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

Evil S2 Ep 8: B is for Brain

from TVline.com: https://tvline.com/2021/09/05/evil-recap-season-2-episode-8-b-is-for-brain/

Andy returns in this week’s Evil. And by the end of the episode, I’m willing to bet that he’d rather cross the Khumbu Icefall armed only with dental floss and a pair of woolen mittens than try to figure out what the holy heck is up with Kristen these days.

She’s self-harming. She’s punching dudes in grocery stores. She’s demanding that he wear an animal mask while they have sex. It’s a bad scene when your mother-in-law — who’s currently worshipping a doll, remember — is in the right, but Andy, what Sheryl said is true: You’ve been gone too long.

There’s also some very intriguing God-helmet stuff that unfolds during the hour. Read on for the highlights of “B Is For Brain.”

HELLO, ANDY | Kristen is drinking the monks’ whiskey in the bathtub (ha!) when her girls announce that their father will be home in just a few minutes. She’s less than thrilled. But she pastes on a smile and goes down to greet Andy. When they’re alone later, he announces “I need sex,” and she’s into it, but she flinches when he pulls her close. Turns out, she has several cross-shaped burns on the skin of her abdomen, injuries she explains away by saying that she leaned into the stove by accident. Andy is incredulous, but the prospect of nookie distracts him… until she seems to get off on his hurting her by touching the wounds.

Don’t worry, it gets weirder. She grabs a bag from her closet and pulls out gags (did she steal those from the monastery?) and animal masks; he gets a rat, and she gets a tiger. They go at it, and it’s apparently a satisfactory experience for both of them. Yet when he wants to cuddle afterward, she skedaddles out of bed and doesn’t seem to care much when one of the girls sees her, still in mask and lingerie, in the bathroom.

GOING TO HELMET IN A HANDBASKET | The next day, Kristen, David and Ben are at a research lab. The scientists there are mapping the brain to investigate neurodegenerative disease, but the electrode-studded helmet they place on their subjects has been causing some to think that they’re communing with God. Kristen scoffs that the Vatican only wants them to look into the project to see whether technology can be used to convert people to the faith, though she concedes that stimulation of the temporal lobe — which the helmet does — could lessen depression and cause ecstasy, as one woman reports. The problem, though? Some test subjects report experiencing Hell while strapped to the unit.

So our trio decides to try it out. Ben is first. He has a vision of his dead mother, who tells him she wanted him to understand science but not reject Allah. “I did not reject Allah,” he tells her. “Allah rejected me.” Still, though, she takes him by the hand and they wander through their old neighborhood. But when a prostitute walks by and takes off her veil, she’s a scary, dark cloud of ghost. In the test area Ben rips off the helmet and runs from the room.

CLEANUP ON AISLE 2! | Kristen is next. But before we get to her experience, let’s talk about how Andy finds the red unicorn journal in her closet, and it’s filled with maps of houses (and are those sigils on them?). And later, when he and Kristen are in a supermarket and a douchey guy cuts them in line, Kristen goes to the frozen aisle, grabs a bag of French fries, and whallops the guy so hard that he hits the ground. (Real talk? Right before this, Kristen is telling Andy about how she misses the way they were before kids, when they “didn’t give a f—k,” and while my personal manifestation of this type of personality dissonance usually manifests in an ill-advised one-more-glass-of-wine-than-everyone-else-is-having, followed by tipsy online shopping at 2 am, I FEEL YOU, MAMA.)

Anyway, back to the helmet. As we watch, it seems like David is going next. But his vision is of Kristen, selecting an ice axe and then going to Orson LeRoux’s house to murder him with it. Kristen is shaken when David privately tells her what he saw; she hightails it to Kurt’s office, who advises that she confess to David, if nothing more than for the placebo effect, which could alleviate her physical symptoms. “THIS IS HER THING, ISN’T IT?” I write in my notes at this point, and it IS. She goes to David’s room at the rectory and when it opens, Leland is gnawing on David’s arm while David screams in pain on the floor.

She’s very disoriented when she takes off the helmet, and she can’t figure out why one of her boots is buckled now; it very clearly wasn’t before she donned the apparatus. Anyway, for real now, she runs to Kurt. He observes that she talks about David a lot, but that Andy is home after a long time away, and she’s barely mentioned him. “Reflect on what you want in this moment. If it’s your husband, it’s your husband. If it’s David, it’s David,” he says. But she says that David isn’t obtainable, because he’s about to become a priest. However, Kurt notes, “If he doesn’t become a priest, he’s not unobtainable.”

‘MAPS TO KILL PEOPLE’ | David is the last to put on the helmet… and he sees nothing. But Sister Andrea has an easy explanation for that — his visions are from God, not from being zapped by electrodes, she says — and they’ve got bigger problems, anyway. She faced off with Leland earlier in the episode and managed to stare him down by wielding a kitchen knife and a steel demeanor. But the bad guys are getting stronger, she warns. So she instructs him to meditate more and “start over,” because Leland will be back.

Ultimately, Bishop Marx is frustrated when David says the Vatican should not look into the helmet, Kristen says it “absolutely” should and Ben is torn. Back at home, after getting read for filth by Sheryl and her creepy puppet of the damned, Andy suggests that they sell the climbing business and that she quit her job, because something in it is “making you different.” She gets very angry very quickly, raising her voice as she protests that her work is “making me tougher. It’s making me more self-sufficient.” In fact, her job is “our lifesaver,” she says.

Her ire, though, is doused when Andy pulls out the unicorn journal and says that Laura told him that the blueprints are “maps to kill people.” Kristen starts crying, overcome, explaining that they’re a therapeutic tool to manage her anger. She’s so clearly done for the day, and he lays down behind her and puts his arm around her to comfort her.

Later on, though, when Andy is asleep, Kristen creeps downstairs. She heats a crucifix over one of the stove’s burners. When it’s glowing hot, she lays it on her bare stomach, presses it in and then claps a hand over her mouth to stifle her scream.

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

Star Trek Picard S2 Ep 5:
Fly Me To The Moon

Despite Paramount pouring many millions into "Star Trek," it seems "Halo" has been the recent draw as the new sci-fi show's premiere broke the streaming channel's records(opens in new tab) this week on Paramount Plus(opens in new tab). And while recent episodes of "Picard" have been some of the best "Star Trek" we've seen since the first season of "Discovery" back in September 2017, there are early indications that Season 2 of Jean-Luc's ongoing adventures is beginning to slip. But more on that later.

The tribute to "Star Trek: The Voyage Home" was evidently limited to just one episode and we've moved on, way past that now, with episode 5, entitled "Fly Me To The Moon." That said, there are still a lot of exciting plot threads to continue with and we pick up more or less straightaway from last week's episode with Picard (Patrick Stewart) talking to Laris Tallinn (Orla Brady). He concludes that she's a sort of "Supervisor," similar in principal to a one-time character called Gary Seven who appeared in an episode of "The Original Series" entitled "Assignment: Earth" (S02, E26), which was actually an attempt to jump-start a potential spin-off series.

According to Memory Alpha(opens in new tab), Gary Seven (played by Robert Lansing) was a human-looking male whose ancestors were abducted from Earth around 4000BC and taken to another planet. He was a Class 1 "Supervisor" sent to Earth in 1968 to discover why his superiors lost contact with Agent 201 and Agent 347. When he discovered they were killed in an car accident, he assumed their mission. Using advanced alien technology, he continued their mission to make sure mankind did not destroy itself with nuclear weapons.

There were subtle indications(opens in new tab) that this connection was coming and even if you missed those, lest we forget how "Discovery" tapped into "The Original Series" back in the Season 3 two-part episode "Terra Firma" with the Guardian of Forever. And while there's nothing wrong with this, it would be nice to see these throwbacks developed further, rather than appearing to be casually-regarded, short-lived references used when new ideas seem to be thin on the ground. Perhaps we'll learn more about the backstory of Laris Tallinn later, but given the rapid turnaround of guest-star characters in this show so far, it feels unlikely. And we'll come to that too, a little later.


We see the same young girl that Q (John de Lancie) was obsessing over during his lunch break last week only now she's in a kind of spacecraft cockpit simulator and not doing a very good job with an orbital debris evasion practice run. A French flag patch can be seen on her arm before a head and shoulders close reveals her name badge, Renée Picard (played by Penelope Mitchell).

Picard provides some helpful exposition, "The Europa Mission was a pioneering space flight in my history," so you'd think he'd remember that a Picard was on it. In "Star Trek: Generations," he says to Deanna Troi, "From being a small child, I can remember being told about the family line. The Picard who fought at Trafalgar. The Picard who won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry. The Picards who settled the first Martian colonies…" Confirming the family's importance through history, but he'd surely remember this. (Then again, it didn't even occur to him that an "alien living in Los Angeles in the 21st century" might be Guinan.)

Turns out she's supposed to be on the prime crew for Expedition Europa, which was an early interplanetary mission to the Jovian moon of Europa. We've even seen big billboard posters promoting — for some reason — this mission when Seven of Nine (Jeri Ryan) and Raffi Musiker (Michelle Hurd) were causing havoc in downtown Los Angeles.

All that's known about Renée is that she "discovered a microorganism on Io that she believed was sentient and convinced the mission commander to bring it back to Earth." Given all the twisty-turny timey-wimey nonsense that's been going on of late, especially with whether or not Guinan would've known Picard, it's probably best to just not think about it too much, a bit like how the writers haven't.

Following the opening credits we're back on the crashed La Sirena and the Borg Queen (Annie Wersching) is up to some clever mischief. Tapping into the nearby cellphone towers, she calls the local constabulary and reports, "There are screams coming from the Picard vineyard!" This has the desired effect and a poor policier from little La Barre comes to pay a visit. Raffi and Seven meanwhile have managed to rescue Cristóbal Rios (Santiago Cabrera). So, you know, phew.

Upon watching some video footage of a therapy session with young Renée that Laris Tallinn has managed to get hold of, they can see that Q, who's gone full Freud, is the one who is surreptitiously trying to talk the young astronaut out of going on the mission, which suggests a whole new level of intervention from Picard's omnipotent adversary. In the past, Q's been satisfied with purely observing the various outcomes in his experiments in alternative history, but this is active interference. And then we get the biggest surprise of this episode, a Soong (Brent Spiner) and Soji character cameo.

This is a brand new incarnation of Dr. Soong, bookending his appearance in the first season of "Picard" as that was the oldest Soong we've seen, in the 24th century and now this one, in the 21st century marks the earliest. And since it's the modus operandi of this show to incorporate as many of the much-loved former cast members of "The Next Generation," it feels apt. The problem is, as we've mentioned, so far, it's been a rather rapid in the turnaround of potentially interesting reinvented characters.

And that's a shame, because as we see, Q versus Dr. Soong — with two exceptional, heavyweight classically trained actors playing the roles — could arguably be the greatest single match up in "Star Trek" since…well, Captain Kirk took on Trelane in "The Original Series" episode "The Squire of Gothos" (S01, E18). Who knows, maybe he'll turn up next week.

This episode isn't directed by Lea Thompson — although she makes a brief appearance as the chairman of the board that revokes Dr. Soong's license for breaking the Shenzhen Convention and running genetic experiments on soldiers with a privatized military organization, Spearhead Operations. This episode is once again in the hands of Jonathan Frakes and evidence of that will become obvious later in the episode.

Soong is struggling to find a cure for his daughter Kore's (Isa Briones) rare and unusual condition and Q introduces himself by way a cryptic business card, which incidentally has a number on it that you can actually call to hear a prerecorded message from the irksome entity. He gives Soong a test sample, which works, for a short period. But now Q has his claws well and truly sunk into the dodgy doctor so he'll naturally do anything for the promise of a permanent sure.

Meanwhile, on La Sirena, the poor policeman has totally failed to detect either Dr. Jurati (Alison Pill) fast asleep on the sofa, or the smell of the fire that they lit earlier. He's instead drawn to the voice of the Borg Queen who's imitating the sound of someone in distress. Jurati finally wakes up, grabs an antique shotgun and goes back into the crashed ship herself to see what's going on. She finds the Queen holding the policeman hostage and give her both barrels. Go Agnes.

Not long after, everyone regroups at the ship and Jurati explains what happens. Out intrepid time travelling team hatch a plan to crash a fancy gala where young Renée will be in attendance. This new plot thread has distinct a "Stardust City Rag" vibe from last season along with an element of "Mission: Impossible," as even the accompanying music helps set the tone in a trademark Frakes set piece. Jurati cleverly, deliberately lets herself get caught by security guards so that she's held in the security surveillance room, where through the power of flashback, we see how the Borg Queen was able to get two assimilation tubules(opens in new tab) into her neck before she "died" from her shotgun wounds.

Roll closing credits on what is an interesting episode that gets better the more you watch it. The worry is where it goes from here. Guinan was undoubtedly underused and let's hope that next week's story isn't just a format to introduce yet more cameo characters for just the space of one episode. The Brent Spiner versus John de Lancie match up is worth half the season alone and it's great to have yet another ancestor of the legendary father of eugenics appear in "Star Trek."

Rating: 7½/10

Dexter S2 Ep 8: Morning Comes

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

Dexter S2 Ep 8

from the Dexter wiki: https://dexter.fandom.com/wiki/Episode_208:_Morning_Comes

Since her loft caught fire, Lila has been staying with Dexter, which is getting on Debra's nerves. Dexter finds an action figure that Cody slipped into his bag. Lila tells Dexter that Cody's trying to control him. On his way to work, Dexter stops by Rita's house to return the action figure and deliver donuts, and knocks instead of using his key. Rita lets him in, but later tells him never to come here again, as it's too hard on her and the kids.


With Lundy having determined that The Bay Harbor Butcher is somebody in law enforcement, Deb and Batista are reluctant to consider the possibility that one of their own is the Butcher. Later, Lundy asks Deb to look into drug dealer Anthony Rodrigo, one of the BHB victims. He also asks her to dinner, which she accepts.

LaGuerta and Doakes walk on the beach together and discuss the BHB investigation. After she tells him that he'll likely be brought in for questioning, Doakes expresses his desire to quit the force. LaGuerta then suggests that he become a security contractor, and agrees to set up a meeting with a friend of hers in the industry.

While helping Lila clean up her loft, Dexter takes a closer look around and realizes that the fire seemingly had multiple points of origin. Suspecting that Lila started the fire on purpose, Dexter leaves somewhat hastily.

Dexter meets with Lundy, who brings up the Rodrigo case. Rodrigo was arrested for murder, but the blood work allowed him to walk free; soon afterward, on April 16, 2002, he disappeared thanks to the Bay Harbor Butcher. Lundy notes that Dexter performed the blood work, which was later proven wrong. Dexter tries to cover for himself, arguing that the blood work was actually correct, but Lundy expertly counters all of his points. Eventually, Dexter "admits" that he made a mistake because he was overworked.

Deb and Batista question Lenny Asher, a paranoid man who used to live next to Rodrigo. Though he doesn't know who killed Rodrigo, Lenny makes notes of almost everything he witnesses from his window, and gives them all the ones he wrote down in 2002.

Back at the station, Deb tells Dexter that she found an apartment and will move out soon. She also tells him she has a date with Lundy, and Dexter passively and somewhat facetiously accuses her of sleeping her way to the top. Annoyed, Deb insults Dexter's choice in women—namely, Lila.

That night, Deb has dinner at Lundy's apartment, and the two kiss.

Despite his attempts to avoid Lila, she invites herself to Dexter's bowling night with his coworkers. Afterward, in the parking lot, Santos Jimenez attacks Dexter with a knife, but flees when Masuka and Batista come running. Dexter lies that it was just a mugger, and leaves with Lila. At her loft, Dexter tells Lila the truth about who the man was, and she comforts him as they lie in bed together. Later, however, Dexter resolves to stop being vulnerable and embrace who he is. He leaves Lila asleep in her bed, and drives to Naples to kill Jimenez.

Rita finally tells Astor and Cody that she broke up with Dexter. Cody fears that this means Dexter doesn't like him anymore, leaving Rita saddened.

As LaGuerta arranges the meeting with her security friend that night, Doakes meets with Lundy for questioning. Lundy notes that Doakes worked on several of the BHB victims' cases, but never got a conviction. Upon learning that it was erroneous blood work that let Rodrigo go free, Doakes has a sudden realization and quickly leaves.

Lila drops by the station and asks to see Dexter, who told her he'd be working late tonight. Deb tells her that Dexter isn't here, and realizes with great satisfaction that he lied to Lila. Upset, Lila leaves.

Deb and Batista find a note dated April 16, which describes an unconscious Rodrigo being carried into a car. They run the license plate that Lenny wrote down, and discover that the vehicle was registered to drug dealer Charlie Lewis. However, Lewis was arrested four days before April 16, and his vehicle was seized as evidence; the only people who had access to it were members of the Miami Metro Police Department. This proves that the Bay Harbor Butcher is one of their own.

LaGuerta and her friend wait for Doakes. However, instead of going to the meeting, Doakes breaks into Dexter's apartment and inspects the place. He eventually looks behind the air conditioner and finds Dexter's collection of blood slide trophies.

Dexter stakes out Jimenez's bar, and follows him to the Everglades. Jimenez arrives at an isolated cabin and prepares to make a cocaine run, but Dexter knocks him out. When he comes to, Dexter cuts him up with a chainsaw, avenging his mother.

Rita and the kids come home, but strangely, the door is already unlocked. None of them notice Lila leaving the house.

Dexter looks through Jimenez's wallet and finds the bowling alley's address written on a piece of paper. As he deduces that Lila gave Jimenez the location, Dexter gets a call from Rita, asking if he was there and telling him about the unlocked door. Realizing that Lila stole his key, Dexter tells Rita to take the kids outside and call the police. Forced to leave Jimenez's corpse at the cabin for now, Dexter returns to Miami.

With a policeman standing guard at Rita's house and a unit patrolling her neighborhood, Dexter goes to Lila's loft. He takes his key back and interrogates her. Lila confirms that she called Jimenez, but she never planned for Dexter to get killed — that's why she arranged for it to happen when Dexter's colleagues were nearby. She did it to bring Dexter back into her arms, and it worked. Dexter orders Lila to stay away from him and Rita, or else "you will see the monster."

Vanderbilt, 63 at Hawaii, 10.

Wright ignites Vanderbilt in 63-10 romp over Hawaii

Aug 28, 2022
AP

HONOLULU -- — Mike Wright factored into four touchdowns and Vanderbilt used a 35-point third quarter to pull away from Hawaii 63-10 in a season opener on Saturday.

The Commodores rolled up 601 yards of total offense, including 404 rushing to pick up their first win since Oct. 2, 2021. It was just the third victory under second-year coach Clark Lea.

Wright threw for 146 yards on 13-of-21 passing without an interception. Both of his touchdown passes went to Will Sheppard, covering 1 and 15 yards. Wright also ran for 163 yards and two scores, including an 87-yard touchdown, on only 13 carries.

Vanderbilt's defense scored two touchdowns on fumble returns. Anfernee Orji snagged the first one out of the air after Maxwell Worship jarred it loose and returned it 28 yards to the end zone with 21 seconds left in the opening quarter. CJ Taylor scored from 14 yards out on a third-quarter scoop-and-score after Elijah McAllister forced the fumble.

"Obviously pleased with the result tonight. Feels like we have a team that came out and handled some early adversity and I thought we really played well as a team," Lea said. "I thought we really battled back and the pain that we went through a year ago and having early setbacks there was a different feel on the field."

Hawaii opened the game by driving 75 yards in eight plays, capped by Dedrick Parson's 37-yard TD run to take an early lead.

The Rainbow Warriors posted 358 total yards. Quarterbacks Brayden Schager and Joey Yellen combined to threw for 250 yards on 28-of-55 passing. Jonah Panoke caught seven passes for 101 yards.

"This first game I know these guys were excited to play. Their intentions were in the right place and they played pretty good coming out the gate and (over) time things started to happen and the result is what it is and so for me it's back to the drawing board," Hawaii first-year coach Timmy Chang said.

Vanderbilt led 21-10 at halftime in the first match-up between the teams. It was the Commodores first win to open a season since 2018.

Hawaii had won its last seven home openers.

THE TAKEAWAY

Vanderbilt: After it averaged just 15.8 points and 312.6 yards per game, Saturday's prolific production is a promising sign for a team that lost its final seven games of 2021 and was picked by league media to finish last in the SEC East this fall.

Hawaii: The first game of the Chang era was far from pretty, but after a tumultuous off-season that saw the resignation of Todd Graham following a large amount of outgoing transfers — including a number of starters — optimism around the program and support for its former record-setting quarterback should remain throughout his first season as coach at his alma mater.

TURNING POINT

Vanderbilt scored 14 points in a 15-second stretch late in the first quarter. Wright's 1-yard touchdown pass to Sheppard with 36 seconds left in the first quarter. On Hawaii's next play from scrimmage, Worship forced the fumble by Parson and Orji's TD return put the Commodores ahead for good with 21 seconds left.

UP NEXT

Vanderbilt: The Commodores return home to host Elon on Saturday.

Hawaii: The Rainbow Warriors host first-time opponent in Western Kentucky on Saturday.

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

Obi-Wan Kenobi S1 Ep 2

from Showsnob: https://showsnob.com/2022/05/31/obi-wan-kenobi-season-1-episode-2-recap/

by Colin Gaughan


The second episode of Obi-Wan Kenobi season 1 starts with the titular Jedi tracking down the young Princess Leia’s kidnappers on the planet of Daiyu. The city is filled with so much crime and gambling that when he asks where he could find Leia, who he alleges is his daughter, he is told nobody leaves Daiyu.

Obi-Wan Kenobi season 1 episode 2: Searching for the Princess

Once a peddler tells Obi-Wan about a supposed Jedi helping people, he investigates to find Haja Estree (Kumail Nanjiani). Unfortunately, he is pretending to be a Jedi to con folks in need out of their credits.

Obi-Wan uses Haja’s street smarts to locate the true underbelly of the city so he can rescue Leia. While infiltrating and sneaking into an illegal drug operation, Obi-Wan is trapped but narrowly escapes Leia’s kidnappers by using the criminals’ own illicit drugs.

He finally finds Leia and instructs her multiple times to listen to him, so he can protect them. The Third Sister finds her mercenaries after they let Kenobi and Organa escape which only makes the Sith foot soldier even angrier.

When she is confronted by the Grand Inquisitor, he explains that she is not suitable to make big decisions like these because she is the “least of [them].” This only leads to the Third Sister doubling down and putting a bounty on Kenobi.

Obi-Wan Kenobi season 1 episode 2: Running through the city

While trying to keep the young princess in check, Obi-Wan fends off the bounty hunters that the Third Sister put out. In the process, he learns Leia is wiser beyond her ten years of age.

However, the trust that was building between Obi-Wan and Leia quickly diminishes when she sees the bounty put out on her “savior”. She blames him for her kidnapping while dismissing every piece of info Obi-Wan told her.

Leia tries to flee from Obi-Wan’s protection which only leads to the Jedi making scenes throughout the city and attracting more bounty hunters. A rooftop chase commences with Obi-Wan chasing Leia, while the bounty hunters with the Third Sister chase him.

When they are cornered, Leia makes a jump which compels Obi-Wan to finally use the Force to save her. He’s able to have her float like she wanted to do earlier.

This leads to Haja Estree seeing Kenobi and lending his assistance. He tells Kenobi to use a cargo port since it is all robotically automated.

Obi-Wan Kenobi season 1 episode 2: Some shocking news is shared

Up at the port, Obi-Wan notices some of Leia’s mother in the young child before the Third Sister, who the Grand Inquisitor called Reva, locates them. As Obi-Wan is hiding, Reva explains that she is not the only one looking for Obi-Wan because Lord Vader is as well.

At this moment, Obi-Wan’s demons and failures cloud his mind knowing that Anakin is still alive.

The Grand Inquisitor arrives at the port to stop the Third Sister. However, because he verbally tormented her earlier, Reva is done allowing her mission to be compromised anymore.

She, without hesitation, kills the Grand Inquisitor. In doing this, it allows Obi-Wan and Leia to escape the Empire’s wrath, but just barely.

This escape is not all a celebration because Obi-Wan knows he might cross paths with his former Padawan turned Sith Lord, Darth Vader.

Stranger Things S4 Ep 2

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

Stranger Things S4 Ep 2

from Collider: https://collider.com/stranger-things-season-4-episode-2-recap-vecnas-curse/

by RAE TORRES

PUBLISHED MAY 28, 2022


Does Hawkins have its very own Michael Myers? We suspect there is more to this story.
Image via Netflix

In the second chapter of Stranger Things Season 4, the Duffer Brothers bring us another shiver-inducing episode that will fuel our nightmares for weeks to come. "Chapter Two: Vecna's Curse" finds Vecna snatching up another poor unfortunate soul, El getting her revenge on Angela, and finally, answers the question we've all been waiting for: what happened to Hopper (David Harbour)?

The episode opens with a flashback to the crucial final moments we last saw Hopper in the Season 3 finale. After Hop sacrifices himself to destroy the gate, the platform starts to explode and becomes engulfed in flames, just like we saw in the finale. But then the episode shows us what we didn't see (and no, Hop didn't get trapped in the Upside Down, which admittedly would have been a lot cooler). Instead, Hopper simply jumps down onto a lower platform. He manages to climb through the smoke and wreckage and up the ladder, only to be blocked by the Russians who are waiting at the top, guns pointed at him. He is taken to Russia where he is ruthlessly tortured for information. When he doesn't give up Joyce's (Winona Ryder) identity, even though he is just barely surviving, the Russians send him to Kamchatka to work for the Motherland. But this is certainly not an act of mercy: Kamchatka, the guard says, is Hell.

Back in Hawkins, Max (Sadie Sink) jerks awake from a nightmare. As she is standing at the sink, again taking more medicine for yet another headache, she watches a bunch of cop cars speed into the trailer park and stop outside Eddie's (Joseph Quinn) trailer. Outside, Officers Phil Callahan (John Paul Reynolds) and Calvin Powell (Rob Morgan) talk to Wayne Munson (Joel Stoffer), Eddie's uncle, who is visibly shaken. The cops walk into the trailer, and they are horrified, clearly at a loss at what they are seeing. Max is able to sneak outside and get a quick glimpse inside, where she sees Chrissy's corpse (Grace Van Dien), her limbs twisted.

In California, Jonathan (Charlie Heaton), Argyle (Eduardo Franco), El (Millie Bobby Brown), and Will (Noah Schnapp), wait for Mike (Finn Wolfhard) at the airport. Will is holding a rolled-up painting he is clearly going to give Mike. They jump up in excitement when they see him, and Mike gives El flowers he handpicked from Hawkins. El is excited, but her face falls slightly when she looks at the card, which is signed "FROM MIKE," noticeably not "LOVE." Mike and Will have an awkward reunion and Will, looking disappointed, doesn't give Mike the painting. El excitedly tells Mike she has their whole day planned while Will walks next to them, clearly left out. He looks at El in confusion when Mike asks El when he is going to meet her friends, Stacy and Angela. El brushes it off quickly and says he will meet them eventually.

As they exit the airport, we see Murray (Brett Gelman) hopping into a cab on his way to meet Joyce and figure out what the hell is up with that shady letter from Russia. When he gets to the Byers residence, he reads the full message: "Hop is alive. He look ford to date. Pleeze to make resarvazion, call 74152 blah, blah. . . Open 12 day P.E.T.T. No government, pls. Kind regards, Enzo." Murray says it reads and looks too much like a ransom note and he doesn't trust it, especially because there's no proof that Hopper is alive in the note. Joyce says that only she and Hopper knew about their Enzo date, so it must be Hop sending her a message. Joyce, never one to be deterred, points out that there was no body. (Cardinal rule: we all saw that from a mile away when that episode aired.) Murray counters with a more likely theory that if he miraculously survived, he was probably captured by the KGB who tortured information out of him – including their date at Enzos – and this is all just an elaborate ruse to capture Joyce as Hop's co-conspirator. Joyce convinces him to give it a shot, and he begrudgingly agrees to call the number. In Russia, a payphone rings and we see a man – Enzo (Tom Wlaschiha) – answer. He says if they want to get Hopper back, they have to go to Alaska and make a deposit of 40,000, which he knows is in Hopper's trust. In Alaska, they will meet with a man named Yuri and give him the money, which he will then in turn give to Enzo. While he is talking, a woman outside the phone booth bangs on the door and yells something at him in Russian. Joyce says that if he wants her to go to Alaska, she needs to speak to Hop to confirm he is alive. Yuri informs her that isn't possible because Hopper is "stuck," but if she brings the 40,000, he will be "unstuck."

Murray and Joyce listen to their recording of the phone call in an attempt to figure out who Enzo is. They are able to raise the volume of the woman speaking in the background to Enzo using Jonathan's sound system. Murray translates that the woman called him a "mooser," which is Russian slang for "pig" and is usually directed at cops or guards in Russia. Joyce and Murray realize that Hop must be "stuck" in prison and maybe bribed Enzo to break him out. Joyce tells Murray to pack because they are going to Alaska to get Hopper back.

Meanwhile, Jonathan and Argyle drop Mike, Will, and El off at Rink-o-Mania where a miserable Will is forced to play the third wheel all afternoon. El lies to Mike and says she goes to parties here at the skating rink all the time. Will confronts her when he and El get a minute alone and tells her Mike doesn't deserve to be lied to, and he's going to be upset when he finds out. Unfortunately for El, it looks like her lies are about to unravel, because Angela (Elodie Grace Orkin) and her pack of high school hyenas show up at the rink. They are delighted to see El, or "the snitch" as they're now calling her, obviously jumping at the opportunity to humiliate her in front of her boyfriend. They go over to El's table to introduce themselves, and Mike tells her it's nice to finally get to meet one of El's friends. Angela puts on her fakest smile and tugs El out of the booth to come skate with her. Will looks on nervously as Angela pulls El along the rink and a circle slowly forms, leaving El in the center. One of Angela's friends is holding up a giant video camera when one of the DJs announces that the next song is dedicated to Jane. Will hurriedly explains to Mike in a panic that El has been lying to him and that she has actually been having a hard time in California. "Wipeout" starts to play as all the kids start rolling up to El and call her a "freak" and a "loser" as they mockingly stretch their hands out like El did earlier when she instinctively reached for her powers. El starts to cover her ears and cry while Mike races to the DJ and demands they turn it off. Just as the record comes to a screeching halt, one of Angela's lackeys rolls up to El and throws a chocolate milkshake at her, causing her to slip on her skates and fall backward. Mike calls out to El and tries to break through the crowd while El makes an escape from the rink.

While Mike is looking for El, he asks why Will has been moping all day, and Will tells him with frustration that El has been lying to him ever since he got there. Not to mention, he's been a third wheel all day. Will calls Mike out for only calling him a handful of times over the course of the year they've been gone, while El has a book of letters from him. Will says they are supposed to be best friends, and Mike shrugs him off, annoyed, and asks why Will didn't reach out more and why it has to be all his fault.

El decides to confront Angela and demand an apology. Angela, of course, laughs and smiles like the Cheshire cat and mockingly tells her, "Cry to your Daddy," but "Oh wait! You can't." As she turns away El screams her name, but this time, instead of trying and failing to use her powers, she does the next best thing her instincts think of. She grabs a roller skate and smashes it in Angela's face. Angela is stunned as blood starts pouring down her face, and she starts screaming. It dawns on El what she has done as she watches everyone race over to Angela. Mike looks at El and echoes Dr. Brenner when he asks, "What did you do?!" (If anything, Angela got off easy. That skate was plastic. Imagine what El could do to her if she had her powers.)

Jonathan and Argyle, meanwhile, are hitting golf balls at an abandoned junkyard while the kids are at the rink. Jonathan admits he secretly hoped Nancy would surprise him at the airport, but he also felt relief when she wasn't there. He shows Argyle his acceptance letter to Lenora Community College and confides in him that he is not going to Emerson because he doesn't want to leave his mom and brother to go chase a dream that isn't his. If he told Nancy the truth, she'd throw her dreams out the window to be with him instead, and eventually, she'd grow to resent him.

In Hawkins, everyone is watching the news where there are reports of an unnamed teenage girl who has just been found murdered. The cops question Jason (Mason Dye) about Chrissy's whereabouts last night: was she partying with them after the game? Did she purchase drugs to bring to the party? What is her relationship with Eddie Munson? Jason is stunned and terrified and tells them Chrissy said she was going home after the game to change. He insists that she would never do drugs and has nothing to do with a freak like Eddie. He storms into the woods and falls to his knees as he begins to sob and lets out a guttural scream. Later, he tells his boys that Eddie is a satanist who must have sacrificed Chrissy to the devil. He claims that Hellfire is a satanic cult. When Lucas tentatively tells him it is just a D&D club, Jason insists that there is an epidemic sweeping the country where people who play D&D are warping fantasy and reality and killing people. Convinced Eddie is going to kill again, Jason gives another one of his stupid motivational speeches where he rallies his teammates to hunt "the freak," Eddie Munson.

Max confides in Dustin (Gaten Matarazzo) that she saw Eddie with Chrissy last night. Dustin asks why she hadn't told the cops, and she admits that it wasn't the only thing she saw. While sitting on the couch watching TV, her power started to flicker in and out – uncomfortably familiar to the Hawkins kids at this point – when she heard Eddie scream and saw him run to his van. Max asks Dustin if it could be possible that the Upside Down is interfering with Hawkins yet again (they really need to get a grip on this whole gate situation). They team up with Steve (Joe Keery) and Robin (Maya Hawke) at the video store where they fill them in on what they know. They manage to track Eddie down at his Reefer Rick's (his drug dealer) house. After Eddie relays the horrific events of the night prior, he is wary when Dustin tells him they believe him. Dustin decides it is time to fill him in on the Upside Down. He asks Eddie if he saw anything that looked like swirling dust. Eddie says no, but it seemed like Chrissy was under a spell. It dawns on both Dustin and Eddie at the same time: Vecna's curse. Vecna is, as Dustin explains, "an undead creature of great power. A spell caster. A dark wizard." As Dustin is explaining, we see Vecna connected to what looks like eight vines, as if he is charging. He slowly kneels and opens his eyes. The camera zooms out, and we see he is holed up in some terrifying-looking house in the Upside Down.

Meanwhile, Nancy and Fred convince the cops patrolling the trailer park to let them in to "check in" on their good friend Max, when really they are there to get the scoop. As they are trying to fool the cop, he suddenly looks at Fred strangely and says he knows him — Fred was the one who killed that kid last year in a car crash. Fred looks petrified as suddenly the cop's voice starts to grow distorted (nice knowing you, Fred) and his eyes turn white as his skin starts to rot. He begins to chant "murderer" repeatedly to a horrified Fred. Suddenly, everything snaps back to normal, and Nancy and the cop are looking at him strangely.

Nancy manages to talk to Eddie's uncle and convince him to tell her his side of the story. Wayne says that Eddie may look dangerous, but it just isn't in his nature to do something like this. Wayne believes that a man named Victor Creel killed Chrissy. Back when Wayne was a kid, Victor Creel lost his mind and killed his wife and kids and took out their eyes. Wayne thinks that Victor Creel somehow broke out of Pennhurst Asylum and killed Chrissy just like he did with his family.

As Nancy talks to Wayne, Fred starts to hear the dreaded sound of the chiming clock. He walks into the woods where he sees the clock lying on the ground and a group of people all dressed in black, standing eerily still with their heads down. A little girl slowly lifts her head and points at Fred, her outstretched hand morphing into what looks like Vecna's creepy claw-like hand. The rest of the people slowly lift their heads, their faces looking like straight-up walkers from The Walking Dead, and start to chant, "Murderer!"

Nancy suddenly realizes Fred is not where she left him by the fence. Panicked when she can't find him, she tells the cop on patrol. We see Fred running terrified through the woods, ending up on the road, dark, with no cars around except for one. Fred approaches the car slowly, a look of terror on his face. The car is upside down and consumed with flames. He sees a boy crawl out of the car, bloody, desperately calling out for help. Fred falls backward into a grave where he turns to see a rotting corpse next to him. Then (here it comes), he hears his name. Vecna slowly walks through a tunnel leading into the grave and tells Fred he wants him to join him. He stretches out his claw-like hand as Fred floats up in the air on the road. Fred's bones begin to snap, and his eyes pop out as he suffers the same horrific fate as Chrissy — and the episode comes to another horrifying conclusion.

The Offer S1 Ep 5: Kiss The Ring

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

The Offer S1 Ep 5: Kiss The Ring

from Ready Steady Cut: https://readysteadycut.com/2022/05/12/the-offer-season-1-episode-5-recap-kiss-the-ring/

May 12, 2022

Ricky Valero

After having our first great episode of the series, I hope The Offer continues its upward trend with this week’s episode. First, we see that Albert realizes he is in deep with Joe Colombo. Next, Francis finally gets what he wants with Marlon Brando, but Al Pacino takes another deal and can’t be his Michael. Last, Joe Gallo is about ready to take down Colombo for good. What happens this week? Let’s dive in.

The Offer season 1, episode 5 recap

The show opens with a pair of Colombo’s henchmen traveling down the road with some of the supplies. When a car is in the middle of the road, one of them jumps out to see what is going on and we say hello to Mr. Gallo and his crew. Boom, shotgun to the chest — down goes one of the guys and Gallo lets the other go as he knows Colombo will get the message.

Albert shows up at Robert’s front door and needs help. Robert is furious after Albert has gone behind his back twice. He wants Robert to get Pacino out of the deal with MGM, which Robert, who never wanted Pacino to begin with, basically tells Albert to pound sand. Man, I love the dynamic between these two characters.

Barry Lapidus is pitching Paramount and the companies to buyers as we know that Charles is trying to sell the company. Next, we move to Francis getting the news that Pacino is out and he proceeds to freak out. After this, we see Robert sitting down with his girlfriend to watch Pacino on tape and she LOVES him.

Albert arrives at work, and Bettye shows him the newspaper where the man Gallo took out is front-page news. She expressed she is scared. Jack Ballard is in Albert’s office with the film editor, and we see Jack already asserting himself, which isn’t making Albert happy.

Robert meets with the head of MGM to swap Deniro for Pacino. Unfortunately, negotiations aren’t going how Robert wants them to and he has to sacrifice Harrold Robbins’s books to sweeten the deal. Robert is internally freaking out because he doesn’t even want Pacino. Nevertheless, the agreement happens and we know that Albert will hear all about this.

The congressman is giving the production team a hard time as they pulled the permits for where they were supposed to build the set. Bettye attempts to get the guy on the phone, but they fire him because he gave them the permits. We know that Albert’s only option may be to pay a visit to Colombo. Speaking of Colombo, as he talks with the boys about what happened, an FBI raid happens. As the agent walks out the door, he tells Colombo the congressman sends his best. Colombo is FURIOUS.


You are still a Putz, but I got Pacino – Robert.

Albert shows up to tell Francis that he got Pacino and is on cloud nine. We also see that Albert is all dressed up in a suit, where he tells Francis he has to see a guy about a thing. Of course, we all know what that means! Time to pay a visit to Colombo. As he walks in, photos are taken, which I believe will come back to haunt Albert. Finally, he shows up to pay his respects to Colombo for the loss of his friend.

Nobody should be invited to a funeral and everyone should come. – Albert

Colombo meets with the congressman to clear the air on everything. He wants the Feds off his back and the production doors to be open for The Godfather (we don’t see him say that, but we know). Congressman plays ball with him, but I am unsure of what his play is here, but I am intrigued.

We see a production meeting with Albert, Francis, and the crew. The talk isn’t going well because all Albert hears is dollar signs when anyone talks and he knows he is against the budget already. Lots of back and forth is happening at the table and Francis is ready to throw people off the deep end. Jack says they are $2 million over the budget and need to make cuts NOW. Francis let Albert know they can’t make the movie for $4 million. Albert is freaking out because he has cashed all the favors with Robert. Does he go to Colombo? We shall see.

I am going to make you an offer, take it or leave it. – Charles

Albert and Francis show up to talk to Charles for more money. Charles calls them out and says they said they could make it for the $4.5 million. A few back and forth moments lead to Charles telling them they can get $6 million if they put up their fees against any overages. Francis says yes without any hesitations. Deal done. Next, the boys meet with the Corleone family (Cast and Crew) for dinner.

The ending of “Kiss The Ring”

During this dinner, Francis (and us, the viewer) gets a taste of what we can expect from these cast members to film The Godfather. We have a moment where Brando, obviously in character, makes a toast and Francis is in ALL OF HIS GLORY.

As Bettye combed through the budget, she realized they had a couple of mafia members on the take and all had the same social security number. Caesar is the man in charge and Albert wants to meet with him to get things straight. Caesar makes it known that he knows where to go if he has any issues. Bettye lets him know that the FBI agents arrive to speak to Albert. (I told you that showing up to the wake would haunt him). They offer to set him up with a wire for protection, and he turns them down.

Barry calls to tell Robert that he was right about Love Story. It freaks him out because Barry is never right, and he now believes the sale rumors could be true now. Charles and Bettye are sitting down for dinner. He offers her a job to work for him. She puts two and two together about Charles selling off Paramount and calls Albert. We transition to Robert, who is freaking out that Charles is selling his baby.

Colombo calls Albert and says he doesn’t talk business over the phone to come to see him now. Before he leaves, Albert talks to Francis about the production of The Godfather starting tomorrow. The duo has a reminiscent moment about how no one believed in them. Colombo is on the stage in front of the Italian American League, throwing his support behind the congressman. He sees Albert in the audience and he announces that they made a deal to let them make The Godfather and follows that they will donate all the proceeds from the premiere to the league’s hospital fund.

We have an incredible end of this episode where we see Colombo set Albert up in front of an audience to announce their partnership. He brings him onto the stage and a million questions are being asked while Albert stares with confusion and defeat at the hands of Joe Colombo.