, it would be an admission of guilt. They've come this far. They might as well continue to Wilmington. But he asks Ian to stay close, just in case.

Naturally, this is when Brown decides to separate our time-traveling soulmates. It wouldn't be a season finale if Claire and Jamie were together at the end, right? About twelve men, because it would take a dozen, grab Jamie when he leaves the wagon to get a drink of water. The others haul Claire off in the wagon. Tom looks panicked and decides to stay with Claire. He later tells her that Jamie will not be harmed. They are simply taking him back home.

Right.

As the wagon stumbles through Wilmington, Claire notices that the town is clearly in distress. Signs of the pending war are everywhere. Yet, there are two things she can cling to as Brown leads her into a disgusting jail cell. First, maybe the news of her trial will reach Roger and Bri. And two, Tom Christie seems to be her only hope. He presses a bag of money into her hand and promises that he will not leave town.

Does that mean until she's rescued? Or until she hangs on the gallows?

I'm going with rescued, because of course Young Ian once again saves the day. We find Jamie tied to a pole by the sea. Instead of killing Jamie, the committee has decided to send him back to Scotland, which is super odd. Do they think that will keep him from ever seeing Claire again? Please.

Out of the blue, the men standing around Jamie are struck down, one by one. Arrows find their marks deep in chests. Young Ian did not rally the Scottish troops loyal to Mac Dubh. He rallied the Cherokee.

Jamie is reluctant for his new band of brothers to take out the last man standing. He may know where Claire is located. Young Ian looks squarely in Jamie's face and confirms, "So do we, Uncle."

The man's hand raises in protest, and the viewing audience is treated to a bullet through the palm that lands directly in the man's eye socket, courtesy of Chief Bird (Glen Gould).

To the pending Revolution. And to the pending emancipation of Claire Fraser.

Black Sails S4 Ep 1

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

Black Sails S4 Ep 1

from Den of Geek: https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/black-sails-season-4-episode-1-review-xxix/?utm_source=emailshare&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=articleshare

By TS Rhodes|
January 30, 2017|

Black Sails is back! We begin with the with the deep blue sea, the wreck of ships above. Below, a man struggles, trapped in sinking wreckage.

Cut to Flint and Silver. The alliance of pirates is fragile. Flint hopes it will hold. Silver offers an optimistic fact: He himself hasn’t wanted to murder Flint in months.

Cut to Blackbeard and Rackham, sailing toward New Providence. Rackham is captain, Blackbeard is commodore. They are outfitted for war, and, as Rackham reminds the crew of what they are fighting for – the memory of Charles Vane

But Woodes Rogers has sunk ships in the channel, and before Flint and Silver know what is happening, they are run aground on the underwater wrecks. With the pirate ship immobile, the fort opens up. Flint orders his men to abandon ship.

I hate Flint. In real life, running aground in a battle was not the end of a fight. There are many examples of ships that managed to free themselves from a sand spit or reef. And if they couldn’t they often managed to use their guns effectively, making the most of a more stable platform than a floating ship. Flint doesn’t use his guns. He doesn’t even have the wits to offload his men on the side away from the fort’s fire. It’s just more TV license to make things more exciting.

Somebody has some sense, however. Rogers has secured the wives of his followers in the tunnels under the fort. Since, in real life, pirates were known for attacking from unexpected directions, this is a wise precaution.

Flint, however, would never dream of something less than a frontal assault. Now he’s stranded, with only his longboats and a few men.

Then it’s Blackbeard’s turn to be stupid. Chased by three of Rogers’ ships, he runs, then falls back and allows himself to be boarded. We get a nice fight. Blood, pistols, Rackham in battle for his life. But why didn’t Blackbeard rig stern-chasers (rear-firing guns) and hammer his pursuers? Why didn’t he run until one ship had out-distanced the others, and then turn and fight? It may make better TV, but I’d like a little more logic as well.

Thank goodness Billy Bones has secured all of the island except for the city. That’s a real piratical move. Men like Captain Henry Morgen made their careers by sneaking up on forts from the rear. Flint may be upset that Bones calls the land-bound forces “my men” but he’s enough or a realist to be glad that the cause isn’t entirely lost.

Flint, with the loss of his ship, should be out of the fight, But he holds the location of the chest over Bone’s head. (When did all that treasure condense into one chest?)

Meantime, Rogers’ forces have devolved to torture and mutilation. Rogers bullies Max, demanding financial support, while wondering why he isn’t getting more backing from the town. Rogers seems overwhelmed by his own victory. He needs to try the pirates and hang them, and this brings him up sharp.

One thing they get right it that Woodes Rogers went heavily into debt in order to finance his “cleaning up” of Nassau. This fits exactly with the historical facts (Rogers was terrible with money…though well off, he constantly pursued get-rich-quick schemes, which bankrupted him).

Throughout all of this, Silver has been following his own path. He was the man under the sea. The fact that he is believed lost is one of the main things that forces the issue between Bones and Flint. And it leads Eme to tell the pirates that she knows the whereabouts of Flint’s chest. Does she? I’m sure we’ll find out.

Silver’s journey is the most beautiful part of this episode, and it is truly spectacular. The vastness of the sea, the eerie silence of the sinking ships. The sound of Silver’s own heart, and his sudden emergence to gasping air, are some of the best scenes on TV. And the icing on the cake? A refugee goat, just where you need a laugh.

What were my favorite parts of this episode? Got to love the pillow talk between Madi and Silver, both for the content and the scenery. Yeah, Silver shouldn’t have had that all-over tan (since when does he sit around on the ship butt-naked?) but the view was worth the inaccuracy. I also suspect that the similarity of the skin tones of the lovers in meant to show us their accord.

Also, being a costume geek, I loved the costume Madi wears throughout. She isn’t with the Maroon community any more. She’s with Silver, and she dresses the part of a European, while keeping her own style.

While ladies like Eleanor show off their bosoms, Madi has, in the first place chosen a dress that has a bolder pattern than a Western woman might have, and she has filled in the bodice with calico fabric that a European would never had chosen. It’s a great, meaningful and evocative look.

I’m also pleased that Rogers’ men are torturing and maiming people. Remember, the early 1700s were a long time ago, and “civilization” wasn’t as civilized as it would later be. Just as I like the rough look of Roger’s soldiers, I like their behavior. It was hard to tell the good guys from the bad guys back in the day.

Anne Bonny and Jack Rackham continue to have a relationship that fascinates me, too. He’s still the philosopher, even as he sits in sick bay, having his arm wound stitched. I really want to see how this relationship turns out. The real Anne and Jack were denied their happy ending. I’d love it if they do better in this fictional world.

All-in-all, the season looks like it’s off to a strong start.

Evil S2 Ep 9: S Is For Silence

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

Evil S2 Ep 9: S Is For Silence

from Den of Geek: https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/evil-season-2-episode-7-review-s-is-for-silence/

Tony Sokol|August 29, 2021

Moving from the networks to the more risk-taking Paramount+ brings more fun and experimentation to Evil season 2. Episode 7, “S Is for Silence,” takes its title seriously, but also humorously, as the series presents its first entry into the silent genre of visual storytelling. Half the team go off exploring the shadowy darkness of impressionists, the other explores silent comedies.

Not a word has been spoken within the walls of the monastery of St. Thomas in 130 years, reads a sign just inside the gate. The compound and structure were built around an apocalyptic demon, who was captured and is held in an ornate and sanctified crate oozing ectoplasmic residue. The team is met by Father Winston, who hands each of the team a vintage magic slate paper to communicate with, one from Star Trek, another from Casper the Friendly Ghost and the third of a classic Robin Hood.

The head monk with the inviting eyes is played by veteran character actor Kenneth Tigar, who has been putting in supernatural performances for decades. His work on Barney Miller alone saw him as a man possessed in one episode, someone with multiple personalities in another, and also as Jesus, who turned heroin into baby powder to give a sinner a second chance. His turn as the werewolf Kopechne contains one of the greatest scenes of physical and character comedy tied to terror on a sitcom.

“S Is for Silence” can almost be seen as an homage to the horror comedy tradition. It has as many squeaky staircases and hidden rooms as Abbot and Costello Meet Frankenstein. Let’s face it, silent monasteries are a comic perennial going back at least to The Odd Couple, and Katja Herbers gets to play out whatever Lucille Ball fantasies she may have entertained as an actor in her scenes with the young stigmatic nun. Dr. Kristen Bouchard doesn’t smash grapes, but she gets her feet wet, and also gets a little tipsy. The suppressed giggles make the scene completely believable, and yet add to the comedy. It is definitely the most playful and whimsical the series has ever offered. If only Kristen had these moments with her daughters.

Evil hasn’t had much of a chance to explore physical humor before this, and certainly not so gleefully. Most of the physicality of the suspense series has come in service of frights, which we also have here in abundance. Vows of silence are delicate things, and offer too much of a temptation to shatter them, both from the whimsical and horrific palette of possibilities. The monks and nuns have to sleep with gags on in the event they scream out in the night, and there are things to yell about. Kristen has one encounter which brings her to the edge of her muzzle. Fantasy film fans will automatically be reminded of Jason and the Argonauts in this wonderfully suspenseful sequence. To be fair to the bony intruder, Kristen may have called this on herself. Not because she says “boo” before bedtime, but in penance for flashing the monks.

Kristen does have a knack for inviting demons, in general. They are with her when she drives, walks, or gets stuck between floors. Though her elevator story didn’t hit the depths of the fear it would reach when it got to the sub-basement level. Ben (Aasif Mandvi), once again, gets the creepiest torments in this installment, and probably has the most cause to break down and shriek. He does it with his eyes, almost as loudly, which is a scream to watch. Mandvi is doing quite a few things as he bolts from murky darkness. Even as he is frantically sprinting, we can see he’s got something else on his mind besides safety. He doesn’t have the answer yet in this scene, but Ben is putting pieces together on the run.

You would think an episode without any dialogue wouldn’t push the envelope of language allowed on TV. But they do it. While “S is for Silence” isn’t Evil’s most profane offering, it contains the most profanity. And it’s beautiful. It exists as itself, has wit and wisdom, and offers solace. David Acosta (Mike Colter) can’t find peace because, stripped of the release of speaking, only the most inappropriate things come popping into his head. “Jesus died for my sins,” he ponders internally to keep himself together. “All I have to do is not think about monks throwing up for three minutes.” The scene is a cosmic joke, and could have gone on to be a running gag but turns, instead into sexual fantasy.

The relationship between David and Kristen gets sexually charged occasionally, and tonight the sparks are flying out of more than just the candles. Both are looking for clues, or seeing them in the disappearing scribbles of the slate paper. It can be the same way with looking for miracles. At first, Kristen believes the stigmata on the nun’s hands has more to do with an old rusty wheelbarrow than Father Thomas’s crucifix. She doesn’t point out how the wounds are not where nails would have been pounded to hang the weight of a crucified body, because the foot and spear wounds are almost unprecedented.

“S Is for Silence” is an innovative episode you can almost watch with the sound down. The root cause of the paranormal events which Ben hatches may not be as supernaturally satisfying as David or the audience might want, but it’s a little bit creepier. Evil is having fun, and it’s contagious enough to make you itch.

Star Trek Picard S2 Ep 4: Watcher

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

from Den of Geek: https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/star-trek-picard-season-2-episode-4-review-watcher/

by Lacy Baugher|March 24, 2022

After several episodes of what was essentially a very complicated set-up, it finally feels as though Star Trek: Picard’s second season is ready to kick into high gear with “Watcher”. The crew of the La Sirena has made it back in time to 2024 and they have a task to complete with demonstrable results. Find the mysterious Watcher who supposedly will be able to help them identify whatever has gone wrong with the timeline and therefore prevent it, preventing Earth’s descent into an authoritarian hellscape where the Federation morphs into an organization that’s down with conquest and genocide.

Despite its more clearly defined narrative goals, there’s still an aspect of this episode that feels a bit like watching three different series fighting under a blanket. In one corner, there’s Raffi and Seven’s Excellent Adventure, in which the two women try to track down a missing Rios, who has been taken into ICE custody and is apparently in the process of being deported. (But without anyone, say, running a check on his identity or noticing how incredibly awkward he’s being about literally everything.) Elsewhere, Picard, realizing the rest of his team are failing utterly at the one job which they were given, heads off to track down the Watcher by himself. This leaves Agnes stuck on the ship with the Borg Queen, trying to hold on to some shred of her self-esteem while bargaining for help repairing the La Sirena’s transporter.

And the thing is—-that all sounds like an insult, but it’s not really meant as one. “Watcher” is a surprisingly fast-paced and entertaining hour, largely because things actually start happening in it. (It’s also the shortest installment of the season to date by quite a bit, which cuts down a lot on the exposition that was so prevalent in the season’s initial installments.)

The episode is full of Easter eggs and throwback references for dedicated franchise fans, and it even solves a longstanding Star Trek: The Next Generation mystery (why a French Starfleet captain has such a strong British accent). In true Star Trek fashion, there’s plenty of social commentary about everything from modern-day immigration issues and climate change to California’s homeless crisis. And though we don’t get definitive answers to any of the season’s major mysteries, it at least feels, for once, like there’s significant forward progress on almost all of them.

The search for the titular Watcher is this episode’s primary focus, as this mysterious, unidentified being is apparently our team’s only hope of figuring out what precisely Q changed that caused such a drastic shift in the timeline. And, since Agnes manages to figure out that the gang has three days before the future is changed irrevocably, everyone has their work cut out for them. But nothing about this story goes quite the way we probably expected. For example, though many viewers (read: me) probably expected some version of Guinan to show up, the El-Aurian is not actually the Watcher, and also somehow doesn’t seem to remember or know Picard (despite the fact that she ostensibly met him during the set-in-the-1890s The Next Generation episode “Time’s Arrow”).

The Guinan of “Watcher” is much younger and seemingly much more jaded than the version we’re familiar with, and seems exhausted by humanity’s repeated failures and cruelties. In fact, she seems pretty ready to peace out and leave Earth behind entirely, which Picard immediately assumes is the event he’s arrived to correct. That he’s wrong is not just a satisfying twist, but one that eventually hints at that something much larger and more complex is at work.

Apparently, the Watcher Picard is searching for is a being also known as a Supervisor who, as Guinan puts it, is part of a group “assigned to protect the destinies of certain individuals”. Now, whether these are the same beings referenced in the Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Assignment Earth” is unclear, but, until proven wrong, it seems as good an assumption as any. (And, let’s face it, that kind of deep-cut callback would be cool as heck.) But the scene in which the Watcher essentially possesses a handful of Los Angeles residents in an attempt to discover whether Picard is being tailed is both an impressive visual and a neat way to convey their seemingly immense power. That its final form appears to be some sort of doppelganger for Laris is an interesting twist. (And one that, once again, hints that all of this is somehow connected to Picard’s supposed lack of love/emotional connection.)

With just three days for the La Sirena crew to find the Watcher and fix the timeline, it feels a bit strange to devote so much of this episode to several elaborate car chase set pieces, but here we are. Sure, they’re very well done and there’s something entertaining about Seven turning out to be as skilled a pilot of 21st-century vehicles as she is everything else, but, truly, the Rios subplot feels like a colossal waste of time. (Or, probably more accurately, like the show just wanted the chance to make a political statement about ICE, which is admittedly very on-brand. But surely there was a better way to do that than…all of this?) At least Agnes’s growing mental entanglement with the Borg Queen feels like it’s a story that both matters and will impact the larger arc of the season.

Perhaps “Watcher’s” most interesting twist comes in its final scene, which reveals that Q is not only also in 2024 and seeming ironically reading a newspaper article about whether this will be the year that revives space exploration, but his powers aren’t working. Picard noticed back in “Penance” that his old frenemy seemed unwell, but now it seems very obvious that something is deeply wrong. (Can Q die? We may be about to find out.)


Why, exactly, he’s stalking a young blonde woman outside Jackson Roykirk Plaza is unknown—though his droning intonation about the oppression of fear sounds very familiar to the same sorts of things he’s told Picard—-but whatever the reason, it looks as though he might be as stuck in the past as the rest of our faves. And that certainly sounds like one of those “butterflies” Agnes told everyone to avoid.

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

Dexter S2 Ep 7: That Night A Forest Grew

from the Dexter wiki: https://dexter.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_207:_That_Night,_a_Forest_Grew

Dexter and Lila start out the episode hot and heavy.


A written manifesto sent to the Miami Tribune from The Bay Harbor Butcher sends the Special Task Force in charge of capturing the killer into chaos. This is part of Dexter's plan as he tries to be pro-active in keeping Lundy off his trail. However, Lundy finally figures out that the man who wrote the manifesto has a law enforcement background, and perhaps is one of them.

Camilla Figg alerts Dexter to the fact that Doakes is asking questions about Dexter's past.

At a crime scene, Dexter purposely misidentifies a man to Doakes as the killer of his step-daughter. This leads Doakes to relentlessly interrogate the innocent man. When LaGuerta reads Dexter's blood file proving his innocence, she sends the man home. Doakes realizes that Dexter set him up to look bad, and he becomes furious.

During a romantic dinner with Dexter, Lila lets Dexter know that she plans to include him in her future. Later, Debra goes to Dexter's apartment only to find Lila there, nude with dozens of candles burning in Dexter's bedroom. Debra is disgusted and asks Dexter, "Who's the skank?...Are you trying to fuck her or set her on fire?"

Debra breaks up with Gabriel and decides to pursue a relationship with Lundy, not knowing if her feelings are reciprocated. While eating lunch by the water, Debra reveals her thoughts to Lundy and gives him a kiss.

Rita stands up to her mother and compels her to move out of the house.

When Dexter arrives at work, Doakes is waiting in his office, where they engage in an intense encounter. Doakes says that Dexter's past is a big mystery with no paper trail on his early years. Dexter is not fazed. He mockingly tells Doakes, "No matter what you try, no matter when, no matter how hard you work, I'll always be a step ahead of you for one simple reason. I own you." He then surprises Doakes with a head butt. Dexter then casually strolls out of his office. An enraged Doakes chases after Dexter, tackles him, and begins to brutally beat him. This leads to Doakes immediate suspension.

When Dexter attends one of Cody's school events at Bayside Elementary School where he is with Rita, Lila becomes jealous. She sets fire to her own loft and art studio, pretending that it was an accident. This was done in an attempt to get Dexter's attention and sympathy.