Moonlighting S4 E13, E14

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“Maddie Hayes Got Married”

“And the Flesh was Made Word”

Season four is over.

I would not be incorrect if I stated that this season was a slosh to get through. The whole David and Teri and Maddie and Walter stuff really felt like nothing more than a distraction. It was all empty and lacked any substance.

I did like these two characters that they tossed into this story. Teri and Walter were both nice people that just should never have been involved in this.

When I was watching this when it first aired back in the 1980s, I liked these shows because I loved Moonlighting. I had more passion about it. Now, many years later, I found this season to be really tough.

There was so much anger and vitriol from both Dave and Maddie, that it tainted the relationship for me. There was so much meanness in their interactions that it just did not have the fun that it used to.

The first two seasons and part of the third, Dave and Maddie would fight, but there was a real tenderness underneath. You believed that they were in love with each other, deeply and fully. That tenderness has been mostly absent since Mark Harmon opened that door in season three.

I know season five attempted to put everything back on track, but I know it was too late.

Twin Peaks S2 E2 & E3

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“Coma”

“The Man Behind Glass”

Things are really rolling in Twin Peaks right now as the crew is finding details about Laura’s murder.

Ronette is awake, but not speaking. Her reaction to the sketch of Bob is horrifying. Leland recognized the sketch of Bob and told Sheriff Truman and Agent Cooper. Jacoby was hypnotized to remember seeing Leland murder Jacques.

I have to say though that Cooper’s inability to find what happened to Audrey is troubling. Especially since the not is below his bed.

The Giant returns and gives Coop some help. Major Briggs brings message from space for Cooper, including his own name among it.

Maddie has a vision of Bob crawling across the couch that is really scary. The look of Bob is truly a scary thing and it is amazing that they were able to stumble across the actor.

Comic Cavalcade #83

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February 25, 2024

Jumping right in this week…

Marvel Two-in-One #99. Written by Bill Mantlo and penciled by Bob Hall. Hannigan & Byrne did the cover art. I was inventorying some of the older boxes in my collection when I came across a Marvel Two-in-One. On CLZ, I saw a pic of this book. I have always loved Rom so I went to eBay and picked it up. Story was okay. I miss Rom.

Spider-Boy #4. “Nightmare Scenario” and “Missing Pieces.” Both written by Dan Slott. 1st story art by Paco Medina. 2nd story art by Ty Templeton. Cover art by Humberto Ramos & Edgar Delgado. Baily Briggs has had some difficulties, feeling a touch jealous of Miles Morales and having to deal with his monster side.

The Six Fingers #1. “In the Gaps“. Written by Dan Watters and art by Sumit Kumar. This is an intriguing new book set in Neo Novena. Johannes is at the center of the story, and he is interesting. I enjoyed this one more than last week’s One Hand.

Tenement #9. Written by Jeff Lemire and drawn by Andrea Sorrentino. The latest horror series from Jeff Lemire has its penultimate issue. This has continued to be wild and weird journey through the floors of this building.

Incredible Hulk #9. “Frozen Charlotte Part One” Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and guest artist Danny Earls. Cover art was by Nic Klein. Bruce is in New Orleans with Betty. Honestly, this monster-type story was not my favorite Hulk story . Hopefully I hope this improves.

Cobra Commander #2. Written by Joshua Williamson and art by Andrea Milana. The villainous Cobra Commander faces off with Buzzer and Ripper as we meet Zarana.

Spider-Woman #4. Written by Steven Foxe and art by Carola Borelli. Leinil Francis & Sunny Gho did the cover art. The Gang War arc is coming to an end but Jessica Drew continues to have her own problems with her now older son.

Ultimate Spider-Man #2. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by Marco Checchetto. Peter Parker has found a black costume and is swinging around the city. However, with kids and a wife, Peter isn’t as lucky in keeping his secret a secret. His daughter May finds him in his costume. He also has to fight the Shocker.

Daredevil #6. “Introductory Rites Part Six” Written by Saladin Ahmed and art by Aaron Kuder. Dr. Strange guest stars as he tries to help Matt realize what has been happening with the demons he has been facing lately.

Justice League vs. Godzilla vs. Kong #5. Written by Brian Buccellato and art by Christian Duce. Drew Johnson and Romulo Fajaroo Jr. did the cover art. Luthor has created something to help battle the titans… the MechGodzilla. Monarch makes an appearance too.

Deer Editor#2. Written by Ryan Lindsay and art by Sami Kivelä. The buck noir keeps on as Bucky is tied to a chair, and he realizes that the mayor has some involvement.

Guardians of the Galaxy Annual #1. “Grootrise” Written by Collin Kelly & Jackson Lanzing. Art was by Kev Walker. Emilio Laiso & Bryan Valenza did the cover art. This brought the recent Groot storyline to a conclusion. This wrapped up the new Guardians arc, and Drax sacrificed himself to save Groot.

Animal Pound #2. Written by Tom King and illustrated by Peter Gross. The revolution is over and now the animals need to find a way to live. They are running out of food and this lead to one of the dogs killing a rabbit to eat. Politics find its way into the pound.

Sentry #3. “Legacy Part III” Written by Jason Loo and art by Luigi Zagaria with David Cutler. Ben Harvey did the cover art. This was my favorite issue of this series so far. Ryan Topper is grabbing the power from the other Sentrys. Jessica Jones appears in this book as well.

G.O.D.S. #5. Written by Jonathan Hickman with art by Valerio Schiti. Mateus Manhanini did the cover art. Mia DiMaria wants to be like Wyn and she has been doing what he asked. However, it sounds as if she doesn’t have much chance to advance. Cool creepy issue.

Captain Marvel #5. “Family Matters.” Written by Alyssa Wong and art by Jan Bazalour. Stephen Segovia & Romulo Fajaroo Jr. did the cover art. Captain Marvel is switching back and forth yet and the danger is real.

Luke Cage: Gang War #4. Written by Rodney Barnes and art by Ramon F. Bachs. Caanan White did the cover art. Luke Cage and his team of illegal vigilantes bring down the robots from Scythe. Luke has a battle armor, but it requires old school for him to win.

Other books this week: Marvel Super Heroes Secret Wars: Battlefield #4, Rise of the Powers of X #2, The Last Hunt Predator #1, Alien: Black, White and Blood #1, A Haunted Girl #4, and Nights #5.

The X-Files S3 E17

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“Pusher”

I have always believed that the most dangerous power to have would be some kind of mind power, whether that be mind control or telepathy or telekinesis. This episode of The X-Files did nothing to persuade me otherwise.

“Pusher” is the story of a man named Robert Patrick Modell who could make people do what he wanted them to do by simply talking to them. Not just simple things either, but horrible things such as setting themselves on fire.

This episode was written by Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and you could see the touches, especially with the extremely tense, final confrontation between Mulder and Scully and Modell in a Russian roulette showdown between them which is easily the standout moment of the show.

David Duchovny was amazing in that final scene with Robert Wisden, who played Modell, and with Gillian Anderson. Duchovny played the anguish Mulder was facing with the chance that he could shoot Scully against his will. And Gillian Anderson matched the intensity with her own fear over her partner’s struggle.

Season three of The X-Files continues to be an excellent compilation of stand alone episodes mixed with mythology episodes.

Moonlighting S4 E11

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“Eek! A Spouse”

It just does not feel like Moonlighting.

This episode tried to put Dave and Maddie back into a case, including one of the show’s typical chase scenes at the end of the episode. It just felt different.

Picket Fences’ Lydia (who was Jimmy’s ex-wife) was one of the people involved in the case, as was a former General Hospital actor Gerald Anthony. Outside of that, this was an average hour of the show.

Twin Peaks S2 E1

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“May the Giant Be With You”

“Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you?
Yes! Mairzy doats and dozy doats and liddle lamzy divey
A kiddley divey too, wouldn’t you?“

Leland, with his hair changed to all grey overnight, came out singing this song, to signify that he was ready to move on. Who knew smothering a man to death had such a revitalizing property to it?

Of course, the grey hair was one more hint that Leland was the actual killer of Laura, being possessed by Killer Bob.

This episode was originally promoted as the reveal of the killer, but that was just a promotional trick and what we saw, for the first time, was an image of Killer Bob, which was what the show was giving us. Yes, Bob was the killer, but we wanted the secret to which character was being possessed.

Twin Peaks, which was already fairly mystical, embraced that end of the spectrum starting with this episode, featuring the Giant, a return of the one armed man, and Bob.

There were a couple of quotes from this episode that resonated with me. The first one was from Agent Cooper, who after waking up at the hospital after being shot, and having Lucy run down all the things that had happened that night, Cooper sarcastically said “How long was I out.” That was delivered with such a perfect tone.

The other quote was one that makes me think of my roommate Andy, because Andy loved Pete Martell’s delivery of the line. Pete was suffering with smoke inhalation and he said to Sheriff Truman, “I feel like someone taped my lips to the tailpipe of a bus.” I can hear Andy’s echoing laughter just thinking about it .

Twin Peaks has had a history of violence toward women, which probably wouldn’t work in today’s world. We got one of the more violent moments so far when we get the flashback, via Ronette’s memory, of Bob killing Laura. It is why the strong woman Catharine was such a different character on the show.

This kicked off the second season in a really strong way, and, looking back, it was clear that there were actually a lot of info dropped. More than we even knew.

Twin Peaks S1 E8

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“The Last Evening”

Part 8

Season one of Twin Peaks came to an end with all of those major storylines I talked about from the penultimate episode of season one coming to a peak in this finale. Except, of course, we did not learn who the killer of Laura Palmer was yet. I know there were some frustration at the time, including me, about when they would reveal the secret. Truth be told, people are just too impatient. It is something I have learned over the years since Twin Peaks’ first season.

We did learn several things. We learned that Jacques did not kill Laura as Leo ditched him before going to the train car. The show went out of its way to show that Dr. Jacoby was not Laura’s killer either, casting him in a more empathic light than we had seen before. And, despite the show kind of playing up Leo in the case, after years of reading comics and watching soap opera, I was sure that Leo was nothing more than a red herring. Twin Peaks was the master of red herrings.

I remember the shooting of Agent Cooper as if it were yesterday. I was so shocked about it that it threw my entire thoughts about the series into overdrive. It was a horrible way to leave the fans dangling over the break, and yet so tasty.

Watching Leland murder Jacques with the pillow was unbelievable at first, but made complete sense in retrospect. At first it just felt like a bad decision from a grieving parent, but, of course, we know now that there was more behind it than just that. This truly begins Ray Wise’s elevation of his performance into season two. When the alarm stops ringing, Wise changes Leland’s facial expressions from his sobbing to one of darkness. It is chilling looking back.

I fell in love with Pete and Catharine in this episode, even though Catharine is still pretty manipulative toward him, but it felt sincere when she asked him for help. You have to admire Pete for heading into the burning mill in search of his wife.

Are there any two characters more likable, but downright stupid as Big Ed and Norma? They are so manipulated by their respected spouses that you would think they would just come out and say what they want, and that is to be together. Thing is, they just can’t seem to get out of their own way and Nadine and Hank know the buttons to push.

Although Hank’s coincidental saving of Bobby’s life with a well placed bullet to Leo’s chest, just before Leo dropped an axe on Bobby’s head, was timed beautifully. I know this leads to one of my favorite quotes from this series of all time during season two. I use it to this day whenever shoe shopping, “New shoes.”

There is also a real ick factor with Benjamin Horne on his way to see the “new girl” who just happens to be his daughter Audrey. I remember watching this the first time and just having no idea how Audrey was going to get out of this.

Andy stepping up as the hero, only to find out that Lucy is pregnant, was really a tough blow. You felt for both of them.

This was an epic season one and spent a lot of time building these strange people in this mysterious little town. The central mystery of Laura Palmer’s murder was iconic and created a huge water cooler show.

Twin Peaks S1 E7

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“Realization Time”

Part 7 of the Twin Peaks series moved quickly through several of the plotlines, but really worked over all.

So many threads in this episode including…

  • Undercover at One Eyed Jacks with Blackie.
  • Audrey starts off the episode naked in Cooper’s bed.
  • Waldo’s murdered. Shot by Leo. The blood got on the donuts.
  • Audrey is making her way to One Eyed Jacks
  • A plan hatched by James and Donna to use Maddie to gaslight Jacoby.
  • Who’s watching them from afar?
  • Nadine down in the dumps when her silent runners were rejected.
  • Catharine discovers the life insurance policy
  • Harry wants to help Josie, but he does not know what she is up to.
  • Leo discovered Bobby and Shelly.

There are a bunch of things going on in this penultimate episode of season one. There is also the iconic moment of Audrey Horne and the cherry stem. If you know, you know.

There was so many threads set up for the season finale that it amazes me that I ever thought that they would answer the mystery in that episode.

Twin Peaks S1 E6

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“Cooper’s Dreams”

I just love Laura’s Theme. I swear I whistle every time they play in on Twin Peaks. It is such a lovely piece of music by the late Angelo Badalamenti. It creates such a tone for the series, which is able to jump between tones better than most series.

The Log Lady appeared in this episode. Her name was Margaret. She was such an eccentric character, but became so iconic because of this show. She makes the first metaphor of owls, which as we all know, are not what they seem.

There were a couple of really great scenes in this episode. Starting off with the family therapy with the Briggs family, especially when Jacoby singled out Bobby and spoke to him about Laura. This was the first time we saw more in Bobby than just some crooked kid. His emotions over Laura was really well done and Dana Ashbrook did an excellent job.

The next scene that was great was Leland and his attempt to get back to normal and ended up dancing, while barely holding himself together. What really made this scene amazing what Audrey Horne’s sad crying out of sight watching Leland breaking down while Catharine tried to make it look like he was just dancing. That was sad and just beautiful.

By the way, Leland looked just like the midget from the red room when he was dancing at first .

Hank was out of prison and causing trouble immediately. There are so many cruel and wicked men married to sad and put upon women on this show that it really looks like a statement.

The story of One Eyed Jacks is starting to amp up and how it was tied to Laura’s murder.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of 2/19

It is another week of NEW COMICS from Comic World. It was not quite as large of a week as last week, but there are some great books.

Here are this week’s medalists….

Bronze Medalist

The Six Fingers #1

Cover Art by Sumit Kumar, Lee Loughridge, & Tom Muller

One of the new Image Comics books that fall into the shared universe of Neo Novena. Last week there was The One Hand. Now we have this mystery. The cover is really creative.

Silver Medalist

Deer Editor #2

Cover art by Sami Kivelä

Look at this cover. You have a deer-man tied to a chair with someone dressed in a nice outfit. I love the color scheme with the black and red and slight blue tint. Nicely done from this Madcave book.

Gold Medalist

Bone Orchard: Tenement #9

Cover Art by Andrea Sorrentino

Just look at that beautifully creepy cover. Worms and an apple. I love the color scheme too… and it looks very much like the gold medal that it was just awarded.

This was the second time Andrea Sorrentino placed on the medal stand (previously winning the silver medal for Tenement #8).

Moonlighting S4 E10

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“Tracks of My Tears”

This one was hard to watch.

Maddie is on her way back to LA on a train, still unsure about what she wants with David. She has a series of dreams with Pat Boone guest starring as a much more mature David Addison. Along the path, she meets Walter, a nerdy man played by Dennis Dugan.

Maddie drops the bomb that David was not the father of the baby that she was carrying (even though later on they retrofit that).

This show wrote the character of Maddie so poorly during this stretch of time. Moonlighting is practically unrecognizable during this time frame. It really was a rough stretch.

Everything just felt so cruel, so mean-spirited. It felt like it was just not the show that I loved so much.

Twin Peaks S1 E2, E3, E4, E5

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“Traces to Nowhere”

“Zen, of the Skill to Catch a Killer”

“Rest in Peace”

“The One-Armed Man”

The Twin Peaks series was all about tone/mood. It established it constantly, from the story to the characters to the music/soundtrack. These episodes would expand the mystical elements of the area, and brought the idea of visions and dreams to the forefront. All this adds to the remote location of Twin Peaks and the environment around it.

When you understand how David Lynch initially had intended to not solve the mystery and let the case fade into the background among the eccentric characters of Twin Peaks, some of these oddball scenes make more sense. Nadine and her silent curtain runners, the appearance of Hank from prison, Lucy and Andy, and the relationship between Big Ed and Norma, none of which had anything to do with the Palmer case.

Knowing the truth behind the Laura case, it was fun watching Leland. The metaphor of him cutting his hand with Laura’s picture where Leland literally had blood on his hands felt like it was obvious that he was the killer. Yet, it made perfect sense in the context of the episode.

The arrival of Maddy Ferguson, the cousin of Laura Palmer, still played by Sheryl Lee, shook up the story.

Cooper’s dream is iconic in the world of Twin Peaks. The dancing midget, the Laura doppelganger, Killer Bob, Mike the one-armed man, all found inside the red room. This scene is vital to the remainder of the entire series.

The Renault brothers and One-Eyed Jacks story comes to the front of the story with a slight connection to the Laura Palmer case.

Leo Johnson is a horrendous person. He’s one of those characters that I want to pay. The scene where he beats Shelly is truly horrible even if we never saw anything graphic.

The Laura Palmer funeral was so much wonderful chaos that is was shocking. Not only for Bobby Briggs’s behavior but seeing Leland fall on the coffin top was just amazing. Having Sarah Palmer say to Leland not to “ruin this too” in retrospect was quite the comment.

I intended on watching one episode this afternoon which exploded into four. It is just such a compelling and intelligent show. It was certainly far ahead of its time as the TV landscape of the 1990s was nothing like this. Without Twin Peaks, I am not sure you get series like The X-Files, LOST, Picket Fences or anything else that dealt with something weird or mysterious.

Twin Peaks S1 E1

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“Pilot”

It was just a matter of time before I started in on the Twin Peaks re-watch. Today turned out to be the day!

I loved Twin Peaks. I would even consider myself a Peaks Freak. When I was in college, I went to a fan event at the Iowa City Memorial Union when it returned to ABC. Deputy Andy was there. Ironically, Killer Bob was supposed to be there too, but he was sick with the flu. I was obsessed with the show.

David Lynch was the creative force of the show. Lynch wrote it with Mark Frost. The first season was a short one with only 8 episodes. It became such a massive hit for the network, providing such a series people could talk about over the ‘water-cooler.’

Lynch has said before that he did not want to reveal the killer of Laura Palmer and let the show develop into a show about the town with the eccentric characters and their relationships taking the front. I can’t imagine setting up a series with this major murder mystery and planning on not solving it.

This episode does a fantastic job setting up this mystery. Having Pete Martell find Laura’s body “wrapped in plastic” as he says on the phone to the sheriff, is genius. Pete is a likable guy who you get an idea about with the few seconds we see him on screen. And that line delivery is iconic.

The pilot becomes special when Agent Dale Cooper shows up driving his car, speaking to Diane on a tape recorder, and raving about the beautiful trees (Douglas furs, by the way). Cooper is one of the most original characters that we have seen on television maybe ever. Kyle MacLachlan becomes this character and he is so good in this role. There is a reason why Cooper is as beloved as he was.

We get the beginning of one of the best bromances on TV. Cooper and Sheriff Harry S. Truman are the perfect team up. You can see the friendship forming. Truman starts out doubting Coop a bit, but you see the groundwork being laid.

I remember being a Donna Hayward fan when I watched the show in the 90s, but I found her fairly whiny here. I was much more of a fan of Audrey Horne this time than I was then.

The number of weird characters inhabiting the town including Dr. Jacoby, Log Lady, Nadine, Andy & Lucy, among others. Cooper’s line when he met Jacoby for the first time, “He’s a psychiatrist?” was hilarious.

This is one of the best pilots of all time. It absolutely grabs your attention, does an amazing job setting up the mystery and the setting. I love this show so much and I am excited about doing this re-watch.

I love donuts too.

The X-Files S3 E15, E16

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“Piper Maru”

“Apocrypha”

A two-part X-Files episode that reignites the government conspiracy into UFOs and introduces us to one of the series’ best recurring ‘creatures’, the Black Oil virus.

It served to do several key storyline developments too, including the return of Alex Krychek, the case of Scully’s sister’s murder, and the secret cabal that included Cigarette Smoking Man and Grey-Haired Man.

These mythology-based episodes tend to be fairly strong, even if they are frustrating. I have never had a TV villain that I would like to see shot in the head more than CSM and it amazes me that Mulder hasn’t done it by now.

The addition of the Black Oil is awesome. It ties directly into the UFO stories that the X-Files made the cornerstone of the series and kept the mystery of the truth and the eeriness of the creature a major component. The image of the black oil swooping across the eyes of the infected is a cool visual.

Gillian Anderson was excellent again in this two-parter. Her pain over the loss of her sister and her desire for justice controlled her actions and yet she still made time to protect Skinner with a ferocity of a parent. The shooting of Skinner led to the apprehension of Scully’s sister’s shooter, even if the end results were less than ideal.

Season three has been top to bottom, excellent. It has featured some of the best mythological episodes while tossing us some of the best in the humor episodes. I know some big time episodes are still coming in season three, which, so far, is my favorite season of the show.