In 1997, there was a horror movie released called I Know What You Did Last Summer, with Sarah Michelle Geller, Freddie Prinze Jr, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Ryan Phillippe. It was a reasonable hit, but it was not a film I loved. I rewatched it a few years ago and felt that it was a decent watch, but had a lot of stupid things happening in it.
In 2025, a Legacy sequel was released to I Know What You Did Last Summer with younger stars, along with a couple of the actors who had appeared in the first film. It was not a reboot or a reimagining. It was a sequel 28 years later… and not a zombie movie.
A group of friends were involved in a tragedy on the 4th of July and decided to cover it up. A year later, much like before, the friends reunite and a slicker-wearing, hook wielding killer stalked them, trying to murder them.
Couple of things, the movie is basically the same film from 1997. The plot is very similar to the original. Then, the film is basically Jaws. Why don’t the people in charge believe in the dangers coming to their towns on the Fourth of July?
This was truly stupid. The acting was terrible. The characters were all just barely characters. The story is totally stupid and made almost zero sense. The end of the film was such a mess, even for a slasher movie.
There is a pre-credit scene that sets up for a sequel, but I can not imagine that it is something that we will ever see.
The only parts that had any sort of interesting pieces was the part of the movie that nostalgia was involved. The rest was just so bad.
We’ve got another big week at the Comic Cavalcade. I just might be buying too many comic books. I don’t know how long it will take me to read these books when school starts again at the end of August.
I pre-ordered a book from Amazon Prime and it arrived this week. It is called 10,000 Ink Stains: A Memoir and it is from Jeff Lemire. I am a huge fan of Jeff Lemire as a writer and this is the story of his life. When I first ordered it in April, I thought it might be in graphic novel format, but it is more written than that. It was still listed in CLZ though so I added it to me graphic novel collection.
Todd also was able to get me a variant of Red Hulk #5. Last week I was reading Red Hulk #6 blissfully ignorant that I had not read #5 yet. As it wasn’t making sense, I pulled out CLZ and, sure enough, I was missing five. Thankfully, that is all taken care of now too.
Books this week:
Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #1. Written by Gerry Duggan with art by Javier Garrón. Cover art was done by Mark Brooks. I also picked up a foil variant with art work by Leinil Francis Yu. Godzilla is on a rampage and the heroes of the Marvel Universe is trying to stop the King of Monsters. I did not expect this to be more than a one-shot, but as the issue was ending, I realized that they were nowhere near a conclusion. I don’t know if there is more than one more issue to the series, but I am here for it regardless.
“Let it Stand #1”. Written by Gerry Duggan, Kelvin Mao and Robert Windom with art by Jae Lee. Cover art, both A and B, are done by Jae Lee. This is better known as This Ends Tonight, but we had some fun with Todd, who asked me to look for the series Let it Stand, but he actually meant this one. He knew there were three words in the title. It was a lot of fun teasing him about it. As for the series, it is an intriguing new book from Image. It is not just another revenge story. Definitely more to it.
Spider-Girl #2. Written by Torunn Grønbekk with art by Andre Risso. Variant cover art was done by Nogi San (Gold Medalist). The new Spider-Girl takes on Lady Bullseye. We also get some more of the life of Maka Akana, the Hawaiian- born Spider-Girl.
Pinupocalypse #4. Written, art and cover art by Andrew Tarusov. This has been such a hoot from Massive Comics. Roxy and Foxy are desperately trying to survive the zombie apocalypse that has been brought on by aliens, but they are able to take some time out to address their relationship… perhaps in a way that Foxy was not pleased about.
I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #4. Written by Doug Wagner with art by Daniel Hillyard. Cover art was done by Daniel Hillyard and Michelle Madsen (Bronze Medalist-tied). Rennie is ramping up her brutality as the bodies pile up. Yet, she is hoping to save her friend, Sofie, who was sold into human trafficking by their teacher. Probably not the smartest thing to do when her best friend is a serial killer. One more issue to go in this very engaging mini series that makes you root for the serial killer as your main character.
They Choose Violence #2. Written by Sheldon Allen and illustrated by Mauricio Campetella. Cover art was done by Rahzzah. No misprint in this issue. Only Laneka, Deidre and Karen celebrating Laneka’s birthday in the way that only these three could do.
Benjamin #2. Written by Ben H. Winters and art by Leomacs. Cover art was done by Christian Ward. Benjamin J. Carp is a robot that has had his actual intelligence uploaded into… or is he? This three-issue series has been wild so far and I have really enjoyed the originality and the difference of the book.
Ghost Pepper #1. Written and art by Ludo Lullabi. Variant cover B by Stanley “Artgerm” Lu. This is a weird book. It is like a dystopian future world meeting up with a cooking show. Mad Max meets Top Chef. There is also a bad ass named Ash who just can never finish his bowl of noodles. It is another one of those original ideas that we are getting from independent comics.
Nightwing #127. “Other Part 2” Written by Dan Watters with art by Dexter Soy. Adriano Lucas did the art for the cover. Titans Tower has been corrupted by Nitemite and Dick has to make it through to find Oracle. Wild and weird versions of some of the worst things from Nightwing’s past show up, including Deathwing.
Imperial #2. “Two” Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Iban Coello & Federico Vicentini. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Marte Gracia. The future space epic continues with war between the Shi’ar and Wakanda Prime. Again, I have not been a fan of the futuristic stories like this, but Jonathan Hickman does a decent job of providing an intriguing story.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10. “Turtles on Trial” Written by Jason Aaron and art by Juan Ferryra. Jorge Fornes did the cover art (Bronze Medalist-tied). The Turtles are on trial. Corrupt D.A. Hieronymus Haleis using his persuasion ability to make everyone hate the Turtles. What will come from this?
Phantom Road #14. “The Horrormen Part 4” Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover by Gabriel H. Walta. The next arc of this series has reached its penultimate issue. It is a weird book for sure, but I love the style of writing done by Jeff Lemire.
Absolute Batman #10. “Abomination” Written by Scott Snyder and art by Nick Dragotta. Cover art was done by Nick Dragotta and Frank Martin. A naked Bruce Wayne has been captured and is being experimented on. However, his determination still comes through strongly as he continues his efforts to escape. Bane is lurking though.
The Tin Can Society #7. Written by Peter Warren and art by Francesco Mobili. Cover art was done by Francesco Mobili and Chris Chuckry. After a long break, Tin Can Society returned. It was quite a few months since I saw the last of this book, but the reminder of what was going on came quickly as we see John is not dead, and we learn of his story.
Detective Comics #1099. “Elixir” Written by Tom Taylor with art by Lee Garbett. Mikel Janin did the cover art. I do love Tom Taylor. His take on Batman in this run in Detective Comics has been awesome and I love the use of Harvey Bullock and Penguin in the story. Big issue #1100 next month.
Redcoat #13. Creators are Geoff Jahns and Bryan Hitch. Cover art by Bryan Hitch and Brad Anderson. Simon Pure finally chooses a side! The Northerner plays a huge role in the story set during the United States Civil War. Then it looks as if the Northerner has another guest star role coming up soon.
New Avengers #2. Written by Sam Humphries and art by Ton Lima. Variant cover art was done by Andy Park. Bucky, Black Widow, Namor, Wolverine and Clea have to team up to battle warped versions of the Illuminati created by the Jackal.
New Champions #7. Written by Steve Foxe and penciled by Ruairi Coleman. Cover art was done by Gleb Melnikov & Arthur Hesli. We get the debut of a new character, another vampire, named Nightdrifter, who aids the New Champions in their search for Hellrune.
Los Monstruos #3. Written by James Robinson and art by Jesus Merino. Cover art was done by Jesus Merino & K.J. Diaz. Perry Cutter continues his search for Yvonne Veil and the truth of what is happening. Seems as if the truth is finding him. I have really enjoyed this monster noir as we progress around Los Monstruos.
Exceptional X-Men #11. Written by Eve L. Ewing and art by Federica Mancin. Variant cover art by Junggeun Yoon. Our young trainee X-Men meet Ironheart in a Chicago park when all heck breaks loose. Meanwhile, Kitty, Emma and Bobby wait to celebrate with the kids.
Toxie Team-Up #2. Written by Stuart Moore and art by Ryan Kelly. Fred harper did the cover art. This is not as much a team-up as a fight between as we get the Toxic Avengers one-on-one with the Jersey Devil, both with connections to their bullied pasts. This was not as much fun as the Jesus Crist issue #1 team up but it still is an enjoyable read.
Marvel Knights: The World to Come #2. “Part Two: The Host” Written by Joe Quesada with art by Priest. Cover art by Joe Quesada & Richard Isanove. Boy Joe Quesada sure knows how to stir up controversy and online rage. A white Black Panther??? Another one of those alternate future stories that do not have any footholds in the real Marvel Universe. Still interesting to see what outrage will be next.
Death of the Silver Surfer #2. “Pandora” Written by Greg Pak and art by Sumit Kumar. Variant cover art was done by Claudio Castellini. It must be the week for the alternate future stories as we get yet another one. This one is probably my favorite of the possible future stories with Silver Surfer and a Galactus who has seen better days.
Giant Size House of M #1. “A Sweet and Perfect World.” Written by Jackson Lanzing & Collin Kelly. Art was done by Francesco Manna and the variant cover art was by Martin Coccolo. Ms. Marvel continues her jaunt through the X-Men history, confronting Legion where she can. Again, I am not sure what this is intended to be. Is this a reboot of the X-Men past? If so, I am not happy. If this is just another possible story, why not make these What If issues? Cool variant cover though.
Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #2. Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art by Dustin Nguyen. This has been a really solid book so far as we focus in on the feelings and anxieties of Jason Todd. Jason goes as far as to cast aside his allegiances to Batman and Nightwing to join the other side and be more proactive in the battle against the evil forces of Gotham.
Far Down Below #4. Written by Chris Condon and art by Gege Schall. Cover art was done by Jacob Phillips. The trio move along beneath the surface of the earth and they find Russians, dinosaurs and relationship troubles. The one thing we now know for sure… dinosaurs do not taste like chicken. Goonies meets Journey to the Center of the Earth continues here.
Other books this week: Catacombs of Torment #1, Post Malone’s Big Rig #1, Post Malone’s Big Rig #1 (Peach Momoko variant), The New Gods #8, Star Wars #2, Zatanna #6, Endless Night #2, and Ultimate Black Panther #18.
Quick Hits: I am happy to welcome back Dynamite Comics! After several months of not getting any of their books (because of the ongoing drama surrounding Diamond), we got a flood of n ew Dynamite books, several that should have come out in April. These include Gargoyle: Demona #1 (Silver Medalist), Red Sonja vs. The Army of Darkness #3, Space Quest #2, and the new Red Sonja Noir #1. The Ultimate X-Men #17 continues on. I am curious if this version of the X-Men will meet the other Ultimate characters soon. Blood & Thunder #3 has been a fun sci-fi romp so far. Talking guns can’t be beat. The strange one shot Dread the Hall H #1 mixes horror with comic conventions. Makes sense. Past Time #4 brings more vampire baseball action to life. This series has had some of the best collection of covers of any four issues this year without a Mark Spears variant. G.I. Joe #9 has more action with Cover Girl and the Baroness in Paris. Shocking ending to the issue too. A surprise shark week celebration showed up at Comic World this week as Aquaman: Air Jaws Allies #1 popped up. It was so unexpected that it was not even on CLZ on Wednesday. I did try again on Thursday and it was on the app. Bring on the Bad Guys: Abomination #1 is the next step of this villain arc featuring Mephisto and Sister Sorrow. I got two versions of Be Not Afraid #2, one the cover A and the other a virgin variant. There are amazing pages in this book. Deadpool/Wolverine #7 has a variant cover by the one and only Walter Simonson. Definitely the highlight of that book. Red Before Black#6 was another book, this from Boom, that had a long break between issues… only for this to be the final issue of the series. WTF. Wrap up the week with a couple of DC books: Absolute Flash #5 and Krypto The Last Dog of Krypton #2. Krypto is adopted by the sad and cruel Lex Luthor. Pet lovers may not want to read this book as there may be some triggers inside it.
Another big week of covers this week. I have a ton of variant covers, especially from Marvel. It is the third time where I had to have a tie for the bronze medalist. I even wished that I had more medals available because the also-ran section will be large this week.
Also-Rans: SpaceQuest #2, Be Not Afraid #2, Be Not Afraid (Virgin Variant Cover) #2, Red Sonja vs. the Army of Darkness #3, Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #2, Red Sonja Noir #1, Krypto the Last Dog of Krypton #2, This Ends Tonight #1 (aka Let It Stand #1), They Choose Violence #2, Godzilla Destroys the Marvel Universe #1 (Foil Variant), Pinupocalypse #4, and Past Time #4.
TIE
Bronze Medalist
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles #10
Cover Art by Jorge Fornes
This is a wonderful cover with Raphael staring down to the street with the police showing up. The colors of the lights standout extremely well and illuminates the cover beautifully. This was one of the two that wound up tied for the bronze medalist. The other one was….
TIE
I Was a Fashion School Serial Killer #4
Cover art by Daniel Hillyard and Michelle Madsen
These “Fashion School Serial Killer” books’ covers have been sensational, and I love the image of our character slowly ascending from the pool of blood. I love the red with the black background. Just beautiful cover.
Silver Medalist
Gargoyles: Demona #1
Variant Cover D
Cover art by Mark Spears
Our leader in the clubhouse for 2025, Mark Spears is back again, doing a specialty cover for Dynamite This is not a book I would have picked up if it had not been for the Spears cover. Shout out to Todd for picking this one up for me (he always complains when I don’t give him credit.)
Gold Medalist
Spider-Girl #2
Variant Cover C
Cover Art by Nogi San
Love this Spider-Girl variant cover. The black and white imagery on the cover is so great. There is just a little touch of red. I saw this on the shelf today and I grabbed it immediately.
Here are the nominees for the EMMY Awards. These were given out this morning with some sad omissions. For me, I was hoping for Kathryn Hahn to be nominated for Agatha All Along. I would have liked for Patti LaPone to get a nom too, as her episode was one of the best of the year. I am thrilled that Agatha All Along received a nomination for Outstanding Original Music and Lyricswith “The Ballad of the Witches Road.” That should really win. There was no song that was more intricate to the plot than this one.
Nothing for Squid Game is shocking, despite season 2 being a lesser season.And despite getting 14 nominations, there was nothing for Diego Luna or Stellan Skarsgård in acting categories.
Way too man nominations for The White Lotus, which was, at best, an average show this season. That show dominated the acting categories and should probably only should have had about half of the noms it got.
I love Martin Short, but I really thought Steve Martin had a better season on Only Murders in the Building this year with all the stuff he had to do with Jane Lynch’s character Sazz Pataki’s murder.
Outstanding drama series
“Andor” (Disney+)
“The Diplomat” (Netflix)
“The Last of Us” (HBO Max)
“Paradise” (Hulu)
“The Pitt” (HBO Max)
“Severance” (Apple TV+)
“Slow Horses” (Apple TV+)
“The White Lotus” (HBO Max)
Outstanding comedy series
“Abbott Elementary” (ABC)
“The Bear” (FX)
“Hacks” (HBO Max)
“Nobody Wants This” (Netflix)
“Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)
“Shrinking” (Apple TV+)
“The Studio” (Apple TV+)
“What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)
Outstanding limited or anthology series
“Adolescence” (Netflix)
“Black Mirror” (Netflix)
“Dying for Sex” (FX)
“Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story” (Netflix)
“The Penguin” (HBO Max)
Outstanding television movie
“Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy” (Peacock)
“The Gorge” (Apple TV+)
“Mountainhead” (HBO Max)
“Nonnas” (Netflix)
“Rebel Ridge” (Netflix)
Outstanding reality competition program
“The Amazing Race” (CBS)
“RuPaul’s Drag Race” (MTV)
“Survivor” (CBS)
“Top Chef” (Bravo)
“The Traitors” (Peacock)
Outstanding talk series
“The Daily Show” (Comedy Central)
“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)
“The Late Show with Stephen Colbert” (CBS)
Outstanding scripted variety series
“Last Week Tonight with John Oliver” (HBO Max)
“Saturday Night Live” (NBC)
Outstanding variety special (live)
“The Apple Music Super Bowl LIX Halftime Show Starring Kendrick Lamar” (Fox)
“Beyoncé Bowl” (Netflix)
“The Oscars” (ABC)
“SNL50: The Anniversary Special” (NBC)
“SNL50: The Homecoming Concert” (Peacock)
Outstanding variety special (pre-recorded)
“Adam Sandler: Love You” (Netflix)
“Ali Wong: Single Lady” (Netflix)
“Bill Burr: Drop Dead Years” (Hulu)
“Conan O’Brien: The Kennedy Center Mark Twain Prize For American Humor” (Netflix)
“Sarah Silverman: Postmortem” (Netflix)
“Your Friend, Nate Bargatze” (Netflix)
Outstanding game show
“Celebrity Family Feud” (ABC)
“Jeopardy” (ABC)
“The Price is Right” (CBS)
“Wheel of Fortune” (ABC)
“Who Wants to Be a Millionaire” (ABC)
Outstanding lead actress in a drama series
Kathy Bates, “Matlock”
Sharon Horgan, “Bad Sisters”
Britt Lower, “Severance”
Bella Ramsey, “The Last of Us”
Keri Russell, “The Diplomat”
Outstanding lead actor in a drama series
Sterling K. Brown, “Paradise”
Gary Oldman, “Slow Horses”
Pedro Pascal, “The Last of Us”
Adam Scott, “Severance”
Noah Wyle, “The Pitt”
Outstanding lead actress in a comedy series
Uzo Aduba, “The Residence”
Kristen Bell, “Nobody Wants This”
Quinta Brunson, “Abbott Elementary”
Ayo Edebiri, “The Bear”
Jean Smart, “Hacks”
Outstanding lead actor in a comedy series
Adam Brody, “Nobody Wants This”
Seth Rogen, “The Studio”
Jason Segel, “Shrinking”
Martin Short, “Only Murders in the Building”
Jeremy Allen White, “The Bear”
Outstanding lead actress in a limited or anthology series or movie
Cate Blanchett, “Disclaimer”
Meghann Fahy, “Sirens”
Rashida Jones, “Black Mirror”
Cristin Milloti, “The Penguin”
Michelle Williams, “Dying for Sex”
Outstanding lead actor in a limited or anthology series or movie
Colin Farrell, “The Penguin”
Stephen Graham, “Adolescence”
Jake Gyllenhaal, “Presumed Innocent”
Brian Tyree Henry, “Dope Thief”
Cooper Koch, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Outstanding supporting actress in a drama series
Patricia Arquette, “Severance”
Carrie Coon, “The White Lotus”
Katherine LaNasa, “The Pitt”
Julianne Nicholson, “Paradise”
Parker Posey, “The White Lotus”
Natasha Rothwell, “The White Lotus”
Aimee Lou Wood, “The White Lotus”
Outstanding supporting actor in a drama series
Zach Cherry, “Severance”
Walton Goggins, “The White Lotus”
Jason Isaacs, “The White Lotus”
James Marsden, “Paradise”
Sam Rockwell, “The White Lotus”
Tramell Tillman, “Severance”
John Turturro, “Severance”
Outstanding supporting actress in a comedy series
Liza Colón-Zayas, “The Bear”
Hannah Einbinder, “Hacks”
Kathryn Hahn, “The Studio”
Janelle James, “Abbott Elementary”
Catherine O’Hara, “The Studio”
Sheryl Lee Ralph, “Abbott Elementary”
Jessica Williams, “Shrinking”
Outstanding supporting actor in a comedy series
Ike Barinholtz. “The Studio”
Colman Domingo, “The Four Seasons”
Harrison Ford, “Shrinking”
Jeff Hiller, “Somebody Somewhere”
Ebon Moss-Bachrach, “The Bear”
Michael Urie, “Shrinking”
Bowen Yang, “Saturday Night Live”
Outstanding supporting actress in a limited or anthology series or movie
Erin Doherty, “Adolescence”
Ruth Negga, “Presumed Innocent”
Deirdre O’Connell, “The Penguin”
Chloë Sevigny, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Jenny Slate, “Dying for Sex”
Christine Tremarco, “Adolescence”
Outstanding supporting actor in a limited or anthology series or movie
Javier Bardem, “Monsters: The Lyle and Erik Menendez Story”
Bill Camp, “Presumed Innocent”
Owen Cooper, “Adolescence”
Rob Delaney, “Dying for Sex”
Peter Sarsgaard, “Presumecd Innocent”
Ashley Walters, “Adolescence”
Outstanding guest actress in a drama series
Jane Alexander, “Severance”
Gwendoline Christie, “Severance”
Kaitlyn Dever, “The Last of Us”
Cherry Jones, “The Handmaid’s Tale”
Catherine O’Hara, “The Last of Us”
Merritt Wever, “Severance”
Outstanding guest actor in a drama series
Giancarlo Esposito, “The Boys”
Scott Glenn, “The White Lotus”
Shawn Hatosy, “The Pitt”
Joe Pantoliano, “The Last of Us”
Forest Whitaker, “Andor”
Jeffrey Wright, “The Last of Us”
Outstanding guest actress in a comedy series
Olivia Colman, “The Bear”
Jamie Lee Curtis, “The Bear”
Cynthia Erivo, “Poker Face”
Robby Hoffman, “Hacks”
Zoë Kravitz, “The Studio”
Julianne Nicholson, “Hacks”
Outstanding guest actor in a comedy series
Jon Bernthal, “The Bear”
Bryan Cranston, “The Studio”
Dave Franco, “The Studio”
Ron Howard, “The Studio”
Anthony Mackie, “The Studio”
Martin Scorsese, “The Studio”
Outstanding directing for a drama series
“Andor,” Janus Metz (“Who Are You?”)
“The Pitt,” Amanda Marsalis (“6 P.M.”)
“The Pitt,” John Wells (“7 A.M.”)
“Severance,” Jessica Lee Gagné (“Chikhai Bardo”)
“Severance,” Ben Stiller (“Gold Harbor)
“Slow Horses,” Adam Randall (“Hello Goodbye”)
“The White Lotus,” Mike White (“Amor Fati”)
Outstanding directing for a comedy series
“The Bear,” Ayo Edebiri (“Napkins”)
“Hacks,” Lucia Aniello (“A Slippery Slope”)
“Mid-Century Modern,” James Burrows (“Here’s To You, Mrs. Schneiderman”)
“The Rehearsal,” Nathan Fielder (“Pilot’s Code”)
“The Studio,” Seth Rogen & Evan Goldberg (“The Oner”)
Outstanding directing for a limited or anthology series or movie
“Adolescence,” Philip Barantini
“Dying for Sex,” Shannon Murphy (“It’s Not That Serious”)
“The Penguin,” Helen Shaver (“Cent’anni”)
“The Penguin,” Jennifer Getzinger (“A Great or Little Thing”)
“Sirens,” Nicole Kassell (“Exile”)
“Zero Day,” Leslie Linka Glatter
Outstanding writing for a drama series
“Andor,” Dan Gilroy (“Welcome to the Rebellion”)
“The Pitt,” Joe Sachs (“2 P.M.”)
“The Pitt,” R. Scott Gemmill (“7 A.M.”)
“Severance,” Dan Erickson (“Cold Harbor”)
“Slow Horses,” Will Smith (“Hello Goodbye”)
“The White Lotus,” Mike White (“Full-Moon Party”)
Outstanding writing for a comedy series
“Abbott Elementary,” Quinta Brunson (“Back To School”)
“Hacks,” Lucia Aniello, Paul W. Downs and Jen Statsky (“A Slippery Slope”)
“The Rehearsal,” Nathan Fielder, Carrie Kemper, Adam Lock-Norton and Eric Notarnicola (“Pilot’s Code”)
“Somebody Somewhere,” Hanna Bos, Paul Thureen and Bridget Everett (“AGG”)
“The Studio,” Seth Rogen, Evan Goldberg, Peter Huyck, Alex Gregory and Frida Perez (“The Promotion”)
“What We Do in the Shadows,” Sam Johnson, Sarah Naftalis and Paul Simms (“The Finale”)
Outstanding writing for a limited or anthology series or movie
“Adolescence,” Jack Thorne and Stephen Graham
“Black Mirror,” Charlie Brooker and Bisha K. Ali (“Common People”)
“Dying for Sex,” Kim Rosenstock and Elizabeth Meriwether (“Good Value Diet Soda”)
“The Penguin,” Lauren LeFranc (“A Great or Little Thing”)
“Say Nothing,” Joshua Zetumer (“The People in the Dirt”)
These final two episodes of season four show exactly why The Bear is constantly nominated for Best Comedy Series at the Emmys.
That is sarcasm. This is not a comedy series for me. It is a full on drama that might have some comedic aspects at times.
Nothing showed that more than these final two episodes which were full of amazing moments and performances that were off the charts.
First, in “Tonnato,” we get an amazing set of scenes with Carmy and his mother, Donna. Jamie Lee Curtis may as well make some room on her mantel for another Emmy because this was unbelievable. The performance was so raw and powerful and brought a tear to my eyes. She was as vulnerable as you could be in this scene while expressing her overwhelming guilt and regret over her behavior and choices. Jeremy Allen White was an exceptional scene partner as he pillowed her performance while not taking away from it. Both of these characters felt on the precipice of an emotional breakthrough, though at any second, it could fall apart. It was a tremendously powerful scene.
Then, in the finale of the season, Carmy, Sydney and Richie (with Natalie eventually joining) spent the episode out back of the restaurant screaming at each other over the impending departure of Carmy from The Bear. Carmy’s decision to “retire” has been forming over the last few episodes as he realized that he did not love what he was doing anymore and that he was only serving as a roadblock for the restaurant’s success.
With the backdrop of the ticking clock, Carmy’s decision may have felt like a betrayal to Sydney and Richie, but he seemingly was able to convince them that he was not just dropping them. The ownership agreement, half for Jimmy, half for Sydney, Natalie and Richie, was something that Sydney insisted on (including Richie).
Carmy’s confession that he had attended Michael’s funeral, even though everyone thought he had not gone, was massive for Richie. You can see why these three actors in particular have been so in demand lately for other projects. They are truly some fantastic performers (no pun intended as Ebon Moss-Bachrach, who played Richie will be Ben Grimm, the Thing, in Marvel’s Fantastic Four in a couple of weeks).
I thought the fourth season of The Bear was far superior to season three, which felt like a down year to me. I loved the way Carmy was going on the self-improvement trip. I really wanted to see the scene where he gave the green sweater (which he found at his mother’s in episode 9) back to Claire, but hopefully that scene will make it into a future seasson.
This season left plenty of plot threads dangling, as the ticking clock struck zero at the end of the final episode. Was that the end of the restaurant or will it be able to be saved as they were starting to put things together, albeit slowly.
It has been well known that the WWE has some of the greatest women wrestlers in the world today. I have sat watching RAW or Smackdown thinking about the sheer number of awesome female performers the company could put out.
They only solidified that by having their all-female PLE Evolution on Sunday night. They had done an all-women PPV (at the time) in 2018 and it was a fun night, but this was at such a level that some are claiming that it is the best show of 2025 so far for the WWE.
There were complaints about the build to the show as the WWE only had two weeks of build and nothing of real note had happened. The WWE was also building to Saturday Night’s Main Event, The Great American Bash and SummerSlam during this stretch so the time was limited.
It just goes to show how remarkable the women of the WWE truly are that they can put on arguably the best event of the year with little background.
Lots of credit goes to the Atlanta crowd because they were hot all night long and that is a key to having a great event.
Show kicked off with a triple threat match for the Intercontinental Championship with champion Becky Lynch defending against Bayley and Lyra Valkyria. It was the match that had the best story behind it and I had even heard some people say that this should main event the show. The three wrestlers had amazing chemistry with each other and it was a spectacular match. All three of them delivered and the first match on the card threatened to steal the night. Becky did this amazingly smooth roll-up finish that I had never seen before. It was so good.
NXT has claimed that they have the best Women’s division in all of wrestling, and they got a chance to show it with NXT Champion Jacy Jayne defending against Jordynn Grace. They had a banger of a match that ended with a heel turn from the newly arrived Blake Monroe. I saw that one coming from the pre-show, by the way. I smelled the heel turn.
The four way tag team title match saw the Judgement Day retain their titles against the Kabuki Warriors, Charlotte Flair & Alexa Bliss and Sol Ruca & Zaria. This was a lot of fun too. The Atlanta crowd was hot for Charlotte, even chanting “We Want Charlotte” at one point. That was amazing considering how hated Charlotte Flair had been since her return. It was a wonderful moment for sure.
This tag match also had one of my favorite sequences of the night as Sol was holding Alexa so Zaria could spear her only to wind up getting speared herself when Charlotte pulled Alexa away at the last moment. The timing on that was impeccable and it looked so great. I also loved how Charlotte held Alexa in the corner and mouthed “I got you” to Alexa even though their gimmick has been that they were not friends. The Charlotte and Alexa pairing has been sensational so far and has helped get Charlotte cheered.
Tiffany Stratton defended her WWE Women’s Championship against the Hall of Famer Trish Stratus in a solid match. Tris is almost 50 years old and she looks amazing. She still has it to as these two put on a really entertaining title match.
Anything went in the next match between Jade Cargill and Naomi. This feud had been going for months and this felt like a blow off. There were a bunch of cool spots in this match including the ending sequence of Jade putting Naomi through a table from a top rope Jaded. It looked great.
Battle Royal followed this and it was fine. The best part was the win by Stephanie Vaquer, who now gets a title match at Clash in Paris. Vaquer is one of the newer stars in WWE, but she is known worldwide and she is one of the best going.
Then, what has a chance to be the Match of the Year. Iyo Sky defended her WWE World Championship against Rhea Ripley. We have seen this match several times, but, honestly, it never gets old and this match was brilliant. These two have such chemistry together and are so special in the ring that they stole the entire weekend that had been loaded with wrestling.
Then, after a beautiful Spanish fly maneuver, the big shock happened. Naomi, fresh off of getting beaten up badly in the match with Jade, came down with her Money in the Bank contract and cashed in, making the match a triple threat. Iyo and Rhea had killed each other so much that they were easy picking for Naomi and she became the new Women’s World Champion.
An unbelievable moment with a shocking cash in. I, like many, figured Naomi was cashing in on Tiffany or Jade after their match at SummerSlam, but instead, she cashed in on Iyo and made a historic moment.
There should be no doubt that the WWE women could put on a show like this. Their amount of riches they currently have is an embarrassment of riches. This was even without the currently injured Liv Morgan, who is one of the best of the division.
WWE Women’s Division has come a long way from the Bra and Panties matches of the past. They are now the main events and the bangers that were once exclusively the male’s area. Congrats to the WWE Women’s Division on a massively successful show that exceeded expectations.
Several storylines that have been running all season continue to move along in a simple, but entertaining episode of The Bear.
Sydney has a nightmare and ends up deciding to stick with The Bear instead of going to the new restaurant. This arc has been going all season long and feels a little anticlimactic here. Perhaps there is another twist coming on this. Plus, there is a shot with Ayo Edebirion the phone with Chef Adam Shapiro that was perhaps the worst looking green screen I have ever seen. It was so distracting. Sydney looked as if she was floating on air in front of Lake Michigan.
Carmy continued his personal growth as he prepared himself to take a photo album to his mother’s house. This was very tough for Carmy and the episode ended with him knocking on her door. My favorite scene of the episode included Carmy talking on the phone with Claire. There was so much hope in that scene. Carmy, you have to find that green sweater!
Richie was having great scenes at the restaurant throughout the episode. He is so much more likable of a character than he was in the early seasons.
Sugar and Computer made looking at restaurant data compelling. Again, there is some hope for the Bear, but it is still a longshot.
Two more episodes for season 4 are available on Hulu. I should be able to get this show finished over the next few days.
Today marks the end of a journey that I started here at EYG in September 2023. I had just finished watching the five seasons of Twilight Zone and I needed something new to do as a rewatch. Despite being a little intimidated by eleven seasons of episodes, I decided to watch The X-Files, which was one of my favorite shows when it was on TV. Now with just about two months away from two years since starting, I watched the final episode of the series.
The finale was the fourth piece of an over-arching storyline about the Cigarette Smoking Man trying to release an alien virus and cause a planet-wide pandemic. It was a pandemic that we all lived through in the finale of season 10. We started season 11 with taking the results of that episode and having it be a vision Scully saw of the future and part of the idea was this was a chance to stop it. In order to stop it, they needed to find William.
We met William earlier in the season, setting up his powers. We also learn that William is not Mulder’s son, but was created by CSM in a lab. This was a horrible truth that everyone hated.
We are back to trying to find William in the finale and I wonder why Mulder and Scully spent this whole season ignoring this arc and doing all those individual episodes instead.
This episode was basically Mulder chasing after William, trying to catch up with him. There was a lot of running, some driving and so on. Then, Mulder and Scully was too far apart for most of the movie. I liked this much more when they got back together at the end.
Mulder FINALLY shot the CSM. He did not shoot him in the head though. How much of the pain would have been prevented had Mulder just shot him in the head when he first had a chance? CSM was shot in this manner to allow him to pull another “I’m not dead” moment had the show returned. It was finally CSM’s shooting of William (in the head, btw) that pushed Mulder past the point.
Oh, and… did Skinner die? He got run over by CSM? What a bitch way to go out for one of our longest running characters. Jump up on that hood of the other car, Skinner. Skinner did shoot Monica in the head, which I truly appreciated. I never liked that character.
I did enjoy the final scene with Mulder and Scully where she told him that she was pregnant. However, Scully did not seem to react to William’s death in the way that she would have. I know she learned about William’s origin but would that have affected the way she perceived this boy for all of these years? It is nice to have Mulder and Scully together with a possible happy ending.
William returning to life out of the water was a tag that felt like they wanted to continue, but the series needed to be done.
I feel like this is an accomplishment finishing the series after such a long time. I do love David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson because of these characters and this show.
Win or Lose’s final two episodes were the Sunday Morning Sidewalk this week and these episodes wrapped up the season long storyline.
Episode seven featured Kai and her overbearing dad who pushes her hard. Kai and her dad James moved into the neighborhood a year before and the softball team helped Kai become part of the community. She was really great at baseball, but the atmosphere of the Pickles made Kai want to play softball. James jumped in with both feet.
We see the drive of her father show itself in Kai as she was pushing herself to get better and wound up hurting her ankle, though she never told anyone she was hurt.
The episode ended with the championship game, getting a little further than we did last week. We see Kai at the plate after Laurie got hit by the pitch and Kai hit a big shot into the outfield, only to see that injured ankle become a problem again.
The final episode had to bring everything together that has been happening all year long and it does so really well. We focus in on Coach Dan for this episode and his own problems. Living out of his car, he spent his time at the field, grooming it for game time. There was a lot here that I could relate to as a former coach myself. As Coach Dan was watering the field, I remembered days doing the exact same thing.
Kai’s big hit split the outfield and Kai ran the bases, behind Laurie, who clearly had not done that before. Laurie scores to tie the game but Kai ends up in a run down and gets called out at home by Frank.
This set off a massive chaotic event as the crowd went wild, Coach Dan loses his temper and gets accidentally knocked into Frank the umpire. Frank throws Dan out of the game, which only caused Dan to lose it more. Dan was feeling the pressure of the parents who want to replace Dan with James next season.
Then we get:
Laurie trying to help calm her father down (with a remarkable imagery/metaphor)
Ira stops the Bleacher Creatures from stealing the cash box from the concessions. He does that by grabbing it and running away.
It was actually Ira’s calling for help that caused Taylor to leave the game, not the trouble with Yuwen
Rochelle and Vanessa finally got to the game in the middle of the chaos and jumped in to help.
Vanessa and Frank bond after Frank saved Vanessa’s baby from choking.
Taylor prevents the Bleacher Creatures from getting Ira and they return the cash box.
James found Kai, who was hiding after the play at home and they talk through their troubles.
After the baby was saved, this got back to reality and the chaos left the park. Dan had calmed down and apologized to Frank. Taylor, Kai and Yuwen all made up. The game moved on into extra innings.
After this we see a Pickles pizza party celebrating the end of the season. We do not know what the result of the championship game was and no one mentioned it again.
The show ended with Laurie telling her dad that she did not want to play softball any more.
This was such a wonderful show with so much heart. It gave us a ton of human emotion, wrapped within the concept of a softball game. The imagery of the show really spoke to me and the way certain emotions were displayed was remarkably creative.
This is truly some Pixar magic in a series where I did not expect that magic to be.
This ends Win or Lose for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk. Next week, we start the two episode documentary series called Kisstory, about the band Kiss. It is two episodes, both about an hour and a half long. It can be found on Hulu or Disney +.
We have reached the penultimate episode of the X-Files series, and it was one of the grossest of the whole run.
Blood, internal organs, blenders… ugh, gross.
Eating these fresh organs and blood help keep a couple of cult leaders young and beautiful. Fiona Vroom played Barbara Beaumont, a former child star actress who is obsessed with her appearance. She was over 80 but looked as if she were 30+. It still would not be worth it with the gross looking substances that they would have to consume.
The episode added a religious aspect for Scully and Mulder, and they ended the episode with a really strong one on one conversation that was separate of the rest of the show. It felt as if this was kind of setting up the finale next episode.
Jere Burns was in this episode as a creepy doctor/part of the cult leader. He is a solid actor and he made the horrific stuff in this show make a lot of sense.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 