From Den of Geek: https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/the-expanse-season-3-episode-10-review-dandelion-sky/

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

The Expanse S3 Ep 10: Dandelion Sky

The protomolecule’s true nature takes shape in this week’s The Expanse, but plenty of questions remain… in fact, what just happened?

By Michael Ahr

June 14, 2018

This week’s The Expanse was all about taking a pivotal moment from the James S.A. Corey novels, one that was seemingly impossible to translate to the small screen, and making it work visually, and the truth is it’s very difficult for one who has read Abbadon’s Gate to judge whether non-readers were able to figure out what the hell was going on. On the one hand, the speed limit idea was well explained, and Holden’s journey to the nucleus with multiple pursuers held plenty of excitement, but on the other hand, many of the consequences of what happened in the central station were left up in the air leaving things enticingly, but for some perhaps confusingly, unresolved.

Even Melba’s story arc was left hanging, which was no doubt a strategic choice, but when added to the other dangling threads, it was perhaps a risky one. It was inevitable that Tilly Fagan would run into Clarissa Mao (Melba’s true identity) at some point, and Tilly’s misperception of the situation was an interesting way to frame the confrontation. Thinking that Clarissa was hiding from unfair persecution through guilt by association with her father, Tilly’s offer of a lawyer was a genuine and generous offer, but Clarissa was clearly focused on her fear of discovery. The question now is what will she do now that she has activated her berserker mode?

If Tilly is harmed, Anna will feel even worse for encouraging Tilly to reach out to Clarissa than she already did for ignoring Lieutenant Nemeroff, the unfortunate Methodist whose concerns she pushed aside. The Expanse has enjoyed presenting the pastor as someone whose strong family values and healthy, modernist approach to faith doesn’t quell her insatiable appetite for the unknown. Her guilt over Nemeroff’s death and her focus on science and wonder rather than service to her congregants will likely inform her actions moving forward, a welcome enriching of a character that has sometimes felt detached from the main action of the series.

Luckily for us, Anna’s curiosity allowed the scientist, Kolvoord, to deliver exposition about the Ring’s “speed limit” and the perceived threat of anything that exceeds it. With the slingshot racer, the Martian probe, and the Behemoth’s missile all in stable orbit around the nucleus, each with its own purple glow holding it in place, the stage was set for what happened later to all of the ships inside the Ring. The 18,000kph allowed velocity is what informed both Naomi and Clarissa of the likelihood they could get to Holden before Bobbie and her fellow Marines did, and the contrast between that relatively slow speed and a full stop is consequently known to be potentially devastating by even the most physics-challenged audience members.

Perhaps Holden should have closed the door behind him to prevent the Marines from following him inside, not that he knew how. His slow approach to the nucleus accompanied by Miller was both satisfyingly protracted and appropriately unrealistic with the detective “standing” nearby. Miller was still as cryptic as ever, but he revealed that the protomolecule originated from a civilization a billion years ago that left behind a bunch of locked doors. This detail, along with the characterization of himself as Mozart to Holden’s monkey, confirmed what we’ve believed all along about the advanced nature of the protomolecule. The records Miller wanted Holden to access will hopefully yield more clues to follow and more insight to enjoy.

Holden’s vision that resulted from completing the circuit was perhaps the most mind-boggling aspect of this episode. Again, readers of the novels can read between the lines, but how clear was it to first-timers? If the vision was meant to be mysterious, is it enticingly puzzling or frustratingly confusing? Visually, it was a spectacular representation of the long-gone civilization, and the views that Holden saw of different star systems appearing in a grid-like pattern reveal much about the Ring’s true purpose. But did Holden witness devastating destruction or a slow decline fast-forwarded? Kudos to the visual effects team for putting together a beautifully poetic vision worthy of 2001: A Space Odyssey. Hopefully, it connected with viewers.

A much more conventional emotional play unfolded to great effect on the Behemoth, where Ashford’s mild rebuke to Drummer for letting Naomi leave the ship in a time of war held a wealth of subtext. While we might admire the grizzled Belter for chiding Diogo against suggesting mutiny, Drummer rightly pointed out that Ashford’s critical advice in front of the crew places him in a position of plausible deniability when “the turn comes.” This particular hanging thread is much more intriguing than the others as Ashford insists they work it out, with Drummer responding, “Or else what?” Love her!

There are plenty of other moments to love in this episode of The Expanse, including Naomi’s puzzlement at the Roci’s lack of response to her calls, Amos’ warped reassurance that he’ll take Alex with him if things go to shit, and Miller’s colorful metaphor of the angel that meets the dying child halfway. The Expanse has always capitalized on the literary scale of its storytelling, and “Dandelion Sky” is no exception. What remains to be seen is whether the hanging threads in this episode will result in excited speculation or disconcerted befuddlement.

Braveheart (1995)

from Roger Ebert: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/braveheart-1995

Braveheart

Roger Ebert
May 24, 1995


Mel Gibson's "Braveheart" is a full-throated, red-blooded battle epic about William Wallace, the legendary Scots warrior who led his nation into battle against the English in the years around 1300. It's an ambitious film, big on simple emotions like love, patriotism and treachery, and avoids the travelogue style of so many historical swashbucklers: Its locations look green, wet, vast, muddy and rugged.

Not much is known about Wallace, known as Braveheart, except that according to an old epic poem, he unified the clans of Scotland and won famous battles against the English before being captured, tortured and executed as a traitor.

Wallace's dying cry, as his body was stretched on the rack, was "freedom!" That isn't exactly based on fact (the concept of personal freedom was a concept not much celebrated in 1300), but it doesn't stop Gibson from making it his dying cry. It fits in with the whole glorious sweep of "Braveheart," which is an action epic with the spirit of the Hollywood swordplay classics and the grungy ferocity of "The Road Warrior." What people are going to remember from the film are the battle scenes, which are frequent, bloody and violent. Just from a technical point of view, "Braveheart" does a brilliant job of massing men and horses for large-scale warfare on film. Gibson deploys what look like thousands of men on horseback, as well as foot soldiers, archers and dirty tricks specialists, and yet his battle sequences don't turn into confusing crowd scenes: We understand the strategy, and we enjoy the tactics even while we're doubting some of them (did 14th century Scots really set battlefields aflame?).

Gibson is not filming history here, but myth. William Wallace may have been a real person, but "Braveheart" owes more to Prince Valiant, Rob Roy and Mad Max. Once we understand that this is not a solemn historical reconstruction (and that happens pretty fast), we accept dialogue that might otherwise have an uncannily modern tone, as when Braveheart issues his victory ultimatum to the English: "Scotland's terms are that your commander present himself in front of our army, put his head between his legs and kiss his - - -." Uh, huh.

In the film, Wallace's chief antagonist is King Edward I ("Longshanks"), played by Patrick McGoohan with sly cunning; he is constantly giving his realpolitik interpretation of events, and that's all the more amusing since he's usually guessing wrong.

Edward's son, the Prince of Wales (Peter Hanly), is an effete fop who marries a French woman only for political reasons. "I may have to conceive the child myself!" Longshanks says, and indeed, under the medieval concept of prima nocte, or "first night," nobles were allowed a first chance to sleep with the wives of their lessers.

The Princess, played by the French actress Sophie Marceau, does not much admire her husband, who spends most of his time hanging about moon-eyed with his best friend (until the king, in a fit of impatience, hurls the friend out the castle window).

Edward, smarting from defeats, dispatches the Princess to offer his terms to Braveheart, but soon she's spilling all the state secrets, "because of the way you look at me." The Princess is the second love in Wallace's life; the first, his childhood sweetheart Murron (Catherine McCormack), marries him in secret (so the local English lord won't claim his rights). The two spend their wedding night outdoors, and the backlit shot as they embrace gains something, I think, from the frost on their breaths.

These characters come from hardened stock. (When Wallace has a reunion with his childhood pal Hamish, they hurl rocks at each other for entertainment; later, when a Scotsman has his wound cauterized, all he says is, "That'll wake you up in the morning, boy!") It is sometimes seen as an egotistical gesture when actors direct themselves, especially in heroic epics costing (so they say) $53 million. The truth is, given this material, I do not know that anyone could have directed it better. Gibson marshals his armies of extras, his stunt men and his special effects, and creates a fictional world that is entertaining, and thrilling.

And as Braveheart, Gibson plays his role with flamboyance, and cuts it with sly humor. He is an amazing battlefield strategist, inventing new strategies and weapons, outsmarting the English at every turn, leading his men into battle with his face painted blue, like a football fan. There is a scene where he is so pumped up with the scent of battle that his nostrils flare; not many actors could get away with that, but Gibson can.

The Adam Project (2022)

from Roger Ebert: https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/the-adam-project-movie-review-2022

The Adam Project

Nell Minow
March 10, 2022






Science fiction author David Brin says there is just one reason for time travel: “Make it didn’t happen.” The idea of correcting, no, preventing one mistake is an irresistible fantasy. And whether it's about protecting the future mother of the only hero who can lead a rebellion against Skynet or making sure your own parents fall in love so that you and your siblings will be born, the movies have given us some of our favorite stories of rescue operations by traveling through time. “The Adam Project” is a popcorn pleasure from the director and the star of last year’s “Free Guy.”

It begins with a banger, indeed one of the banger-iest songs of all time, Spencer Davis Group’s 1966 “Gimme Some Lovin’.” It is not there to tell us where we are in time or anything about rocket ship pilot Adam Reed (Ryan Reynolds). No matter, it’s just there to bring a jolt of energy as we join the story mid-chase. We know Reynolds can play other characters, but here he is what he does most and best, a snarky action hero. “What are you doing, Captain?” the instantly recognizable voice of Catherine Keener asks over speaker. “I think it’s pretty obvious I’m stealing this jet.” We are told that it is 2050 and time travel exists but we don’t know it yet. And we can see that Adam is in trouble. Both he and the ship have been hit. “I’m sorry to interrupt what I’m sure is going to be a really scary threat,” he says as he jams her tracking system and evades capture by escaping through a wormhole that takes him back to 2022.

Meanwhile, in the present, Adam Reed, age 12 (Walker Scobell), is getting suspended for the third time for fighting with a bully. He and his mother (Jennifer Garner as Ellie) are still mourning for Adam’s father, who was killed in a car accident more than a year before, and he is angry about that, about being small for his age, about pretty much everything and so he is very big with the snarky comebacks, even when he knows it means a beating.

Big Adam arrives at Young Adam’s house (his old house), injured, with a damaged ship. Reynolds and Scobell are a terrific match, with the same rhythms, both in observation and in snark. They also have the same scar under their chins and the same watch, their dad’s watch. It does not take long for Young Adam to figure out he is talking to his future self. It takes a little longer for Big Adam to realize that his younger self deserves some compassion. While he tells Young Adam that it is all of the trauma he experiences that will give him the strength and cynicism he relies on as an adult, he learns that maybe a little less trauma will be beneficial to them both.

It also does not take long for the bad guys to arrive, along with two key figures I will not spoil. “The Adam Project” deftly balances the action with the comedy inherent in conflict between the two Adams. Both versions of Adam are exceptionally good at getting on the nerves of everyone around them, and it's fun to see how they are at the same time irritated by and appreciative of each other’s smart-aleck comebacks. Big Adam does not want to be reminded about how unhappy and angry he was as a 12-year-old. Young Adam is as thrilled at the prospect of growing up to look like Ryan Reynolds as he is to learn that there is such a thing as time travel and ride in a real space ship. He does not understand how unhappy and angry his future self is, but we do.

The characters make references to “The Terminator” and “Back to the Future” but the film also draws from the underrated “Frequency” and from stories going back to the myth of Orpheus. And fans of “13 Going on 30” will appreciate seeing Garner and Mark Ruffalo as a devoted couple. (Ruffalo unfortunately does not have any scenes with co-star Zoe Saldaña, who played his wife in the indie gem “Infinitely Polar Bear.”)

The film more than delivers on the promise of its premise with better-than-expected production design from Claude Paré for the futuristic gizmos and special effects by Scanline VFX for the way they are deployed. The action and fight scenes are very well staged, especially one with a tender reunion in the midst of the mayhem. Big Adam’s warming to his younger version gives the story some heart in the midst of the mayhem as well. There is genuine tenderness in his realization that anger does not prevent sadness and that second chances are possible. The action and fantasy are fun, but this is what families will want to talk about after they watch it together.

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

from Decider: https://decider.com/2021/10/16/you-season-3-episode-9-recap/

You S3 Ep 9: Red Flag

By Tara Ariano 

Oct 16, 2021 at 7:00pm

I’m sure there are viewers out there who would dispute my characterizing You as a comedy — an extremely dark one, of course, but a comedy just the same — and to bolster my case as to genre, I would direct those viewers to the opening scene of “Red Flag” (You Season 3 Episode 9) in which Sherry and Cary remain so committed to their tools of healthy communication that they employ a colored flag system to protect honest disclosures…WHILE THEY ARE BOTH TRAPPED IN A CAGE. The absurdities in this, the season’s penultimate episode, only pile up from here!

In the aftermath of the failed fourgy, the Quinn-Goldbergs have split up the workload: Love volunteered to figure out what to do with the Conrads, leaving Joe to set the house aright. In the process, he disposes of all the sex toys, keeps the case of drugs, and then chances upon a zippered pouch containing a handgun. He evokes Chekhov’s famous principle while pondering what to do with it: either he keeps it and probably ends up shooting someone with it, or else he leaves it somewhere for someone else to use on him. For now, he takes it with him…

…to a liquor store, where Dante has directed him in fear that an unresponsive Marienne has gone there. She confirms Joe’s and Dante’s fears: the judge ruled against her. Worse yet, Ryan is moving to New Jersey for a new job in cable news, and bringing Juliette with him. Joe reveals, “I killed someone.” (Elaborating, he only mentions his very first murder, of his mother’s partner.) Marienne agrees with him that this event did not doom Joe for the rest of his life. They both also agree that their kids have given meaning to their struggles. When their faces are, once again, helplessly drawn toward each other, Marienne says she can’t cause any more damage, but Joe promises that she can’t: he’s ending his marriage…and even though this is the oldest line in the book (however much Joe thinks he means it in this moment, Love keeps finding ways to keep him from dumping her!), it gets Joe invited back to Marienne’s, where they finally have sex for real.

Meanwhile, Sherry’s strategy for getting out is to behave as though there is no cage between her and Love, raving about the pastries Love has passed through and reminding her about the letter of introduction she needs to write and deliver to the counselor at the Ashman School — she even offers to help Love write it! Love is thrown by Sherry’s very warm manner before meeting Theo in the alley. He tells her about the video of Joe punching the wall as well as the scope of Matthew’s surveillance. Theo’s leaving town, and he wants Love to come with him. He’ll take he “maybe” for now, and when he goes back to his car and sees a CC camera mounted outside the jeweler across the street pointed toward the alley, he assumes Matthew will see it eventually and flips it double birds.

While Love waits for Joe to see her “WE HAVE A PROBLEM” text, she returns to the cage and uses Sherry’s face to unlock her phone: she needs to post an update to explain Sherry’s silence to her followers. “You are so smart, Love, even under stress,” gasps Sherry. Love tells her to stop trying to be her friend, but Sherry insists they really are friends. She doesn’t even disagree when Love calls Madre Linda a pit of “narcissistic vipers”: narcissism is control, Sherry says. She crafts her influencer persona so that she can choose which flaws to expose. “Look where that got you,” Love snorts. Warming to the theme, Sherry muses that she’s been in a cage of her own making since she had kids — since she got married, even. Connecting on a human level works, for the moment: Love tells Sherry about Theo’s invitation, and about Matthew’s footage. Sherry has a great idea: Love should write a post on Sherry’s blog outing him!

After listening to Love’s message about Matthew’s videos, Joe assumes that Love has probable ly already killed him and the Conrads, but he’s about to absorb an even harder blow: talking with Joe has convinced Marienne that she needs to follow Juliette to New Jersey.


Joe’s going to need to prevent this from occurring by solving Marienne’s “impossible problem”: Ryan. There’s precedent of a sort, as we flash back to poor Nurse Fiona. Now she has a brace on her wrist and her boyfriend has no compunction about yelling at her in her office where the kids can hear. Little Joe sees Travis pause at the stop of the same staircase he didn’t push his own bully down, but when a memory of killing his mother’s boyfriend causes him to hesitate, Travis walks away and Joe misses his chance; soon after that, news comes that something bad has happened to Nurse Fiona. In the present, Joe once again comes across the gun he’d brought with him to Marienne’s. His internal monologue is resolved: “Ryan has to die.”

Joe gets home to good news: Love tells him about Sherry’s blog post, which has already sent a phalanx of “suits” from Matthew’s company to his house. “It must be said, Love is good at all of this,” Joe’s internal monologue grudgingly admits. When they’re hugging in relief, Love feels the gun in his waistband and, after getting over her shock, suggests they use it to deal with the Conrads: “We could make it look like a murder-suicide. Worked for us once before.” “Listen to her,” grumbles Joe’s internal monologue. “Our marriage cannot end soon enough.”

Next door, Theo has JUST put some of the most salient videos on a flash drive when Matthew’s main suit Jean (Marcia Cross!) orders him into his office. She invites him to show her what he thinks Joe or Love did, on the basis of which she…basically describes all the events surrounding Natalie’s death and its cover-up with impressive accuracy. Matthew knows how crazy his theory sounds, and Jean gently suggests that Natalie was “a beautiful, flawed person” who kept secrets from him, and then less gently reminds him that all this evidence of his illegal spying has got to go before the authorities come looking for it. Matthew very reluctantly complies.

Love’s last stop before driving the letter to Ashman is to collect trash from the cage. Now Sherry’s gambit is to get Love on her side by driving a wedge between Love and Joe: “Fuck him, letting you fix a marriage that never stood a chance in the first place!” Love cannot countenance this criticism of her beloved teammate, and shoves the gun into the pass-through compartment: one of them is going to shoot the other, and Love will release the survivor.

For all Joe’s complaints about Love’s “impulsiveness,” he is certainly not displaying much pragmatism when he stalks Ryan to the gym. He intends to kill Ryan with an overdose of Cary’s drugs (though he also has a knife), but Ryan gets the jump on him. They grapple, and Ryan goes over a parking lot railing to a small green space below.

When this fails to kill Ryan, Joe is forced to race down there and stab the shit out of him, walking away when the first couple of yoga students come out and can still see Ryan’s assailant up the block. All this talk of surveillance cameras and Joe doesn’t assume there’s one directly outside the door of this public establishment? …Okay!

Speaking of, Theo pulls up the Natalie playlist Matthew had been fixated on and notices something Matthew somehow hadn’t: the camera at the jeweler’s caught Joe putting something in the trunk of Natalie’s car and driving it out of the alley. Theo goes straight to the bakery — which is closed but with the front door unlocked? — looking for Love, including in the basement while, in a room Theo doesn’t enter, Sherry and Cary are arguing about whether the walls of the cage are bulletproof. Theo is about to leave when he hears a gunshot…

…because Cary has tried, and failed, to shoot the door open, and the ricochet has struck Sherry in the ear.



Joe and Chekhov did not predict this outcome! Sherry’s just seized the gun and turned it on Cary when Theo uses a stand mixer to break down the door. As they scream explanations and beg Theo to get them out, he refuses to believe Love has had any part in their imprisonment, but does focus on the matter at hand and go searching for a key…

…which he finds just in time for Love to return, scary calm, and tell him he has to leave town and never come back. He begs her to go with him, but with tears streaming perfectly down her cheeks, she says she can’t. Theo seems to realize through this conversation that the Conrads’ accusations are true and Love is involved, particularly when she asks him to return the key and claims she’s going to let them out as soon as he leaves. He’s barely taken one step toward the door when Love bludgeons him with a fire extinguisher. The blow sends him tumbling down the stairs, where he strikes his head and bleeds A LOT.

WHO WILL SURVIVE THE YOU SEASON 3 FINALE? And HOW?!!?!??!?!?

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

from Vulture: https://www.vulture.com/2019/12/the-morning-show-recap-season-1-episode-9-play-the-queen.html

The Morning Show S1 Ep 9:
Play The Queen

By Maggie Fremont

How terrible can Mitch Kessler get? I’m very happy to be back in the present day after our excursion to the not so distant past, since here, at least, everyone is aware of his depravity. Well, everyone but him.

For someone who likes to tell people he’s reexamining his own actions so much, he’s certainly doing zero reexamining of his own actions. Mitch has yet to show any remorse or admit any wrongdoing. To him, he’s the victim here. When we arrive back at his curbside chat with Hannah, he actually tells her that, when he realized she “used” him to get a promotion, it “took [him] off guard.” He doesn’t blame her, of course, but he was still surprised she could do such a thing. Reader, do you not want to hurl your computer into the sea? He only gets worse, by the way.

Later, Hannah comes to see him — Hannah is in a bad way, folks, especially after she tells Claire she was the one who reported Claire and Yanko to HR and that admission goes very, very poorly — and tells him she’ll anonymously corroborate his story about Fred’s silencing her with a job promotion. Hannah, who looks terrified the entire time, is trying to be brave. If she’s going to “help” Mitch, at the very least she’s going to set him straight about what happened that night in Las Vegas. She thought he was mentoring her, that he believed in her. She wanted to leave. She admired him as a journalist. That everything happened so fast, and she froze. “Did you freeze or try to leave?,” Mitch asks, accusing Hannah of retconning that night now that she regrets it. When she tells him she was powerless in the situation, he screams at her — SCREAMS — that she is playing the victim. That everyone knows what it means when the lead anchor is hanging out with the assistant booker. That she can’t be mad that she allowed herself to get seduced. Meanwhile, that look of terror has never once left Hannah’s face. She flinches at Mitch’s touch. She is clearly so broken. Okay, so now are you looking for something to hurl into the abyss? “America’s dad” is an actual monster.

Mitch isn’t the only person whose top priority is self-preservation at all costs. Alex Levy is showing us just how low she’ll go to keep her career intact. After Bradley tells her about Mitch’s contacting her about the interview, which, surprising exactly zero people, is a conversation that goes very poorly, Alex yells at her co-anchor about loyalty, about how this is going to ruin her (“There is no us. There’s you interviewing him, and there’s me getting fucked”), and, just for good measure, about how Mitch is clearly using Bradley because she’s an easy mark. Shockingly, Bradley decides to leave Alex’s fortress in the Manhattan sky, and Alex is immediately on to figuring out how to stop this interview from ever happening.

Well, keeping in mind that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend,” Alex turns to the one other person who does not want Mitch to go public about the culture of silence at UBA: Fred Mickland. Alex and Fred meet over lunch, which is hilarious because all of the bullshit coming out of their mouths makes me want to barf. Alex tells him about Mitch’s wanting to expose him and how they need to stop this and get rid of Bradley, because, well, gosh darn it, she just really cares about TMS. No one else but she and Fred seem to care about the integrity of this show! She apologizes for thinking Bradley was the answer to anything — she can admit when she’s wrong! Fred has some hilarious things to say as well. When he starts spinning a story about how he just knew there was something off and dirty about Mitch and he wishes he had trusted his gut feeling, I almost choked.

Alex and Fred are in agreement about getting rid of Bradley, but Fred informs her that, in light of the internal investigations that are about to come out, they’ll have to get rid of Chip, too. Admittedly, Alex doesn’t like agreeing to this, but in the end she still says yes to meeting with Fred’s top candidate to take over TMS. Turning on Chip? That’s real low, Alex.

Despite that hiccup, Alex begins to put her “Get rid of Bradley so she can’t expose my complicity in the TMS cover-up culture” tour in motion. She has Daniel come over to visit, in what must be the weirdest meeting of his life, to explain exactly how they’re going to phase Bradley out and make people fall in love with Alex and Daniel. He immediately calls his agent to put his move to YDA on hold since now his dreams of co-hosting TMS are coming true, which definitely seems like a call that will bite him in the ass. Sorry, Daniel, you’re for sure going to be collateral damage in this whole mess.

Alex then takes this tour to the man himself: Mitch Kessler. This scene, you guys! There are a lot of problems with The Morning Show, but the chemistry between Jennifer Aniston and Steve Carell is not one of them! Alex is there to get Mitch to stop this interview. There’s no way it’ll happen, and it is time for him to crawl into a hole and stay there for a while. As if Mitch would agree to that. Things really start to heat up once Mitch calls Alex out on her continual denial of being complicit in what went down. “I may have fucked them, but you were cruel,” he tells her. True to form, Alex continues to deny that she has any culpability. Mitch refuses to back down, and, on top of it all, reminds her just how bad it’ll look if he takes the interview somewhere else and tells people TMS refused to take a look at itself. It’s then that Alex plays the only card she has left: She’ll be doing a lot of press about her impending divorce, and who’s to say she won’t start talking about a harrowing experience she had while on a remote with Mitch in which he got her drunk and she ended up in his bed, not remembering how it happened. “You wouldn’t dare,” he says. “Try me,” she spits back. Oooo, guys. This is getting good.

While Alex is trying to protect herself any way she can, Bradley takes the idea of interviewing Mitch on TMS to the person she definitely should have asked in the first place: Cory Ellison. Bradley goes on and on about how this will not only implicate Fred but force Mitch to admit wrongdoing and stuff about truth and journalism and whatever, but Cory doesn’t really need to hear it. “You had me at Fred Mickland,” he tells her. Never change, Cory!

The really hard sell is Chip. He’s understandably nervous about taking down the head of UBA on a UBA show, but as Cory reminds him, once he told Maggie Brenner about Fred’s complicity, there’s no turning back. The other thing that gives Chip pause is, predictably, how it will affect Alex. Cory has an argument against that, too: He knows for a fact that Alex is meeting with a replacement executive producer behind Chip’s back. Oh, you guys, when Chip calls Alex to see if she’ll come clean or not and she continues to lie to him, he is heartbroken. That “You know we’re always good” he gives her before hanging up the phone? It’s the saddest.

This Just In!

• Man, Maggie Brenner is cutthroat. Showing up in her leather jacket to tell Cory she knows that he’s planning a mutiny at UBA and that Fred gave her her big break so she’s definitely going to warn him? Daaaaaang. Don’t mess with Mags.

• Um, I guess we needed a scene where Bradley calls her brother so he can assure her that what she’s doing — fighting for the truth! — is just and good? Sure, it reveals that Bradley is the one who turned her father in for killing a kid while drunk driving, which I guess gives some layers to this character? I still maintain that Bradley should be 28 years old in order to make any sense. Remember when we first met her, and she was brash and confident and yelling at men about how exhausted she was? Where is that person?

• If you had told me at the start of this that Yanko — Yanko! — would be our precious angel, I would not have believed. Yet here we are, and Yanko is so excited that he can take Claire out on a real date. Of course, Claire is freaking out about her co-workers knowing they’re dating and even admits to Hannah that she is embarrassed to be seen with him (she also reams Hannah out for reporting them and betraying their friendship; it is harsh), so when she meets him for their date, she tearfully breaks things off. It’s too much for her. Poor Yanko — who brought her a single rose! — walks off into the NYC night, heartbroken.

• Nestor Carbonell saying, “Charcoal-grilled filet mignon is pretty exquisite,” forever and ever, amen.

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

from Alexus Renee: https://alexusrenee.com/hightown-season-2-episode-9-recap/

Hightown S2 Ep 9: Small Craft Warning

By Sir Anthony — 2 months ago

Previously on Hightown Season 2 Episode 8, Ray set in motion an operation to free Renee from Frankie’s clutches by giving Jackie intel about his next shipment. Frankie was paranoid and kidnapped the private jet pilot, took Charmaine on a drive in a secluded area, and just when she thought he would murder her… he shot the pilot and they buried his body. Jackie and Leslie’s sting operation to catch him at the airport was foiled.

Jackie tried to keep the op under wraps from Saintille but he already found out about it. He told him she thinks Daisy is dead and they planned to investigate. When Jackie got home, Frankie and his bodyguard were waiting at her doorsteps. They were interrupted by a neighbor but he vowed to return…

Warning… Spoilers below!

On Hightown Season 2 Episode 9, police searched the woods for Daisy’s body but Saintille wrapped the search efforts since they found nothing.

Another Shot

Ray texted Renee to meet. She was worried as Frankie has been acting strange lately but agreed to meet him. When she tried to leave, Frankie demanded her phone, threw it in the microwave, and fried it! They’re taking more precautions now. He informed her that Charmaine was already in New York receiving a double package and that she was shut out of the business. Also, the bodyguard, Chuleta, would escort her around.

She managed to ditch the guard and enter the store and chat with Ray. She told him they’re no longer using planes and the re-up is happening today. She was afraid Frankie will discover she ratted him out. Ray proposed they run away together. Chuleta came in and she avoided detection with Ray.

While Charmaine was in New York, she called Osito in prison. In a coded effort, she told him she was staying in NYC and not returning to the Cape after this next deal. Also, Frankie was a problem and she was cutting ties with him. Also reassured him that his prison supply would remain, and if she ever goes missing, he can find her in the Caribbean Islands. She met with her connect’s nephew (who liked her) was blindfolded and was driven to the location.

Ray visited Jackie asking for help busting Frankie and Charmaine. He was concerned that Renee was burned and wouldn’t have long to live. He pleaded for her help in raiding Frankie. She would have to inform Saintille first.

Saintille, Jackie, and Ray set up a sting operation on Hightown Season 2 Episode 9

They met with Saintille, who was pissed they got intel from Renee because Ray was back talking to her. He reassured them that the intel this time was good and they had to act fast. They figured Charmaine had to transport the shipment back via car or boat. Saintille was forced to set up the sting but put Ray in Jackie’s responsibility so nothing negative blows back on his department.
Let’s Take A Ride

Jackie approached Ed and apologized for telling him off and asked for his help with the operation. She got him on board but he was pissed Ray was coming along since he was responsible for getting her shot. They figured it was a small craft transporting the drugs and searched the cape.

Meanwhile, Saintille and Leslie bottlenecked the bridges in search of Charmaine. Ray spotted the ferry and figured Charmaine would ride it as a means to throw them off. They entered the ferry in search of her but came up empty.

Charmaine was on the bus which was being stopped by on the bridge. Saintille noticed from the distance that someone was exiting the bus and chased after. Charmaine ran but was trapped by police. Saintille talked her down but she tossed the bag into the water and they arrested her! They picked it up and informed Jackie. She then informed Ray but he was concerned about Renee and went to find her.

Frankie was waiting for Charmaine to get off the bus and, of course, she never showed. He saw agents and knew the pickup was a setup and bailed! He phoned Chuleta who informed a nervous Renee that they had to go on a ride…

Bodies Found

Saintille interrogated Charmaine, offering to look out for her if she cooperated giving up Frankie and her New York connect. She lawyered up and Saintille was pissed at her non-cooperation, laying any overdose death on her (including her sister!) Suddenly, Saintille got a call from the department of corrections and spoke with an informant.

Jackie stayed and chatted with a mute Charmaine. She revealed she was the cop her cousin Osito shot. She tried to get Charmaine to open up but it was futile.

Saintille visited Osito in the warden’s office with his attorney. He offered a vague statement with a vicinity and Osito would fill in a few blanks granted he receives a bail hearing. Osito provided, the address given was the location of the pilot’s grave and Frankie had murdered him. He also told him they will find more bodies there.

Ray broke into Frankie and Renee’s home in search of her to no avail. He freaked out and called Jackie and she told him they found a male and a female’s body in the woods. When Jackie arrived at the scene with Ray and learned the pilot and Daisy had been buried there! They needed more evidence to apprehend Frankie and suddenly found another body… it was Jorge!

They pondered the M.O. was different and he had been buried there weeks prior. Saintille order all surveillance footage into the location and called the judge for a warrant to arrest Frankie!

Frankie went to Renee’s mother’s home to snatch Frankie Jr., telling her they wouldn’t see each other for a while.

Chuleta marched Renee into the dark woods and ordered her inside the RV, telling her that Frankie said she would know what to do. She thought he was there to kill her but she was there to grab the go money Jorge had stashed.

Double Crossed

Chuleta took Renee to the strip club where Frankie and Junior were stationed. He informed her that they were leaving right now for the Dominican Republic. Suddenly, cars screeched outside, Frankie and Chuleta armed themselves to check it out.

Jackie, Leslie, and a swarm of cops raided the place! Frankie was tackled and cuffed, they grabbed the gun off him asking was that the murder weapon for Daisy and Jorge (in which it was for the latter!) Jackie confronted him that he could’ve dug his cousin a proper grave. Frankie was oblivious to what she was talking about…

Frankie had a smug look on his face as they perp-walked him out but that broke when Ray headed his way and spoke to him. Frankie was irate cursing Ray out! Ray returned the smug smirk. He was excited to see Renee was alive and Frankie could see they were hugging and kissing each other as he was hauled off to jail!

Stay tuned for the Season 2 finale, because the whole “Great White” operation is cracked open, but a few mysteries remain. Ray’s plan to get his job back has a complicated ending. Jackie goes from feeling like a hero after an important discovery to the zero who let something critical get away…

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-4-recap-a-rescue-a-breakout-and-some-revenge/

The Book of Boba Fett S1 Ep 4:
The Gathering Storm

The former bounty hunter battles an old nemesis in Chapter 4 of the Disney Plus Star Wars show.

Sean Keane
Jan. 25, 2022 6:00 a.m. PT

The fourth episode of The Book of Boba Fett landed on Disney Plus last Wednesday, as the ex-bounty hunter continues his career change to Tatooine crime boss in the seven-part live-action Star Wars show. This comes after the ruthless Pyke Syndicate was seemingly revealed as a real threat to Boba's power on the desert planet.

The Pykes even scared off the Twins, despite the Hutts' eagerness to seize the territory of their late cousin Jabba from Boba. This show is set around five years after Return of the Jedi and shortly after The Mandalorian season 2.

Preparing for war

The episode ends with Boba and Fennec persuading (with a little rancor threat) Mos Espa's crime families to stay neutral in the coming war with the Pykes. With that done, Fennec suggests Boba use his considerable reserve of credits to hire muscle to take on their enemies.

After she utters these words, we get a hint as to the identity of that muscle in the form of The Mandalorian's main theme. It sure implies that Boba will recruit our old pal Mando (aka Din Djarin). A surprise to be sure, but a welcome one.

The boys in Beskar armor became friendly after Boba and Fennec helped Mando take on the Empire during Boba's quest to retrieve his lost armor.

When we last saw Mando, he handed Grogu over to Jedi Luke Skywalker so the little guy could be trained to wield his Force powers. Mando also took possession of the Darksaber and inadvertently became the leader of the Mandalorians. This episode implies that he's still operating as a bounty hunter, but I guess we'll see.

He also hires towering Wookiee bounty hunter Black Krrsantan, so we'll get more of that arm-ripping viciousness in the coming episodes.

Much of the running time is taken up with another flashback, which reveals how Boba found the badly wounded Fennec after she was shot by sleazy bounty hunter Toro Calican – he happened to see the flash charge shots Mando and Toro fired to stop her from sniping them. Boba brings her to a mod-parlor populated by low-rent cyberpunk types (like the gang he recruited last episode), where her gut is fixed with droid parts.

The pair break into Jabba's palace (then ruled by Bib Fortuna and under heavy guard) to retrieve Boba's awesome Firespray-class ship, Slave I.

Slaughtering the sarlacc

Boba's memories of escaping the sarlacc are clearly hazy, since he uses his ship to hover over the pit and search for his lost armor – he doesn't remember the Jawas stealing it from him after he crawled out. It also seems like an imprecise way to search, since the sarlacc is all yucky teeth and organs.

Predictably, it awakens and tries to gobble up the whole ship. A quick-thinking Fennec drops a seismic charge and kills the beast. RIP sarlacc, you'll be missed.

This gives Boba the opportunity to climb down into the pit and search thoroughly for his armor, to no avail. All he gets for his troubles is a coating of acid, causing the injuries he's healing with his bacta sleeps in the present.

He also takes a minute to gun down the Nikto speeder goons that apparently slaughtered his Tusken friends, but Fennec doesn't believe they'd have been capable of taking out the tribe (it was probably the Pykes).

No more stupid bosses

We finally learn why Boba decided to switch from bounty hunting to crime lord – he reckons he can do a better job than the people he's worked for.

"I'm tired of our kind dying because of the idiocy of others," he says. "We're smarter than them. It's time we took our shot."

It makes sense, since his father, Jango, was killed by Mace Windu after his boss Count Dooku started a conflict with the Jedi in Attack of the Clones, and Boba fell into the sarlacc pit partially due to Jabba's sadistic showmanship in Return of the Jedi (but mostly because he failed to watch his back).

Observations, WTF questions and Easter eggs

"I am Boba Fett." He says this twice in the flashback, possibly reasserting his identity after living in the desert for years.

Boba's ship, Slave I, isn't named in this episode, and the name has largely been absent from merchandise since recent years. It comes as tech companies and society reconsider the casual use of terms like "slave" and "master."

His relationship with the bantha is quite heartwarming.

The black sous-chef droid working in the kitchen resembles EV-9D9, who assigned R2-D2 to Jabba's sail barge in Return of the Jedi.

In further droid trivia, the little one Boba chases around the kitchen is a LEP droid. These appeared several times in The Clone Wars, but this is our first time seeing one in live action.

Boba is "completely healed" of his injuries in this episode, so we probably won't see any more flashbacks in the remaining three episodes.

Krrsantan can't resist attacking the Trandoshans because the reptilian race traditionally hunts Wookiees, and he's had many run-ins with them in Marvel's Star Wars comics.

The tune Max Rebo and his band start to play after Krrsantan's rampage sounds excellent, I'd love to hear a full version.