Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Hazbin Hotel S2 E1 & E2

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“New Pentious”

“Storyteller”

I finally got around to seeing the first two episodes of the second season of Hazbin Hotel. The animated series on Amazon Prime was a big surprise with the quality and entertainment. I am been looking forward to the second season of the show for awhile.

The first episode was good, but I loved the second episode with Sir Pentious in heaven. This did a great job of following up the story of Sir Pentious’ redemption.

The music is just banger after banger. They have done such tremendous job with music. The lyrics are so clever and work so well together.

These episodes did a great job of setting up conflict moving along for the rest of the season. The show will be releasing two episodes every week and has a total of 8 episodes in season two. That means that the show will be over very quickly (three more weeks).

The animation continues to be spectacular and the character design is awesome. This is a highly entertaining series that is fun.

IT: Welcome to Derry S1 E2

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“The Thing in the Dark”

We have not seen the Pennywise clown version as of yet, and that is pretty cool. We definitely see the shape-shifting clown in other forms… and those forms are absolutely gross and frightening. The fang-filled vagina of Ronnie’s mother…. and the pickle jar with pieces of Lilly’s father. Man, those were rough.

The show is looking at the racism of the time more than the IT movies did. The racism in Derry was definitely in the movies, but this feels like a new level of focus on it. It has a feel much like Watchmen and Lovecraft Country. The smartest characters of the show seem to be the people of color.

We are introduced to a couple new kids in the show after the slaughter at the theater last week. Poor Lilly was facing her own struggles and the sheriff trying to get her to change her story about that night in order to get Ronnie’s father as the killer. Lilly kept saying that she did not see her father that night. The sheriff manipulates her to give him something he can use to arrest him.

We get the driving force behind the use of the military in this show. We learn that the military is in search of a weapon they can use in the Cold War. It is a weapon that can create fear in any man. It is clearly Pennywise that they are searching for.

There are a lot of really great scenes in this episode, including one in a jail cell involving a Russian gun. IT: Welcome to Derry has been very good so far, with amazing visuals and a group of intriguing characters.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E10

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“The House Always…”

Another season of Only Murders in the Building wrapped up with a finale that revealed the killer of the beloved doorman Lester and tied all the loose ends up neatly.

It turned out that Mayor Beau Tillman, played by Keegan-Michael Key, killed Lester, and it was his finger that had been severed and placed in Oliver’s shrimp. The billionaires knew about the whole thing too. They were in the game to find the finger and that person would receive the casino contract from the city.

After they were arrested, it seemed as if the building was saved, though I am not 100% sure how that happened.

I do love this show and there were so many wonderful moments in this finale as they were capturing the Mayor. Charles shimmying up the pole and sliding down like a stripper (instead of a fireman) was a hoot.

Introducing the “New mob” to the “Old Mob” was another fun thing. That group of men was ridiculously funny.

The show also set up the next mystery for season six as we hear a new podcast from Cinda Canning (Tina Fey) and she seems to have be killed… just outside the Arconia, disappointing everyone that she was not “in the building.” A final twitch of the body brought her hand just inside the gate… allowing the trio to investigate the new case.

Love this show. I can’t wait for the next season. This finale was much better than the penultimate episode.

IT: Welcome to Derry S1 E1

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“The Pilot”

I loved IT. I loved the original TV show miniseries starring Tim Curry and the 2017 movie. The second part of the movie was not as strong, but I am a fan of Pennywise the Dancing Clown.

So when I heard that there was a series in the works for HBO Max set in Derry in prior years when Pennywise would terrorize the children of Derry, I was all in.

While we did not see Pennywise in this first episode, it was anything but lacking. In fact, I found it shocking and, somewhat, upsetting.

They set up a group of kids, much like the “losers” from the film, and gave them a mission. Find Matty, the boy who we meet at the beginning who wound up with a weird family in an attempt to leave Derry.

These kids included Teddy, Phil, Lilly, Phil’s little sister Susie and Veronica. They were trying to solve the mystery of Matty’s disappearance after Lilly heard him speaking to her out of her pipes in her bathtub.

Shockingly, Lilly and Veronica were the only two to survive the encounter at the end of the episode. I couldn’t believe it because it sure seemed as of Teddy and Phil were being set up as the main characters of this show. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing and I was sure something would happen to save them, even after seeing their blood splatter and Teddy actually being slammed face first into the projector room glass.

I am sad that they are gone, because I really liked them. I saw an interview with director Andy Muschietti who said they wanted to show that no one was safe in this setting. He did that for sure.

We’ll see where this goes from here. I thought this pilot episode was really good and it definitely defied what I expected to see.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #40

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“Touch”

This week as a good episode. The show focused in on Theo, both as a young girl and an adult, dealing with her ability to see visions when she touched someone.

Her mother called it being “sensitive,” but it was clearly a skill that Theo was not happy about. This is the reason behind the gloves Theo would wear.

We see a plot line involving a little girl named Kelsey who came to see Theo professionally. She spoke about “Mr. Smiley” and she seemed to be so close to Theo that Theo had trouble even reading her. This was a hard plot point as it turned out that Mr. Smiley was Kelsey’s foster father and Theo was able to get him arrested. It was a painful set of scenes.

Not quite as powerful or painful as when Theo went to see the body of Nell. Theo gave a pain-filled cry after she laid her hands on the body.

I am still placing characters, but I think this was the best week yet of knowing who was who. McKenna Grace, who played young Theo, did an exceptional job this episode.

Gen V S2 E8

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“Trojan”

@%$^ yeah!

What a fabulous conclusion to this season. This finale was so great. Everything was right on point. From the Arrival of Thomas Godolkin to the seminars he was holding to the Godolkin/Marie showdown to the perfect timing of Polarity to the appearance of Starlight and A-Train… was just perfect.

The only question I might have had was did Godolkin go too quickly? Should we have built him up a little more. That is the only complaint I had with the episode.

I was sad to see Doug get killed. He had some awesome scenes of exposition and a fantastic one where he talked to Polarity about Andre. That was a beautiful scene ruined by Black Noir.

And the line from Polaris to Black Noir “You can talk now?” was hilarious.

I also loved the scene with Marie and Cate where Marie cured Cate was another wonderful scene in this exciting episode.

Sister Sage was all over this episode. Her “allowing” Polarity to escape was great.

There was just so many cool moments in this episode that I really hope these characters become a major part of The Boys’ final season.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E9

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“Lestr”

Okay, the ninth episode of season 5 was actually my least favorite episode of the season. Watching the tenants packing up and getting ready to move out was depressing and the distance between Oliver and Charles was uncomfortable and, seemingly, out of nowhere. I was not a fan of that.

It was neat to see Nathan Lane return to his role from earlier in the show. It was fun to see him (and his son),

There was too much of Lestr in this episode. I am not a fan of the robot.

Turned out that Lester, the real doorman, was the one who killed Nicky Caccimelio, with the elevator crank in an attempt to save the building. That was a good twist.

Who killed Lester? That is still up in the air, although they point a finger (quite literally) at Nicky’s mother, Nonna. I’m not sure she is the final killer, but I do expect that to lead to the final resolution in the finale next week.

How will they stop the Arconian from becoming a casino? I don’t know but I hope to find out.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #39

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“Open Casket”

That insect coming out of the mouth of that little dead kitten…. that was horrifying.

The second episode of The Haunting of Hill House was all about death and the after effects for those who were left behind.

Grief is a powerful emotion and this episode really shows the realistic ways people grieve, all mixed with the strange supernatural goings-on surrounding this family.

With Nellie’s suicide being the backdrop of the storytelling, the episode’s focus was on Shirley and her own problems. Shirley insists on preparing Nellie’s body for the funeral, something that everyone around her feels is a bd idea. We get flashbacks to the Hill House when Shirley discovered a group of deserted kittens and tried to help them. However, the kittens were sick and ended up dying (except for the last one, which was taken away by her parents).

We saw several moments when dealing with death, particularly with the idea of an open casket. I have to say that I, personally, hate open caskets. They kept referring to “fixing” the body, but I have never seen an open casket where the body seemed right.

I thought this episode was strong, but I would be lying if I said that the non-linear storytelling isn’t difficult to follow still. I am still trying to understand who is who during these moments. It felt a little better this week, but I know that I was more into the present storyline than I was with the flashbacks because of that.

When that insect crawled out of that kitten’s mouth…. man, that caught me totally off guard.

The Haunting of Hill House is on Netflix.

Gen V S2 E7

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“Hell Week”

The penultimate episode for season two of Gen V brought the goods and the answers to a couple of major mysteries of the season.

In particular, we discover who the old man being held by Cipher was… and it was Thomas Godolkin. However, there was more to it than just that. Marie healed the old man, and then we discovered that Godolkin was using Cipher as a puppet. Turned out Cipher was actually some schlub named Doug.

Now, Godolkin is all better and out, ready to wipe out those supes who are not worth the time.

Marie, it seems, has made some poor choices moving forward. Her attempt at “protecting” her friends led her to using her powers against them. As she is becoming more powerful, it feels as if Marie is becoming more of a jerk. Is that just the way all powerful heroes are in this world?

This episode seemed to be quick, but it was impactful, with Cipher taking on Polarity and some of the other heroes.

Everything is set up for one banger of a finale next week, leading into the final season of the Boys.

Only Murders in the Building S5 E8

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“Cuckoo Chicks”

It’s Ladies’ Night on Only Murder in the Building and the mystery gets a new twist.

Mabel, Loretta (back from waiting with a delay at the airport) and Williams went to a “Ladies’Night” at the secret room in the Arconia in an attempt to figure out what happened and to get a confession out of Camila White.

Meanwhile Charles and Oliver went above ground in an attempt to convince their neighbors not to sell their apartments to Camila. At 49%, Camila only needed one more apartment to set her casino plan into motion.

However, none of those things work out.

Thank heavens for Loretta and her “psychic” abilities. She got a ton of info from Camila, via flashbacks in an intriguing format, that helped point to some new facts.

And Lester’s wife, Lorraine joined in and picked out a major clue from the, admittedly small, clue box. It led to a video of our new suspect, Randall, the new doorman. The video showed Randall picking up the bloody elevator crank, which Loretta discovered in Nicky’s office, and taking off.

Meanwhile, Oliver and Charles have a therapy session in their attempt to convince therapist and neighbor Dr. Stanley. After some deep character introspection, they were able to convince him not to sell. Sadly, it was too late as escro closed at 12 and it was 12:15.

Camila has the 51% she needs, so what is heading for the final couple of episodes? I don’t know, but I do love this series. It always keeps you guessing. This week we have a bunch of Oscar winners plying their trade together (four Oscar winning actresses).