Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

The Studio S1 E5

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“The War”

Quinn and Sal are at war with one another over the director for a blatant rip-off of the Smile movie franchise called Wink. They go to all sorts of shenanigans to make the other one look bad until there is a dramatic and terrifying burrito accident.

The Studio is such fun show and, while I know this is a parody of the behind the scenes events that occur at a movie studio, I have this feeling that there is more truth to the episode than fiction, and that it is just turned up to a higher volume.

This episode featured Chase Sui Wonders as Quinn and Ike Barinholtz as Sal as Seth Rogan is more around the outside of the episode. We see him, but he is not the center of the chaos as he has been for the first four episodes. Several other cast members such as Catharine O’Hara and Kathryn Hahn are missing completely.

The show is very funny and I do like how it is willing to put Seth Rogan off to the side with confidence that the episode would still turn out great. The Studio is one more excellent series from Apple TV and I am glad I started with it.

Doctor Who S2 E2

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“Lux”

What a clever episode.

What a meta episode.

I loved this one.

1952. It is Miami. A group of people disappear after a strange cartoon comes out of the theater screen and does something to them. It is terrifying.

The Doctor and Belinda have to take on Mr. Ring-a-Ding, another of the Pantheon. Mr. Ring-a-Ding is voiced by Alan Cummings.

I was surprised that the secondary characters were so intricate even though they did not get as much screen time. The conflict from Reginald Pi is beautiful. I loved the Doctor Who fans as well. I found the fans so strangely emotional.

The writing is spectacular with so many film language weaved into the story. They had an animated section that was really excellent too. I loved how the Doctor referred to himself as Thelma (with the Scooby Doo references).

I thought the use of the segregation allusions were well done and made a lot of sense. I also liked how the Doctor understood this before Belinda realized the issue.

I have never seen “Blink.” Perhaps I should watch it. I hear it is a great episode.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #13

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“Dream a Little Dream of Me”

Happy Easter. Happy 4:20. Happy Wrestlemania weekend.

There is a lot going down today. It is also Sunday Morning Sidewalk #13, the third episode of the first (and only?) season of Netflix’s The Sandman, entitled “Dream a Little Dream of Me.”

Morpheus was in search of his items and he started with the pouch of sand that was in the possession of Constantine. That is Johanna Constantine, not John, by the way.

We also get the debut of a new raven, Matthew. This one is voiced by everyone’s favorite comic book geek, Patton Oswalt. Oswalt has appeared in Agents of SHIELD, voiced MODOK, Uncle Ben, Chameleon, The Atom, made an appearance as Pip the Troll and played himself in the Boys. He has also written comic books over the last several years. He has a ton of irons in the geek fire.

David Thewlis continued to be as sinister as could be as John Dee got himself out of the asylum he was living in thanks to his mom, Ethel Cripps. He immediately met up with The Corinthian, who gave him a coat. This pairing of villains are compelling and these two actors, Thewlis and Boyd Holbrook, are great.

This was another solid outing. I am pleased with what I saw this week. Week one, I was uncertain if I was going to enjoy this series, but the last two episodes have been very good so I hope we are on a entertaining path moving forward.

I guess the path we are on will lead to Hell as that is where Morpheus and Matthew were departing for as the episode closed.

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E9

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“Straight to Hell”

“We need an army”

Daredevil made this comment near the end of the episode, talking about how they are going to win the city back from Wilson Fisk.

Wilson Fisk, at the end of season one of Born Again, is on top of the world. He is dominant, he is in control. He has control of the police. He has put out the vigilante act. He has the courts. Wilson Fisk is the Kingpin Mayor of New York. He loves the city… and he is ready to take total control of the city.

We get some of the most brutal scenes in the entire MCU with the Punisher. Frank Castle was absolutely NOT Disneyfied. I can almost say that some of the moments in here are as gory and bloody as I have ever seen. Not only Frank, but when Kingpin literally crushed the police commissioner’s head with his bare hands in front of the police force… whoa.

Karen is back. I was worried that she would not make it through the episode. Heck, I was worried that Frank wasn’t going to make it through the episode.

Massive blackout across the city. Riots in the streets.

Another cool moment was when Frank asked Matt, “Why would you take a bullet for that *sshole?” and Matt responded, “I don’t know.”

I know some have not liked this series. I personally loved it. These last few episodes were absolutely stupendous and will lead into an unbelievable season two.

The X-Files S9 E3

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“Dæmonicus”

The first monster-of-the-week episode with the new regime of the X-Files is “Dæmonicus”. I have never been a huge fan of X-Files episodes that were religious background. This was a demon possession tale of sorts.

Plus, there was a gigantic puke scene, which are never good for me.

I found this episode to be dull and uninteresting. John just denied everything. In an obnoxious way. Monica moved around the episode with a weird look upon her face. Scully was there, now teaching a class.

None of this worked for me.

What We Do in the Shadows S1 E7, E8, E9

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“The Trial”

“Citizenship”

“The Orgy”

I was able to watch three episodes of What We Do In the Shadows season one tonight, and they were all really funny and enjoyable.

Probably my favorite of the three was “The Trial” as Laszlo, Nandor and Nadja are put on trial by the Vampire Council for the murder of The Baron, who was burned in the sunlight last episode. Of course, it was Guillermo who killed the Baron, however accidentally it was.

This episode was chocked full of cameos that were all just fabulous. Dave Bautista, Paul Rubens, Taika Waititi, Tilda Swinton, Evan Rachel Wood, Jemaine Clement, Danny Trejo, Doug Jones, Kristen Schaal, and Westley Snipes all made cameo appearances in this episode.

Laszlo, Nandor and Nadja were found guilty and placed in a well, to await the sun to burn them to death. Luckily, they were saved by Colin Robinson and Guillermo.

“Citizenship” included Nandor trying to get his American citizenship, and his lack of knowledge of America is hilarious. This episode is also dealing with Jenna’s transformation into a vampire and Nadja’s attempt to help teach her what she needed to do to become the best vampire she could be.

“The Orgy” revealed that Laszlo had been making pornos since the beginning of cinema, and, sadly, the pornos he made were boring. With the threesome looking to throw an awesome orgy, things do not go quite as well as they had hoped.

These were three great episodes. I have to finish up season one soon.

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 X-Files S9 E1, E2

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“Nothing Important Happened Today”

This two-part episode kicked off season nine of the X-Files, a show that had gone through a creative overhaul to focus on the character that had been heavily introduced in season eight, such as Agent Doggett and Agent Reyes.

Cary Elwes joined the cast of X-Files as FBI Assistant Director Brad Follmer, a former lover to Monica Reyes. These first two episodes played him as kind of creepy jerk, but there may be more than what it seems.

Lucy Lawless appeared here too, but her character, Shannon McMahon, would not become a recurring character because of Lucy Lawless’s difficult pregnancy.

These episodes centered around a new conspiracy, the US Government involved in an attempt to manipulate ova to create super soldiers, one of which may or may not be baby William, Scully’s recently born son.

These episodes had their moments, but the specter of Mulder still hung over the show. In his absence, it is difficult to really get behind the new characters, and the seemingly switch of Kersh into an… ally(?) of Doggett and Scully felt weird.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #12

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“Imperfect Hosts”

The Sunday Morning Sidewalk continued this week with the second episode of Netflix’s The Sandman. I was somewhat disappointed with last week’s episode and I was worried that the commitment I have made, watching an episode a week for eleven weeks, was going to be a toil.

Thankfully, I thought episode two was a considerable step up from last week’s fare and I have a renewed vigor for the series.

One strength of this week’s episode is that it featured more of a spotlight on Morpheus himself. Sure there were other characters involved, but it felt as if they were all contributing toward the story of The Sandman, and not their own tales. Last week there was so little of Dream that it did not feel right.

I loved the introduction of Cain and Abel in the Sandman world. First, with Gregory, the dragon that Morpheus had given to them right out of the nightmare, and then with the fact that Cain continued to kill his brother, these two characters presented a neat contrast to Morpheus. Abel’s confession to Irving, the gargoyle, that he understood the roles they must play, Cain the first murderer and Abel the first victim, was profound and was a cool way to incorporate them into the dream world.

The show built some antagonists more this week, with an increased look at The Corinthian and the introduction of Ethel Cripps, an art dealer who may have sold Morpheus’s tools along the way. This allows Morpheus a group of McGuffins to chase after this season.

They also introduced a Constantine, though not the one I was familiar with. Her name was Johanna Constantine, supposedly a descendent of John. I look forward to the interaction between these characters moving forward.

Again, I am approaching this without much knowledge of the comics so this is an all-new world for me. I did a little research after the episode an discovered that the character of John that we got at the end of the episode is a major villain, Dr. Destiny. I was unaware of that and it provides a neat little Easter egg for me.

Doctor Who S2 E1 (aka Season 15)

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“The Robot Revolution” 

The Doctor returned for his second season on Disney +, which would correspond with his fifteenth season overall. This is the second season (as well as a bunch of specials) featuring Ncuti Gatwa as the Doctor, and Varada Sethu as his brand new companion, Belinda Chandra. However, this companion is not quite the same as any of the others.

You see, Belinda Chandra wants to be taken home. After a whole mysterious adventure on a star/planet named after her (it is a strange occurrence), Belinda insists that The Doctor return her to May 25, 2025.

Problem is… the Doctor can’t seem to get the Tardis to arrive on that date. He said the Tardis is bouncing off that date, and we see things floating (including what looked like the Eiffel Tower) in the space where earth once existed.

Something big seemed to have happened. This is clearly leading to the overarching mystery of the season, once again focused around the companion.

I do love Ncuti Gatwa as The Doctor. I know that there has been backlash against the character, but I find him remarkably compelling and fully interesting. I am very much looking forward to this new season of Doctor Who. It was great last season and I can only expect it to continue this year.

The Studio S1 E4

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“The Missing Reel”

This is another great episode of this new show from Seth Rogan.

One of the reels of the new movie from Matt’s (Seth Rogan) movie studio Continental Studios disappears and Matt and Sal are on the case.

“Good artists borrow; great artists steal.”—Pablo Picasso

They use this premise to set up a noir-like story, which is absolutely hilarious. The writing on this episode is just so clever and awesome. The background music makes this all the more epic.

This show has had some special cameos so far. In this episode, we get the cameos from Zac Efron and Olivia Wilde. Olivia Wilde’s cameo is so fun because they play off her own image in the real world.

This was such a fun little mystery, and filmed as a noir, it makes it even better.

And the ending… unbelievable.

Daredevil: Born Again S1 E8

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“Isle of Joy”

I haven’t been this tense for a long time.

I was not sure where this show was heading after last week’s death of Muse, who seemed as if he was meant to be the big bad of the season.

Daredevil: Born Again then ratcheted up the suspense in the most beautiful and gut wrenching way.

Bullseye was back, and things start to be filled with anxiety. Matt was losing his temper and everything was building inside of him as unexpected mysteries began to be revealed. Mysteries dealing with why Foggy was killed.

It was not revenge. Ben Poindexter was not going after Foggy for vengeance. He was hired to take the lawyer out. But it was not Wilson Fisk. It was Vanessa.

Everything was coming out at Fisk’s Black and White Ball, amazingly enough, on the dance floor. And Poindexter, who had escaped from prison, was about to shoot Fisk… although I thought it might have been Vanessa in his sights. Matt throws himself in the path of the bullet saving Fisk. Didn’t see that coming.

I liked some of the focus on the secondary characters because there has not been enough of that this season. Especially this week was BB Urich.

We find out so much more about Vanessa. And she shot Adam dead in front of Wilson.

I just did not know what was going to happen on this episode and I was so pleased with how much suspense this show was. Just fabulous with this penultimate episode of the season.

The X-Files S8 E21

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“Existence”

After so many years of me screaming for Mulder to shoot Cigarette Smoking Man in the head and not getting it, it was incredibly satisfying to have Skinner shoot Krychek in the head. Finally! This character was long overdue to meet his maker, and the fact that it was Skinner who got to do it really paid off the torture that Krychek put him through recently.

Baby William was born in this finale of season 8, and, after a lengthy chase and dangerous situation after situation, the Billy Miles led group let the baby alone and left without him. I suppose the baby did not come out like an alien as we had seen in some other births over the last season.

The final scene with Mulder and Scully sharing a kiss with the baby in her arms was excellent and felt very much like an ending. I know there is much more with these two, even if they are stepping back in season 9, but had they not come back, this would have made a very welcome close to the pair.

I did enjoy Doggett standing up to Kersh. It was clear that Doggett and Reyes were going to be the next generation of the X-Files at the FBI and that Kersh will be a major antagonist for them. I am still not necessarily looking forward to the ninth season, but we’ll give it the same chance that I gave this season.

As I have said in previous season 8 write-ups, this turned out to be a better season than I remembered. I bonded more with Doggett than I did the first time around, and while I am still not fond of Agent Reyes, I am willing to give her a chance.

So there are one full season left and two shortened seasons in this rewatch. I believe the count was 36 remaining episodes of the X-Files. I may have to do rewatches of the two feature films from the franchise too before the end of this rewatch.

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.