Agents of Shield S2 E11, E12, E13, E14

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Spoilers

“Aftershocks”

“Who You Really Are”

“One of Us”

“Love in the Time of Hydra”

Skye and her new Inhuman powers take center stage as she tried to deal with the aftermath of them and of her crazy father.

There is also a second Shield storyline that I did not remember from my original viewing. Apparently, Mac and Bobbi have been working for this new Shield, which was being led by Edward James Olmos. Olmos played Robert Gonzales and was leading the push to bring down Coulson.

We had a guest shot from Lady Sif, who was chasing a Kree warrior, who was here pursuing those changed by the Terrigen Mist. That meant Skye.

It was fun in the episode “One of Us” when they brought Angar the Screamer to the screen. He is the type of low level supervillains that Agents of Shield would be allowed to use in the MCU.

Watching Mac lie to all of the other Shield crew, I wonder how he worked his way back into the good graces of Coulson, May and so on. I know Bobbi and Hunter do not stick around long, but Mac is there until the final episode.

Agent 33 and Ward returned to stir up trouble as well. There are so many different spy level stuff going on in these episodes, plus the Inhuman storyline. Been really solid so far.

Sha Na Na S3 E1, E2, E3, E4

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I arrived at the third season of Sha Na Na with the first four episodes on YouTube and it kicked off with an odd thing. Episode one started with the group singing “Summertime” and then they had a backstage version of Up on the Roof, and I swear I had seen both of these performances on previous episodes. I did not want to take the time to go back and see if I could find them, but it was so odd that I wondered if they had to plug in some older versions of these songs for some reason. Jocko did not have his mustache, which is a key clue.

There was another song that I think they had done: Three Cool Cats. It featured one of the actresses who was the waitress at the diner, who we did not see in any other season three episode.

The season added a new set. One set was Greasers’ Hall, which apparently replaced the diner set. We also got much more Soupy Sales than in previous seasons. The new season episodes kicked off with a comedy bit before the introduction and episode one and two had a bit called “The Sha Na Na Joke Hall of Fame” which seemed like it was going to be a regular bit, only to not have it in episode 3 or 4.

Connie Stevens and Danny and the Juniors did a typical routine, with Stevens singing “Tan Shoes and Pink Shoelaces” and Danny and the Juniors doing “At the Hop.” The other two guests were Conway Twitty and Ben E. King, who both did medleys of their songs. I liked that and hope more musical guests will follow suit.

Sha Na Na did the theme song for Grease as one of their opening songs on the stage and poor Donny was so lost on the choreography of the dance routine. I felt so bad for him. He was giving it his all, but he was just behind the others so much. Donny is not the best of the backup dancers and this was pretty complicated. He kept just trying to do the grease your hair move.

Of course, Sha Na Na appeared in the movie Grease, playing the band at the dance where John Travolta and Olivia Newton John would win.

Maybe that was why they sold Donny to science in a future episode.

Man, they sure stick Lennie into a lot of dresses.

Lookin ahead, there are a lot of country musicians coming up. I wonder if they had burned through guests from the 1950s and had to move into different genres.

Send Help

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Sam Raimi has a new movie in the theater this weekend that has all kinds of Sam Raimi-isms in it. As a director, you can see those moments where Sam Raimi shined through.

The movie featured Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien as our two stranded survivors.

According to IMDB, “An employee and her insufferable boss become stranded on a deserted island, the only survivors of a plane crash. Here, they must overcome past grievances and work together to survive, will they make it out alive?“

Rachel McAdams and Dylan O’Brien are fantastic playing their characters. They give these characters some real depth and characterization in this over the top story. It starts out with these two characters seeming to be one-dimensional, but they both improve a ton over the course of the movie.

I have a problem with this movie, but, sadly, I can not explain those problems because they deal with major spoilers for the film. This stuff really makes me question what I felt about the movie, but I am unable to talk about it without spoiling it. I don’t want to do it, but I will just say that there is something that happened that was less than satisfactory for me.

The film looked great and the cinematography on the island was special. The film is shot wonderfully and all the technical aspects were good. There was a scene with a boar that was really awesome.

Without being able to go into specifics on the spoilers, I liked much of this movie, but by the end of the film, I had a lesser feel for the movie than I did in the middle.

3.5 stars

Fallout S2 E7

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“The Handoff”

“She’s Canadian!”

One of the best lines of the entire show. I laughed out loud.

Chet proclaimed it about Steph at their wedding after he said “I don’t” instead of “I do.”

Also, The Ghoul, Maximus and Thaddeus walking side by side down the street with Maximus in armor was so cool. Of course, Thaddeus’s arm fell off, so there is that.

Maximus fighting the Deathclaws was really epic.

Lucy and her father having an interesting interactions, while driving a golf cart.

Ned was back this week as he took a couple of dramatic blows to the head.

Clancy Brown as President of the United States? Never would I trust him. I have seen him in too many other projects where he is just not trustworthy.

I mean, there is a woman with her head in a jar.

Lots of dangling plots heading into the finale next week.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #54

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Spoilers

Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials

“Bundles of Love”

This week’s new show on the Sunday Morning Sidewalk is from Netflix and is an easy to digest three episodes. It is entitled Agatha Christie’s Seven Dials, and it is a mystery based on the 1929 novel from one of the iconic mystery writers of our times.

According to IMDB, “In 1925, a country house party prank turns deadly. Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent investigates the chilling murder plot. Lady Caterham and Superintendent Battle assist in solving the country house mystery that changes Bundle’s life.”

I do love a mystery. The first episode does an admirable job of setting up some solid questions. The whole clock thing in the bedroom of the dead man, the Seven Dials being repeated, everything pointing to a suicide though Bundle would not believe it, and the tragic occurrence at the end of the episode all set the table for an interesting story.

It is a touch slow, but I loved that about it. It allowed the story to take root and bring me into it with its deliberate touch.

Mia McKenna-Bruce as Lady Eileen “Bundle” Brent feels like a very engaging and entertaining lead character. I am also excited for more from Helena Bonham Carter and Martin Freeman, the biggest stars in the cast.

I am not always into a period piece, but this mystery grabbed my attention immediately and I love the fact that there are just two more episodes to go. I hope it doesn’t wind up forced because of time. The next two episodes are just under an hour, much like the first episode was, and this feels like there are a lot of moving pieces in the story.

Still, I am happy with the new choice of show for the Sunday Morning Sidewalk.

The Pitt S2 E4

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“10:00 AM”

This week’s episode of The Pitt was a slower one, as we got some specific, individual cases that allowed the staff to show that they are all very competent and intelligent doctors.

We also got some info on Dr. Collins, who is the one actor not returning to season two. The character is said to have gone back to her home in Portland, taking an attending job and planned to adopt a baby. It was nice to know the story behind the character’s departure.

Whitaker is reveled to be “helping” out a patient’s widow on a farm. The widow was from last season too and it did seem that Whitaker protested about being just friend a bit too much.

Whitaker also joined in on the betting pool about the reason why patients were being diverted from Westbridge Hospital. Whitaker chose power outage. Dr. Al-Hashimi joined the pool too.

It seemed as if Louis is doing better, bringing the stress level down that the happy-go-lucky patient was going to face something critical this season.

There was a interesting story involving eating disorder with Mel showing a lot of empathy in the situation. The show revisited the boy who was brought in an sedated early in the season, with his sister showing up, unsure about what was going on.

More foreshadowing involving a motorcycle and Robbie. Something is going to happen with that this season, I would bet.

It feels like they are setting up for something big later on in the season, but these slower episodes give some great opportunity for character development in both the staff and the patients.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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January 31

I am a couple of days late for this column this week. I think the biggest issue has been the Genre-ary, which has been going on every day this month. It has been busy so this post just never crossed my mind until tonight as I was reading these books. With the Genre-ary done until 2027, hopefully this will get back on track.

Also-Rans: Survive #5, Malevolent #1 (sketch cover), Do Not Disturb #1, Iron Man #1, Sonja Reborn #1, Spirit of the Shadows #1, and DC’s Supergirl Next Door #1.

Bronze Medalist

Feral #20

Variant Cover B (Halloween H20 homage cover)

Cover art by Tony Fleecs, Trish Forstner & Allen Passaloqua

The horror movie homage covers for Feral has been consistently sensational. This is one I recognized immediately as the Halloween H2O poster is the homage here. I love these homage covers.

Silver Medalist

Conan the Barbarian #28

Cover art by Gerardo Zaffino

This is a beautifully brutal cover with the blood running down Conan’s head. The black and white cover with the red blood is very striking.

Gold Medalist

Dust to Dust #7

Cover art by JG Jones

Dust to Dust is back after quite a layoff, with its fantastic covers jumping right back into the medal rounds. The beautiful image of the fire in the background makes this cover pop. JG Jones has been a regular in this column with Dust to Dust, and the Image book is right back into the race.

MASH (1970)

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January 31

So another Genre-ary comes to an ending with today’s movie, MASH, the original film from 1970 starring Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould and Tom Skerritt, wrapping up the Comedy Genre-ary 2026.

I love MASH the TV show (it was my #8 in the Top 100) and that probably hurt this film, which I have seen a few clips from, but never sat down and watched the entire thing.

They were saying character names that I loved, but who did not seem like the characters that I loved. Outside of Radar O’Reilly (who was played by Gary Burghoff in the film and the TV series, the only cast member that returned), we saw Hawkeye Pierce, Trapper John, Henry Blake, Hot Lips, Frank Burns, Father Mulcahy, and Spearchucker.

My biggest problem with this film is that it is not the TV show. The doctors of the 4077 MASH felt so much meaner than what I was used to. I did not like some of the things that they did because they felt cruel instead of funny. They were cruder, obnoxious and not as empathic as I expected.

The plot was nearly non-existent. The film was just a series of scenes that were only connected together because they came at the 4077 MASH. That is… until the show turned into a football film. There were several episodes of the TV show where they competed against other units, but seeing them all in full football pads and helmets was weird.

The actors were strong with Donald Sutherland, Elliot Gould, Tom Skerritt, Gary Burghoff, Rene Auberjonois, Robert Duvall, Sally Kellerman, Jo Ann Pflug, Fred Williamson, David Arkin, Roger Bowen, Michael Murphy, and Timothy Brown.

I am sure that I would have liked this more than I did, if I did not have the TV series so firmly placed in my head.

And with that… the 2026 Genre-ary is closed.

Daily Countdown: TV Theme Songs #49

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#49

The Wonder Years

Title: “With a Little Help from my Friends”

Written: John Lennon & Paul McCartney

Performed: Joe Cocker

Joe Cocker originally recorded this song, a soulful remake of the Beatles hit, in 1968 and it was chosen for the theme of this series, which debuted in 1988 because of its nostalgic feel and the feeling of the 1960s. The show was set earlier that the 1968 song, but still fit perfectly.

Joe Cocker performed the song at Woodstock in 1969.

My Blue Heaven (1990)

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January 30

On the penultimate day of the Genre-ary, I watch yet another Steve Martin movie. M y Blue Heaven is actually the fourth Steve Martin movie (along with The Jerk, Cheaper by the Dozen, and Dirty Rotten Scoundrels) in this year’s comedy Genre-ary.

I rented My Blue Heaven on Fandango at Home to fall into the Genre-ary.

According to IMDB, “An all too uptight FBI agent must protect a larger than life mobster with a heart of gold, currently under witness protection in the suburbs.”

Steve Martin and Rick Moranis are great together. They are a wonderful pair with amazing chemistry, dating back to Little Shop of Horrors. The two lead actors are the reason why this movie holds together because there are some shaky moments in the story.

The story itself is kind of hard to buy because there are so many things that happen that are not realistic. But everything is held together because of Martin and Moranis.

There is a great cast around Martin and Moranis. They included Joan Cusack, Carol Kane, William Hickey, Daniel Stern, Deborah Rush, Bill Irwin, Jess Bradford, Seth Jaffe, Robert Miranda, Melanie Mayron, Ed Lauter, and Raymond O’Connor.

There are some awesome dance routines in the film. It was really entertaining.

My Blue Heaven was fun and funny with some great actors that overcame some of the wonkier marts of the script. A solid Steve Martin movie.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #50

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#50

Diff’rent Strokes

Title: “It Takes Diff’rent Strokes”

Written: Alan Thicke, Gloria Loring and Al Burton

Performed: Alan Thicke

We are into the Top 50 of our Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes list with a sitcom about to young black boys being raised by an affluent white man and their lives on Park Avenue, New York.

Alan Thicke has done several theme songs in his career, and has appeared already once in this Top 100 with the theme from Facts of Life, the spin off from Diff’rent Strokes.

Spaghettiman (2016)

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January 29

I found this low budget superhero flick on Amazon Prime and it seemed like a good fit for comedy Genre-ary.

Boy is it stupid. But, I have to say, it is stupid in the right way.

According to IMDB, “Clark doesn’t care about you. He doesn’t care about the world. He barely cares about himself. But after an incident with an old bowl of spaghetti and a malfunctioning microwave, he becomes a superhero that can fight crime with the power of spaghetti. However, you have to pay him.“

Clark is really a jerk. He gets these weird spaghetti powers and he starts charging people. He is not your typical superhero.

The paper bag mask reminded me of when Spidey had to wear a paper bag mask and an old FF costume to get home. Lots of fun there. Or, I picture the Unknown Comic from The Gong Show. Either way, this is one more example of the paper bag mask.

There is clearly some Spider-Man love here as the spaghetti makes a Thwip sound when Spaghettiman shoots spaghetti from his hands.

None of it makes any sense, but it is funny. This film understands that it is stupid and it embraces that stupidity with both hands, with spaghetti shooting out of them.

It was a fun time watching this extremely low budget film that couldn’t be more indie if it tried.

Wonder Man S1 E5, E6, E7, E8

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I finished the final four episodes of Wonder Man on Disney + and I have to say that this is one of the best Marvel Disney + shows in a while. It’s up near the top of my list with WandaVision, Loki and Agatha All Along.

It is one of the least Marvel Marvel Studios TV shows. It is original and more focused on character. It avoided the typical, big CGI fest at the end with the villain fight while still providing a satisfying conclusion to the show.

I will say that when it ended, I really wanted more. That is a successful sign for any show.

I noticed the tremendous dialogue on this show, specifically in the last half of the episodes. The dialogue between Yahya Abdul-Mateen II and Ben Kinsley was wonderfully written. It was both comedic and realistic. The pairing of these two characters is the main reason why this show worked as well as it did.

The first episode back after “Doorman” was an important one, and, while it may have been the shortest of the season, it was so very impactful. “Found Footage” worked on so many levels that it was the perfect return to form after the black and white origin episode for why Simon had to keep his superpowers hidden.

Joe Pantoliano made a triumphant return to resume playing the character of Joe Pantoliano.

The twist at the end with Trevor reclaiming the Mandarin mantel to protect Simon’s secret was unexpected but brilliant. Seeing Ben Kingsley re-deliver those epic lines such as “You never saw me coming” was awesome.

The biggest question I have is why Marvel decided to drop this series all on one day instead of on a weekly basis. This felt like a show that, if you dropped the first two or three together and then go weekly release, would have built viewership and word of mouth, much like Agatha All Along did, another show that people wondered if we needed only to find out it was amazing. Now, instead, Wonder Man gets dropped one day and could go the way of Echo. Even a daily release schdule like What If…? got might have been better.

I do hope that we get more of Simon Williams somewhere in the MCU. The talent of Yahya Abdul-Mateen II is too impressive to waste on just one 8-episode series.

Daily Countdown: TV Show Themes #51

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#51

Buffy the Vampire Slayer

Title: “Buffy the Vampire Slayer Theme”

Composer: Parry Gripp

Performed by: Nerf Herder

Alyson Hannigan (Willow) intoduced showrunner Joss Whedon to the music of Nerf Herder and one of their songs were chosen as the theme. Nerf Herder re-recorded a version for the show after season three.

The pop-punk track kicks off the episode with a fire track, generating great energy and excitement for out Vampire Slayer.