Spoilers

“Mysterious Monkeys”

The third episode of The White Lotus was centered around sex.

At least for most of the cast, outside of Jennifer Coolidge, who made an attempt to scatter her mother’s ashes at sea. Because of Armond’s machinations and attempt to gaslight Shane, Shane and Rachel wind up on the boat as well. Shane had approached Armond to schedule a romantic dinner with Rachel, and Armond took the opportunity to book them on the same boat as Jennifer Coolidge.

Mark is in a state of depression after finding out that his father died of AIDS. The idea that he did not know this aspect of his father’s life sent Mark on an existential crisis, and ended with him asking Armond about anal sex. Armond made an offer for Mark to find out for himself, which Mark declined. He ended up drunk and doing some monkey action in his bed that night. Nicole was not interested.

This has been an interesting show so far, but I have to say that I was hooked in the first episode after the whole dead body on the plane thing that made it look as if Shane was sad. That felt as if it would be a major mystery/storyline of the show, but it has not given us much of anything so far. I would like to know more about that as the show progresses.

Spoilers

“Arrivals”

“New Day”

I had heard a lot about The White Lotus, particularly around Emmy time, and when I saw that it was available on HBO Max, I thought it would be a good series to start. I did not know what to expect with it.

Then, it kicked off with a scene where a depressed man sat in an airport. From the scene, we are able to tell that his wife had died. At this point, I was engaged.

The show flipped back a week and we see things that are happening at this resort hotel called the White Lotus and a bunch of new arrivals are coming to the hotel on a boat.

There is a series of bizarre people and the show is very funny. I am curious to see how the dead body comes into play.

Cast is great. It included Steve Zahn, Connie Britton, Murray Bartlett, Jennifer Coolidge, Jake Lacy, Sydney Sweeney, Fred Hechinger, Natasha Rothwell, Jolene Purdy, and Brittany O’Grady.

Spoilers

“A Very Funny Monster”

Creature Commandos finished its first season on HBO Max this week with a finale that might have been my favorite episode of the season. It was a Nina-centric episode and it ended with a shocking death (or two).

I would start with the one part I did not like was how Frankenstein was dealt with. He was such an afterthought in this episode after being built up for the whole season. I know it was meant to be a joke, but I did not like that.

However, everything with Nina, her flashback to her tragic backstory and the current world death at the hand of the Princess, was excellent. I have a slight complaint on how Nina’s father dies, but other than that, everything worked so well.

They definitely are setting this up for a second season and I think, even if I have been up and down about the show, I will continue to watch it.

Spoilers

“Priyatel Skelet”

Dr. Phosphorus got the focus this week as we learn how Dr. Phosphorus came to be, within the city of Gotham. Not only do we get Dr. Phosphorus in Gotham, we get a cameo from Batman. I kind of expected that cameo after the show started off with a tone that felt like the Gotham from Batman: The Animated Series.

There rest of the Creature Commandos, who had been split apart, reunited on hill outside the castle as they are on the way to kill the Princess. The Bride and Nina had come through a brothel that they had hidden out in, Weasel had been playing fetch with a pack of wolves and, of course, Dr, Phosphorus went through his own mess.

Meanwhile, Rick Flag is not dead as I mentioned last week. However, he is in a coma, with a broken back and Amanda Waller staying by his bedside. Of course, she is not there in any sort of concern for Flag, but to see what he has to say about the situation.

Frankenstein chartered a plane, in his own way as he is in process of coming for the Bride.

This is the penultimate episode of the show, which has ended quickly. I liked this one a bit more, but the gory blood still feels like it is just there for shock value and not a part of the show.

Spoilers

“A Great or Little Thing”

What a gut punch.

The Penguin has been a spectacular crime show from the beginning. It has never felt like a comic book show to me, despite being set in Gotham with The Penguin as the protagonist.

Francis was going to have Oz killed because she knew what he had done to his brothers. The whole scene at the jazz club with Francis and Oz and Sofia was crushing. Deirdre O’Connell was sensational as the grieving mother unleashing an inner hatred she had pushed down for years.

The whole final showdown between Oz and Sofia was awesome, and it was very satisfying seeing Sofia returned to Arkham.

The hardest scene for me was watching Oz strangle Victor to death because Oz believed that having someone close to him would be weakness. The darkness inside Oz has truly transformed him into a monster, a true Batman villain, which is why the Bat-signal at the end was so appropriate. Shocking end for someone who had been so loyal to Oz.

This is my final time that I can say that Colin Farrell is absolutely amazing in this role. I can hardly believe that he is actually this character. It looks nothing like him. It is a tremendous performance that really is more than just the makeup.

Colin Farrell and Deirdre O’Connell deserves Emmy Awards and so does Cristin Milioti. Seriously brilliance among the cast.

Spoilers

“Top Hat”

The penultimate episode of The Penguin gave us some holy crap moments once again.

Flashback to when Oz was young, before his brothers died. We see what happened to them. Unbelievably, Oz locked them in a tunnel as the rain was coming in, and they drown. Oz does not actually murder them, but he does leave them to die, and all because he was jealous of the attention that his mother gave to them.

Sofia has taken Oz’s mother captive. His mother is as brutally vicious with her words as ever, although her oncoming dementia messes things up as well. Sofia feels sympathy for the woman, you can see, but her desire for revenge on Oz may be winning out.

Maroni arrives to kill Oz, but Oz and his crew stage a rebellion. Maroni ends up dying of a heart attack, making Oz mad that he couldn’t be the one to kill him. Oz plugs the dead body with several bullets after.

Sofia sends a bomb into the meeting with Oz. Oz thought it was his mother dead in the back of the car and uncovers the bomb. He takes off and climbs down the same tunnel where his brothers had drown. Oz left everyone who had his back to fend for themselves as the car exploded. Above all else, Oz is out to survive, screw anyone else.

Except for his mother, of course. I can’t see his mother making it through next week’s finale, but stranger things have happened, I guess. We are gearing up for the big Oz vs. Sofia showdown in next week’s finale. The Penguin has been exceptional crime TV so far.

Spoilers

“Gold Summit”

The Penguin has been a top notch crime show since it debuted last month on Max. Episode six continued that trend of solid work.

Colin Farrell is doing some of his best work of his career as Oz Cobb, the lowlife manipulator who is behind so much of the problems on the Gotham streets. He is pushing his new drug Bliss, even after people who were selling it wound up being killed.

The vengeance of Sofia Gigante is in full effect. The scenes of Sofia with Penguin’s girlfriend Eve Karlo were tense and you never know what was going to be the result of the face off. I really thought that Eve was not going to make it out of the scene alive.

Oz’s monologue to all of the other criminals at the end of the episode was also very suspenseful. It was obvious that Oz is someone who can talk people into doing things, even if it may be BS.

Victor had a tough episode as he killed Squid, who was trying to strong arm him into getting him in with the drug trade. You could see how the effects of his choices were weighing on Victor.

This may not have been as great as the previous few episodes, but it was still very entertaining.

Spoilers

“Inside Man”

Boy, Oz is just a big time manipulator. He thinks on his feet better than anyone. He is so close to being revealed, but he just talks someone out of it by making them believe something else.

I am sure that I will never do one of these reviews without commenting on the unbelievable make up job Colin Farrell has. There is just no way that you could identify him as the actor playing Penguin if you did not already know. It is astounding.

I thought that Victor might actually be done when Penguin had him in the grave in the ground with the other two bodies. Penguin was teaching him a lesson, but was it just simply a cruelness in Oz?

This show looks great and it is a dramatic and tension-filled crime story of a manipulator who has goals beyond what some believe is possible.

Sofia Falcone (Cristin Milioti) is fabulous and borderline crazy. Okay, maybe not borderline.

I thought this was coming out on Thursdays, but, instead, it is out on Sunday nights. That works well for me. The Penguin is on HBO Max.

Spoilers

“After Hours”

The new crime series on HBO Max is a spin-off from The Batman with one of the most amazing transformations in TV history.

There is no way that Colin Farrell is playing this character. But he does it. It is truly unbelievable.

Oswald Cobblepot is aka as Penguin. He starts off the episode by shooting and killing Alberto Falcone, who was going to take over the business from his dead father Carmine. And when Oz killed him, he had to spend much of the episode trying to survive and avoid being revealed as the killer.

Sofia Falcone arrived to cause trouble as well.

I liked this show. It would not be considered a comic book show, even though Penguin is a Batman villain. This show will be fascinating to see without the Batman.