The X-Files S3 E8, E9, E10

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Spoilers

“Oubliette”

“Nisei”

“731”

X-Files season three has been rocking.

“Oubliette” was a stand alone “monster-of-the-week” episode that had a more human ‘monster’ than typical. The supernatural aspect was a strange, empathic connection between the current victim of the ‘monster’ and a previous victim from years before.

A young girl named Amy was abducted by photography assistant Carl Wade. At the same time across town, waitress Lucy was going through the same pain/injuries as Amy.

Lucy had been kidnapped by Carl Wade when she was younger and spent five years in a black pit as his captive. She survived, but the experience was scarring for her entire life.

The other two episodes returned to the government conspiracy/aliens mythology that the show had made so popular. It added layers of mystery to Scully’s abduction as well as laid out a plausible explanation of what was going on. 

There was a fun, meta moment on the show as Mulder had purchased a video for $29.95 of a reported alien autopsy. Scully made a snide remark about the alien autopsy that was aired on FOX around the same time criticizing it as “even hokier than the one they aired on the Fox network.” FOX, which was the network that aired the X-Files, had shown a TV special, Alien Autopsy (Fact or Fiction) in 1995 that was eventually shown to be a hoax.

The X-Files mythology is one of the problems of the show, especially as the seasons moved on. The mysteries felt too big, and as more and more was piled on, it got to the point that anything that they would do to reveal the truth would never be able to be sufficient. So while each episode on its own were highly entertaining and exciting, when looked at as a whole, I am not sure that everything worked together. ”Nisei” and “731” were great episodes with some excellent action, but did it work with other mythological episodes in the past or future of the series? I’m not so sure.

True Detective: Night Country S4 E5

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“Part Five”

I had forgotten that True Detective: Night Country was releasing its penultimate episode on Friday night instead of its typical Sunday night because of the inevitable competition of the Super Bowl. I did not think of it until tonight as I was watching American Nightmare on Netflix. After that was over, I pulled up Max and loaded up episode 5.

What an episode.

The confrontation at Danvers’ home between Hank Prior, Danvers, Otis and Peter was just shocking. Watching Peter put a bullet into his father’s head to protect Danvers after his father had shot and killed Otis was an unbelievable scene. 

The scene between Peter and Danvers at the police station was compelling as hell and really set up what was to come.

It was a tough episode for Peter, ending with one of the most tragic things that he had to do. He could not stand there and watch his father execute Danvers and so his hand was forced.

Hank did confess that he did not kill Annie, but he did move the body. I guess you can scratch him off the suspects list. With Navarro and Danvers on their way to the cave where Annie was killed, I expect all kinds of drama coming next week in the finale.

By the way, the Tsalal deaths have been deemed an accident by way of an avalanche by the medical examiners in Anchorage. This, of course, is fairly coincidental as Pete had just found evidence linking Silver Sky Mining with Tsalal. Silver Sky Mining’s exec Kate McKittrick is clearly crooked and had ordered Hank to make sure Otis could not take Liz and Navarro to the caves.

Something is in those caves and the reveal next week could be epic.

American Nightmare

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Unbelievable.

I have had this three episode true crime documentary on my list at Netflix for a few weeks now and I found a time to binge it tonight. What an unbelievable story. Shocking and outrageous in many ways.

Honestly, even the manner the show presented the story messed with the emotions and the comprehension of the audience. What actually happened? It laid out the story in a definite manner that was meant to have audience members draw their own conclusions… and then they flipped the script.

In 2015, Denise Huskins was the victim of a home invasion that led to her kidnapping. Her boyfriend Aaron Quinn reported the abduction the next day, claiming that he had been instructed that the kidnappers were watching him on a camera and that they would hurt Denise if he called the police.

The Vallejo Police investigated but the story of the kidnapping was so out there that they switched gears and began to believe that Aaron was responsible for Denise’s disappearance.

Then, she returned.

At this point, the police began thinking that this is a real-life case based on the Ben Affleck movie Gone Girl, and that this kidnapping was a hoax.

Except, it wasn’t.

This was amazingly compelling. The first episode focused on Aaron’s story and how the police were looking at the case. the POV of law enforcement was a major theme throughout all three episodes. I was shocked when Denise came strolling to her father’s house at the end of the first episode.

Episode two dealt with her story and the horrors that she went through. Again, her story was so wild that it was difficult to believe and it was much easier for the police to believe that a hoax was a much more likely scenario.

I really liked this doc because it had quite a bit of finality to it. A lot of these true crime docs that I have seen have an air of uncertainty to them, perhaps a mystery that is still unsolved. This may have had some unanswered questions (in particular, the kidnapper had told Denise that he had intended to kidnap Aaron’s ex instead of her), but there was a very definitive result which I truly appreciated.

It is a resounding accusation against police forces in the area that did not believe the stories of the women victims and instead, chose to relate it to a fictionalized movie. It also showed that there were police officers who took their jobs seriously and were dedicated to finding the truth, in particular Misty Carausu, a police officer with the Dublin Police Department in Dublin, California, who found the kidnapper, found goggles and a strand of long blonde hair that she eventually tied to Denise. It was the efforts of Misty Carausu that led to the arrest and conviction of the kidnapper/rapist, Matthew Muller.

This was an amazing documentary series, shocking and a powerful watch. I am very pleased that I decided to watch this compelling story.

Moonlighting S4 E8 E9

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“Los Dos Dipestos”

“Here’s Living with You, Kid”

Back to back Miss Dipesto/Herbert Viola episodes? Wow. David (only in Los Dos Dipestos)and Maddie (not at all, actually) appeared in a combined 2 minutes (maybe) in these two episodes. 

This show did no favors for Allyce Beasley and Curtis Armstrong are clearly professionals and had to step up when Bruce Willis and Cybill Shepherd were unavailable for whatever reasons they were unavailable. Still, the show was all Dave and Maddie and when the supporting characters tried to be the leads, it never worked the way it was intended.

And… that does not mean that these two episodes were bad. In fact, they both had some charm to them. It was just that they were playing Dave and Maddie, but they were not Dave and Maddie. I would say that I enjoyed these two episodes considerably more now than I did back when they were on ABC and I was hoping for Dave and Maddie to show up.

The first episode we met Agnes’s mother, played by Imogene Coca- which, by the way, is perfect casting. Imogene Coca was wonderful as Agnes’s mom and the relationship with Viola was furthered. It just was not Dave and Maddie. Any time either Agnes or Bert broke the fourth wall, it just felt wrong.

Then, the next episode had some dream sequences including several scenes with Bert and Agnes in Casablanca. Again, the show had its moments, but you could feel the absence of the stars. 

This re-watch has helped me come to terms with my hatred for the character of Herbert Viola. I am sure a lot of my vitriol came from missing Dave and Maddie and directing that anger at him. Not at Agnes, who had been on the show since the beginning and I had bonded with. I also did not, and still do not, love the way Herbert is written. Making him such a blowhard and so obnoxious so often just made it even worse when it was not Dave and Maddie. Bruce Willis can be obnoxious and still be full of charm, but Curtis Armstrong could not pull it off like Willis. 

Both of these episodes were okay. They were probably really good by comparison to other shows. It just did not feel like Moonlighting.

EYG Comic Cavalcade #81

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February 10, 2024

Welcome back to the EYG Comic Cavalcade. It was another solid week of comics this week and I am excited about sharing my thoughts on them.

I have received some Groo the Wanderer issues from the Marvel/Epic run during the 1980s this week from eBay. I go issues #61-70, #25 (which I was surprised was not among the books I already owned) and the final Marvel/Epic issue, #125. When I re-bagged and reboarded my Groo the Wanderers, I did not have as many of these issues as I thought I did. I thought I had a complete set of Marvel/Epic Groo the Wanderer issues, but I was actually missing quite a few. This is probably my next search to fill these issues because I do love Groo.

Since I am currently working on re-bagging. re-boarding and re-boxing all my comics (and inventorying them on CLZ), I wonder if it is going to turn out that I am missing more comics than I thought. I may have, in my head, thought that I had certain issues that I do not actually own. It is an interesting job.

New comics this week: 

Ultimate Black Panther #1. Written by Bryan Hill with art by Stefano Caselli. The next series from Marvel’s new Ultimate universe has arrived, with Black Panther taking center stage. This was a really strong introduction for the character and I loved the design of Killmonger. The Ultimate Universe feels as if it is off to a hot start.

The Sensational She-Hulk #5. Written by Rainbow Rowell and drawn by Ig Guara. Jen Bartel did the cover art (which was in the top six of the covers of the week race). This was a lot of fun as She-Hulk, Captain Marvel and my girl Patsy Walker aka Hellcat battled some demons at Patsy’s favorite bar and Damian Hellstrom, the Son of Satan showed up. I am not sure where my unreasonable love of Hellcat has come from, but I love that character so much.

Pine & Merrimac #2.  Written by Kyle Starks and illustrated by Fran Galán. Linnea and Parker find their investigation leading them to as island that has a dark and dirty secret and the couple are there to bring it down.

Captain America #6. Written by J. Michael Straczynski and penciled by Lan Medina. Taurin Clarke did the cover art. The story arc with the present day and past day Steve Rogers wrapped up in this issue as we see the ever heroic Steve Rogers save the day twice. I loved this dual story and I will miss it as the past time frame clearly led up to the recruitment of Rogers for the Super Soldier program.

Doctor Strange #12. ”Ghost Story“. Written by Jed MacKay and art by guest artist Danilo S. Beyruth. Alex Ross continued with his awesome Dr. Strange covers here. This story focused on Bats the ghost dog as he could smell the evil that was inside the Sanctum Santorum. That evil was Victor Strange, the ghost from the recent Crypt of Shadows #1. I was worried for Bats the entire issue. 

Daredevil: Gang War #3. Written by Erica Schultz and penciled by Sergio Davila. Elektra is out on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen doing what she can to protect the people from the Gang War ravaging the neighborhood. She winds up battling the new villain Bellona. IS she a Wolverine clone? Sounds that way.

Avengers #10. ”Twilight Dreaming” Part Four. Written by Jed MacKay and art by C.F. Villa. Stuart Immonen did the cover art. Myrddin confronts Kang the Conqueror, who is now awake and blaming the Avengers for not protecting him better. Meanwhile, Thor and Wanda are speaking with Nightmare. Lots of stuff going on here.

X-Men #31. ”The Passenger“ Written by Gerry Duggan and drawn by Phil Noto. Joshua Cassara and Marte Gracia did the cover art. X-Men members Shadowcat, Wolverine, Nightcrawler, Ms. Marvel, and Psylocke, along with Spider-Man, fight Nimrod as the mutants prepare to invade the earth.

Fantastic Four #17. ”Salvaged from the Wreck of Ages.” Written by Ryan North and art by Carlos Gomez. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. A quick FYI, Indiana Jones does not appear inside this issue, despite making a cameo on the cover. This is a fun time travel story that allowed the FF to find the bones of one of their members who apparently died in prehistoric Arizona. I have loved these single issue stand alone stories Ryan North has tossed in during his run on Fantastic Four. It shows that every comic does not have to be multiple issue story arcs to be successful.

Wolverine: Madripoor Knights #1. ”Blindsides Galore! (or the Set-Up)” Written by Chris Claremont and art by Edgar Salazar. Philip Tan & Sebastian Cheng did the cover art. Another short series set in the Marvel Universe past, this included a team up from Logan (as Patch) with Captain America and Black Widow. Psylocke and Jubilee were here too, but the big three were the featured trio.

The Cull #5. Written by Kelly Thompson and art by Mattia De Iulis. This brought this series to an end. It is extremely different now than when the series started off. I am not sure I loved how it went. The art is beautiful though. It also pulled off a Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse ending leaving a surprising END? to the series.

Other books this week: Antarctica #8, Star Wars: Mace Windu #1, Ghostlore #8, Love Everlasting #12, and Thanos #3.

Lisa Frankenstein

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If I am being honest, I did doze off for a short time at the beginning of the new movie, Lisa Frankenstein. Sadly, I was awake for most of it.

According to IMDB, “After suffering an unspeakable tragedy, Lisa finds herself at a new school her senior year in 1989, struggling to fit in, despite her “sister” Taffy trying to get her to conform to her more typical cheerleader vibe. When a freak accident reanimates a corpse from the abandoned cemetery where she was spending time, she must keep his arrival a secret from her family and classmates, all while deciding how much she wants to help him, and at what cost.”

I really did not like Lisa Frankenstein. I found it unfunny, mean-spirited and filled with characters that I just did not like. Lisa, played very well by Kathryn Newton, was a protagonist that I found so unlikable that I did not know why I was supposed to be cheering for her. Maybe I wasn’t.

I will give the movie some credit in the fact that it did take some big swings and did not fall into the typical steps. I like the idea behind a lot of the film, but I just did not like the execution of these original ideas. I did enjoy the character of Taffy (Liza Soberano). She was a character that we have seen dozens of times and is always portrayed in a certain way, but this film took this character in a completely different direction. That was welcome and she was easily my favorite character in the movie.

Cole Sprouse was fine as the Creature. He did a solid job without any dialogue for most of the movie. 

I can say that I did not think that the actors were part of my problem with this movie. 

I found it to be cruel, filled with mean scenes toward the people of the film and I just did not appreciate it. I may have chuckled a few times during the movie, but, overall, the writing of it just did not inspire me in any manner.

This was another movie that I was disappointed by since I had been looking forward to seeing it since the trailers. I would say that as of February 10th, this is my least favorite movie of the year (although Madame Web is coming next week).

1.5 stars

The X-Files S3 E7

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“The Walk”

There were quite a few episodes of the X-Files from season one, during this rewatch, that I had not seen before. However, those had come to an end during season two so it was a surprise when episode 7 of season three was an episode that I did not remember seeing before.

“The Walk” featured a whole bunch of stuff, from astral travel to villains with both legs and arms amputated.

The episode included a revenge plot by that soldier with the arms and legs gone that led him to killing family members of the people he blamed for his pain. It was a dark episode, especially when we saw him bury a general’s son alive with his astral form.

The episode was decent. The actor playing the villain was okay, but perhaps not to the level of some of the other scary villains in the rogue’s gallery of the X-Files. Though it did feel kind of odd having Mulder try to intimidate him while the man was in bed. 

It was a satisfying watch, one which I did not remember from before.

EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week

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Week of February 5

It is NEW COMIC BOOK DAY and that means we have the new winner of the EYG Favorite Comic Cover of the Week. Once again, I narrowed it down to about six choices before I decided on the medal winners.

Here we go…

Bronze Medalist

The Cull #5

Cover Art by Mattia De Iulis

The final issue of the five-issue mini series from Image. 

Silver Medalist

Fantastic Four #17

Cover Art by Alex Ross

Another great cover by Alex Ross, but what really is what earned the silver medal was the cameo in the upper right hand corner of the cover from Indiana Jones himself! I was surprised when I saw him there. It also looks like Short Round’s hat there.

Gold Medalist

Star Wars: Mace Windu #1

Cover Art by Mateus Manhanini

Here is how I know this is the cover of the week. I do not collect any Star Wars titles. I like Star Wars but I am not interested in reading them. I saw this issue on the wall at Comic World and I saw the cover and I was immediately attracted to it. 

I kept looking at it and finally moved over to look at it closer. I saw it was written by Marc Bernardin so that helped even more. The cover brought me in and helped me decide to buy this #1.

The X-Files S3 E6

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“2Shy”

This was an X-Files horror episode at its finest.

I seemed to like this more than some of the other online critics that I have seen. I thought this villain, Virgil Incanto, was very scary and rather creepy. His “fat-sucking vampire” character was pretty horrific.

Is he too much like a little brother to Eugene Tooms? Maybe. There are definitely similarities to the characters, but as a monster-of-the-week on the X-Files, I found Incanto to be very successful.

I liked how it was Scully, along with one of Incanto’s intended victims, who brought him down. Especially after the local detective Alan Cross dropped some “old fashion” values on Scully, implying that he did not think that women should be in this position. Cross wound up dead in the bathtub and Scully stood tall at the end. I would have preferred her to be a little more responsible for the monster’s capture than his intended victim, who shot him with Scully’s gun that she just left on the floor.

Still, I was fully engaged with the story and I was happy that they did capture the villain at the end and he just did not slither off to continue his spree of fat-sucking.

True Detective: Night Country S4 E4

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“Part Four”

Night Country continues to be a creepy and, at times, devastating look at both mental illness and the effects of isolation and the lack of daylight.

This week, Navarro’s sister, diagnosed with several mental illnesses, leaves the clinic and walks into the water, drowning herself. To say that Navarro does not respond positively to the news is an understatement. She flies off the handle at the clinic and then picks a fight with a group of men who leave her bloodied and battered.

Meanwhile, things aren’t great for Danvers. Her step-daughter leaves, Danvers spends Christmas Eve alone and drunk.

Navarro is seeing some horrors and she is afraid that the mental illness ran through her family. Ghosts are everywhere here apparently.

The supernatural element of this show has really started kicking into high gear. When Otis Heiss said that they were in the “night country” now, it really felt like something creepy.

And I really feel for Navarro.

The show has been firing on all cylinders for me and, with just two episodes left, I’m excited to see the mystery of the Tsalal murder solved.

Death and Other Details S1 E3

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“Troublesome”

I watched the third episode of Death and Other Details on Hulu tonight titled “Troublesome.” I have to say that I have not quite been absorbed by the series so far.

I really do enjoy Mandy Patinkin in the lead role as Rufus. He is awesome and he certainly carries himself like a star. 

However, I have struggled getting to know the rest of the characters involved in the story. Most of them have not been characters that I have been engaged with and I am having a difficult time knowing who they are.

I don’t know if I needed more introductions to these people or if I did not give the show enough attention, but it has been okay for me at best.

There is a new detective on board, Agent Hilde Eriksen, whom I find kind of intriguing. I like ho she has played off Rufus so far and I hope things will continue to improve over the next several episodes.

Moonlighting S4 E3, E4, E5, E6, E7

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“Take a Left at the Altar”

“A Tale of Two Cities”

“Cool Hand Dave Part I”

“Cool Hand Dave Part II”

“Father Knows Last”

A Sunday afternoon spent with the fourth season of Moonlighting is an enjoyable thing. Even with the fourth season being quite a step down, including much of the time where Dave and Maddie were separated between two cities.

Cybill Shepherd’s pregnancy caused some of these issues, but there were other problems that led to this season.

In retrospect, the fourth season was better than I remembered but so many of the things that happened that just did not work for Moonlighting. A lot of it was fine for any other network show, but for Moonlighting, it was just not the same.

This is a stretch of time when Bert Viola became practically unbearable. Prior to these episodes, he had been okay. During this time, he was obnoxious, taking over for Dave in the office, and being overbearing. I think part of my dislike of the character came from Dave’s reaction to him. He was snarling at Bert, rolling his eyes and wishing him leave. That made me think Bert wasn’t worth the time.

There was only one case during this time and it included Terry O’Quinn (John Locke from LOST). It was a typical Moonlighting case, but the chemistry with Dave and Bert during the chase scene just was not the same without Maddie.

The biggest issue with these episodes is that there is such an undercurrent of meanness to it. These characters who we love so much have such an anger and a bitterness to them that it just feels wrong.

In the Cool Hand Dave two part episode, Dave winds up in prison in one of the most convoluted manners possible. There is no way that it could have possibly worked this way, but there was a really fun musical number during it and Bob the Goon (Tracey Walter) from Batman ’89 was Dave’s cellmate.

In the end, these episodes are not great in comparison to the past seasons of Moonlighting, but watchable over all.

The Greatest Night in Pop

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A great new documentary arrived on Netflix that featured the story of the recording of the classic 80’s song, We are the World.

There was a lot of recorded sections of the actual archive recordings with all of the artists involved in the amazing night. Starting after the American Music Awards were done, the recording session went the rest of the night and into the morning hours. 

Lionel Richie was one of the first interviews the doc had as he was a major factor behind the creation of the song. He and Michael Jackson wrote it, despite trying to get Stevie Wonder to be a part of it.

The artists interviewed for the doc included Richie, Bruce Springsteen, Kenny Loggins, Huey Lewis, Cyndi Lauper, Smokey Robinson, and Dione Warwick.

One of the interesting tidbits in the doc included the section with Sheila E talking about Prince and the desire of the people in charge to have Prince as a part of the song. 

Watching the process of these legends of music trying to put together this epic song in the limited time they had was fascinating. Seeing Bob Dylan struggle to get the line of the song out was amazing. You had Huey Lewis and Cyndi Lauper express their doubts and insecurities over being included with people that they looked up to for their whole lives.

Another awesome moment was when Quincy Jones thanked Harry Belafonte, whose idea led to this night’s work, and the whole crew broke into a version of The Banana Boat Song. That was an excellent moment from the doc.

This was a fantastic peek behind the curtain of one of the most amazing nights in music history. 

4.3 stars

Orion and the Dark

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A new animated movie from Dreamworks dropped on Netflix this weekend that had been around for awhile. It arrived after a tough schedule last year and just appeared. It featured Jacob Trembley as the main character, Orion.

Orion is afraid of just about everything, but nothing more than the dark. When Orion was carrying on about his fear, the personification of the Dark (Paul Walter Hauser) showed up in Orion’s room and took him on his job through the night, introducing him to the other beings responsible for the night.

The voice cast is strong. Besides Jacob Trembley and Paul Walter Hauser, the cast included Colin Hanks, Angela Bassett, Ike Barinholtz, Nat Faxon, Carla Gugino, Matt Dellapina, Mia Akemi Brown, Natasia Demetriou, Aparna Nancherla, Sky Alexis, and Werner Herzog (yes, Werner Herzog).

As the film was going, the scene shifted to Orion with his daughter in the future, and he was telling her the story of this night. I actually think this dropped at the very beginning, but my Netflix copy skipped it because it felt very out of place where this was dropped.

The story was sweet and had a good message. It was a quick watch and had some clever ideas. It felt like Inside Out but with the night. 

3.7 stars