Category Archives: HBO Max

Duster S1 E6

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“Встречают по одёжке (Meet by the Clothes)”

Duster has started each episode with the old flashforward cold open, setting up something that will eventually happen in the episode. Some have been more interesting than others. This one was excellent.

Bringing up “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” set the tone for the scene extremely well and highlighted the characterization of Jim and Nina perfectly.

The scene where Jim, Nina, Ezra, Royce and Billy meet with the Russians was a tense scene. It really showed the cleverness of both Nina and Jimmy. Jimmy stepping in to cover for Royce who was having a reaction to his heart medication and the vodka was utter genius. Josh Holloway does a sensational job delivering the improvisation to the Russians in a huge spot.

The firefight afterwards was also cool, although it may not have been as improbable as they made it out in the first scene.

I am not sure there will be enough time for all the dangling stories that are available making me think that several of these plot holes will not be finished in season one.

Duster s1 E5

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“Ravishing Light and Glory”

It is the Fourth of July on Duster and we have two separate storylines that are coming together well.

Jim has been fired for losing the Hughes car last week, so he go to see Saxton’s daughter Genesis. He discovered that her girlfriend is being forced into marriage by her criminal father for business purposes. Seeing a chance to get back into good graces of Saxton, Jim takes Genesis to help bust up the wedding.

Sadly, this comes at the cost of spending the 4th with Luna and giving David a chance to be the hero.

Meanwhile, Nina wants to go undercover inside Saxton’s organization as a Russian interpreter. She needs help to get an in with Saxton. When Jim tells her that he got canned, she decides that Jim’s father Wade is the way in.

The scene between Jim and Wade where Jim tells him his suspicions that Saxton had put the hit out on Joey is a good scene. Both men showed their level of pain at the potential betrayal, even if neither of them wanted to accept it.

There are scenes in Washington D.C., including a wild Richard Nixon appearance. There are a lot of things going on here and the last three episodes could be amazing.

Duster S1 E4

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“Criminalus Velocitus Super-Sonicus”

Duster kicked off the episode with Jim picturing himself in a Looney Tunes cartoon, specifically the Road Runner cartoons.

No… really.

Jim was worried that he was being pursued by an assassin, and it translated perfectly into the world of Looney Tunes.

Meanwhile, Nina and Awan head into Navajo country, something that would hit close to home for Awan.

Duster also seems to have a thing for special items. Last week it was Elvis’s blue suede shoes. This week it is Howard Hughes’s car.

That car ends up being a huge piece in a confrontation between Jim and the assassin sent after him as Jim continues to show his creativity and his charm in dealing with people.

Of course, he has lost Hughes’s car and now has to go back to his boss with only an explanation.

Duster S1 E3

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“You’re No Good”

Duster episode three was pretty good as we had progression of the two sides to the investigation.

Jim and Saxton head to a meeting and some road bonding takes place. Nothing better than a bar fight because of racial hatred, right? The chemistry between Josh Holloway and Keith David is exceptional. Jim is torn between his beliefs about his brother’s death. He went from one scene where he was sure Saxton did not have the c4 placed under his brother’s van and then to another scene where he believed he did.

Personally, I am hoping that Saxton was not responsible for Jim’s brother’s death and that it was someone inside his organization that was at fault. I’m not sure though as it sure seems like the show wants us to believe he did it.

Meanwhile, Nina and Awan went undercover and broke into an asylum to try and speak with Agent Breen about the report from the Saxton case. Things did not go well as Breen became violent and nearly killed her with a knife to the throat.

Overall, it feels as if the trip to the asylum, which went against direct orders, was a failure. However, Awan’s passionate defense of Superman was an episode highlight.

I have been liking this HBO Max series so far. Josh Holloway is a powerful force in the show.

Duster S1 E2

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“Suspicious Minds”

Thank you… thank you very much.

How meta is this when you have the actual Adrienne Barbeau playing a character in your show, while you have an actress playing Adrienne Barbeau in your show. And that actress, in the story, distracts an actor playing Colonel Tom Parker so Jim could steal Elvis Presley’s original blue suede shows.

Wild.

This turned into what felt like a Coen Brothers movie with plot twists and killers. Patrick Warburton played a hitman named Sunglasses that Jim hired to lean on the crooked cop that had seen him meeting with Nina at the end of episode one. That cop wanted a $10,000 pay off to not take that information to the interested parties.

Josh Holloway continues to be charismatic and entertaining in the main role. I felt a little less that this was just a Sawyer-lite character this week than I did the last time, which is a good thing. I think part of that was because of the bizarre storyline of Jim needing to steal Elvis’s blue suede shoes to pay off Sunglasses to take care of the crooked cop.

Of course, the crooked cop ended up shot (I guess not dead though). Jim and Sunglasses had a great fight in a bowling alley. Never knew the bowling alley was such a dangerous location.

The HBO Max series releases on Thursdays.

The Last of Us S2 E7

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“Convergence”

“You wasted it!”

What an end to the second season of The Last of Us. Abby comes face to face with Ellie and it sure seemed as if Abby shoots Ellie.

Ellie killed a couple of Abby’s group earlier, including Mel, a pregnant woman, and it was clear that it hit Ellie hard. Mel became collateral damage in this revenge and that shook Ellie to her core.

With the screen going to black when the shots are fired, we have no idea what happened to Ellie. Most series I would say that it was obvious that she would be fine, that it was someone else’s gun going off, but about a month ago, the show killed Joel so I would not put anything past it.

It did end the season with the idea that the show was going to switch POV to Abby as the episode ended with a chyron stating “Seattle Day One” on the screen after we saw Abby in the Wolves’ stadium. I do not know how excited I am in seeing the POV of Abby in this whole thing. I hate this character of Abby and I do not want to have my opinion changed on her. I am not interested in a redemption arc for her, seeing everything that she has been through. She killed Joel and she killed Jesse. I am sad for the loss of Jesse, by the way. I should have known earlier in the episode when Jesse said that he was not dying that it was just foreshadowing the end.

By the way, the short time that Ellie was on Scar Island with the Seraphites was utterly frightening. I was not sure how Ellie was getting out of that situation as the noose was around her neck and she was just about dangling off the ground. She was seconds away from being gutted like a deer by the Seraphites. Thankfully, an alarm goes off, preventing the scarred psychos from completing their ritual. Ellie has that luck roll working for her.

The shots of Ellie on the water in the thunderstorm was amazing scenes. The power of the storm was clear and the danger that Ellie was willing to put herself in to satisfy her own selfish vengeance is fully realized.

I was not sure that this was the finale of the season, and it left off at a horrible moment. Then, Abby seemingly the focus of the third season, at least at first does not make me anxious for the show to return. It is absolutely a quality show, but I worry that it may push some viewers, particularly those that are not the game players, away.

The Last of Us S2 E6

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When Joel died in episode two, I knew that we would be getting a flashback at some point. There were just too many mysteries that we needed to see play out. In particular, what had happened with Eugene and why did Joel kill him? I saw that Joe Pantoliano was listed in the credits as Eugene so I expected we would see what happened.

I did not expect an entire episode of flashbacks. A whole episode of flashbacks that were amazing and heartbreaking at the same time.

Focusing in on Ellie’s birthdays during the years Joel and Ellie lived in Jackson, we saw how Joel tried to make each day something special for Ellie. Making her happy was a major goal for Joel. The guitar and song. The space shuttle. The dinosaur. All ways to try and make Ellie’s life a little better.

It also showed us how Joel and Ellie’s relationship was weakening. The whole situation stemmed from Joel’s lie at the end of season one involving the Fireflies. Deep down, even when Ellie was happy, she knew the truth. She just did not know the details. The scene on the porch where Ellie finally confronted Joel and he gave her the truth was tough, but had hope surrounding it as well, since Ellie said that she wanted to try to forgive Joel, even though she didn’t think she could.

That scene is made even more powerful as we know that this is the last words between the two of them ever. It is going to be the way that Ellie always remembers Joel.

The whole Eugene storyline was rough too. Joe Pantoliano delivered a great performance despite only being on screen for a few minutes. You really felt his devastation and his deep desire to see his wife one last time. Of course, it was a trigger for Ellie to solidify her thoughts about Joel. It was the look in his eyes when he lied to her.

Ellie was brutal when she outed Joel’s lies to Gail. It was a punishment for Joel by Ellie. She did not take Gail’s pain into consideration.

Next week is the season finale and I am not sure where this will go from here. For sure, the pain of losing Joel is only going to be worse now after we got the opportunity to spend a little bit more time with him and Ellie.

Duster S1 E1

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“Baltimore Changes Everything”

Josh Holloway returned to TV on HBO Max with a series called Duster. And I enjoyed it tremendously. Of course, I have a bit of a bias.

Josh Holloway was, of course, James “Sawyer” Ford on ABC’s LOST for the entire run of the series and LOST is my absolute favorite TV of all time. I have an unrequited love for the series and I have missed the characters.

So Holloway played Jim Ellis in this new show and, let’s say, he shares quite a bit of characteristics with Sawyer. When he called the little girl who was with him in the car “Peanut” I nearly lost it (no pun intended).

Perhaps I should be looking for the differences between these two characters instead of focusing on the ways that they are the same, but I have a major blind spot. Plus, they really are similar.

Jim seems to have some poor decision making skills, just like Sawyer. He had the same smart tongue. Jim just looked like an older version of Sawyer.

Jim is an expert driver obviously, and we never saw Sawyer show off much along the lines of his automotive skills (unless he did some driving in the Flash Sideways).

FBI agent Nina Hayes is a neat new character for Holloway to play off. Played by Rachel Hilson, Nina has so many obstacles to overcome. Placed right into the sexist/racist 1970s, Nina as a black woman in the FBI truly caused a stir just by walking into a police station. This dynamic is thrilling to watch.

I hope I can allow myself to see Jim Ellis as his own character and not just as an older Sawyer. However, episode one was very entertaining and I look forward to seeing more.

The Last of Us S2 E5

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“Feel Her Love”

Another strong episode of the video game adaptation on MAX. The Last of Us gave us the brutality of Ellie as well as seeing the group who were called the Scars and how horrendous they are.

Jesse made his way to Seattle (apparently with Tommy, though we haven’t seen him yet) and came in clutch as Ellie was about to be ripped apart by the Stalkers, the intelligent infected. Ellie and Dina were making their way to the hospital, and their trip through the big warehouse led them to these smart infected. Dina was able to lock herself inside a cage and Ellie was nearly killed, but Jesse arrived at the perfect time.

Of course, Jesse was pissed at them for leaving Jackson, and they had to run to escape the Wolves. They ran into the forest where they came across the Scars, also know as the Seraphites. They watched them hang a man and disembowel him, as Ellie and Dina had come across earlier. Dina gets an arrow in her leg and Jesse takes her while Ellie distracts the Seraphites.

Ellie winds up in the hospital and she comes across Nora, who had been the one to hold Ellie down while Abby killed Joel. Ellie chased Nora through the hospital and into an elevator shaft. They wound up in a basement area where Ellie sees a group of people connected to the plants, breathing spores. Nora was infected from the spores but Nora realizes that Ellie is the rumored girl who was immune.

Nora asked Ellie if she knew what Joel had done and then proceeded to tell her the things he had done. Ellie said that she knew.

Ellie took it even further as she was beating Nora with a weapon, trying to get her to tell her where Abby was.

The episode ends with Ellie waking up and Joel walking in to see how she was. HUH?

That was an unexpected moment. I always thought that Joel would be back in some kind of flashback sooner rather than later, but this was the weirdest placement for such a moment. There are a bunch of questions from this show and I can’t wait to see what the answers are.

The Last of Us S2 E4

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“Day One”

So I got to watch The Last of Us on MAX last night, but I had to wait until the Dodgers/Braves game ended, and I did not have time to do the write up.

This was a heavy Ellie/Dina story with them trying to navigate the city of Seattle. They are in search of Abby for revenge, but they have yet to find her.

Ellie and Dina had some big things happen.

  • They get together and make love. Dina told Ellie about her real feelings.
  • They get caught in a building with a bunch of infected and try to run.
  • Just before Dina gets bitten, Ellie stuck her arm in the way and takes the bite.
  • Ellie confesses to Dina that she was immune to the infected.
  • We meet Isaac, who killed his whole FEDRA unit.

Isaac is played by Jeffrey Wright, who is an awesome actor. His scenes with the naked guy he was torturing was intense. I am looking forward to seeing what this guy’s story is going to be.

  • Dina tells Ellie that she was pregnant.
  • Ellie finds a guitar and plays “Take on Me.” She sings to Dina. I really liked that scene.

These Wolves look to be a real problem.

The Last of Us S2 E3

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“The Path”

This is the first week of the post-Joel era of The Last of Us, and much about us grieving the loss.

I have to tell you that the cry of Ellie as she woke up in the hospital was just feral. Totally crushing. I was nearly in tears from just Ellie’s roar of anguish.

This show has been effective with their time jumps. This is another good one, but I thought the moments before the leap (Ellie in hospital, Tommy with Joel’s brother) were tremendous.

Three months later, Ellie is getting out of the hospital with the anger underneath the surface.

It was great to see Catherine O’Hara again as the local therapist. Her meeting with Ellie was funny and her conversation with Tommy was interesting. The sudden baseball game that Catherine O’Hara was watching was a weird and felt odd. She has added a ton to the show in her few scenes.

Ellie and Dina are on the road to go kill Abby. The Jackson Council refused to send a group of 15 to Seattle after Abby and the others who killed Joel. Ellie tried to speak to the Council and her speech was moving. Didn’t work though. Ellie had never planned on accepting the verdict of the Council.

The group of people who just appeared in the woods and wound up getting killed was a weird detour in the show. These people’s death must be part of the next story arc, but it seemed to come out of nowhere.

The scene of Ellie at Joel’s grave was powerful too. The director spoke about this scene being an opportunity for the audience to grieve with Ellie.

Good episode. Seattle looks like a bad deal.

The Last of Us S2 E2

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“Through the Valley”

I can’t believe it.

I was aware of Joel’s fate in general from the video game, but I knew no specifics. So as this was being set up, I was in denial. I was sure that they had planned on extending Pedro Pascal’s part longer into season two because of how huge of a star he had become.

Nope. Episode two and Joel is dead.

Honestly, right up until the end, before Abby drove that broken golf club into Joel’s neck, I thought he was getting out of it, somehow. I never played the game so I was unaware that this was setting up a scene that was straight out of the game.

Ellie held on the ground, screaming for mercy for the man who was like a father to her was heartbreaking, and I know that there are extenuating circumstances behind the vengeance of Abby, but I want her dead… just so dead.

Joel had saved her life earlier in the episode as she had been chased by the Infected and was about to be caught when Joel appeared from nowhere to stop it. The whole chase scene with Abby and the Infected, as well as the crawling beneath the collapsing fence, was just suspenseful.

Before this tragic event, the Infected crashing into the city and causing such a tremendous amount of loss. The standoff with Tommy and the Bloater was intense as you get on TV. I thought Tommy was a goner, but he was able to make it through, thankfully.

Bella Ramsey was amazing in this episode. They are absolutely setting up Ellie and Abby as similar characters for future face off. Historically, heroes and villains are like the other side of the same coin. This feels like the show is building a hero/villain archetype.

The Last of Us S2 E1

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“Future Days”

Season two of the tense and traumatic HBO Max show, The Last of Us, just debuted and the relationship between Joel and Ellie was shaken and on the edge. And it clearly is related to the lie Joel told at the end of last season, to hide the brutality that he committed against the fireflies in order to save Ellie’s life. It has been five years later and there have been issues since that lie, bringing them to the point where they are now.

The show kicked off and ended with the same group of people, the surviving Fireflies that Joel did not murder at the hospital. They, particularly a woman named Abby, swear that they will find and kill Joel, no matter how long it takes. Apparently, how long it will take is five years as they show up at the end of the episode again.

It looks as if the choices made by Joel is the driving force of the drama for this season, whether it be from the group looking for vengeance to Ellie knowing that he has been lying to her for years. I think it is obvious that Ellie knows that Joel lied to her. You can see it in her face.

Catharine O’Hara is a member of the cast this season as Gail, who is a therapist that has been working with Joel. Joel has not been wanting to admit to anything and even after Gail mentioned her husband Eugene, who apparently Joel had to kill, he does not go into specifics (I just saw that Eugene will be played by Joe Pantoliano, so… flashbacks I assume!). He does not seem to be good at hiding it, because it sure seems as if everyone could tell that he had something he was keeping inside.

There is a new type of infected too. It was an infected that did not just run right at you, but who stalked you, hid from you, and positioned itself into proper spot. It was a creepy scene where the infected stalked Ellie.

This episode built the characters and started to place them into position to where they will face the trouble this season. The distance between Joel and Ellie is hard to watch considering how close they had become by the end of the first season.

The Leftovers S1 E4

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“B.J. and the AC”

The Leftovers focuses back on Kevin Garvey after last episode with Father Matt. Someone stole the baby Jesus from the nativity scene and Kevin is getting pressure from the Mayor to find it (or replace it). Kevin suspected that his daughter was the culprit.

Laurie and Meg come to see Kevin. Meg read a letter written by Laurie claiming that she wanted a divorce. However, Kevin wouldn’t accept it unless Laurie tells him that she wants out. He is screaming at her, and Jill sees this.

There are some scenes that I do not understand, including the group of dead bodies in the road, all dressed in white. Christine said it was just like the dream, but I must admit to not being sure which dream she was referring to. Tom has been all over the place in this episode.

This was not as strong as last week, but there are some good moments in it.

The White Lotus S3 E8

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“Amor Fati”

No justice for Tonya, after all.

I do not think I have been as disappointed in a character as I am with Belinda. Going from a likable character to a blackmailer was an unsatisfactory ending for me. I really had hoped Gary/Greg would get his comeuppance, but all he had to do was pay some money.

Rick and Chelsea ended in such a tragic manner. I had guessed the possibility of Rick being the son of the man who he had confronted last episode, but I did not see it paying off as it did.

The Ratliffs all survived even though it did not look like they were going to. Lochlan sure looked as if he had passed on, but I guess he was able to shake it off. Not sure how that will end. I just see a lot of stress for that group moving forward.

The three blondes had a nice scene together as they spoke from the heart and rebuilt their friendship. I still do not see how that trio really fit into the story well. Their final scene together at dinner was beautifully acted though.

I found this season’s overarching story to be the worst of the three seasons, but I did like a lot more characters this year. However, I may not be a fan of many of them at the end of the episode.