Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Invincible S3 E1, E2, E3

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I did not finish season two of Invincible. I was not loving the show at that time. It felt to me that the show was just falling back on the blood splatter as the story. It was going too far for my taste. To be fair, I did not see the second half of the season so I do not know what it was like.

I had considered not watching season three either. It kicked off with three episodes dropping and they were longer episodes, so I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to get back into it. I decided that i would give it a chance.

I found these first three episodes of season three pretty good. There was still blood, but it did not feel as over-the-top as the last episodes that I watched.

I am not much of a fan of Mark’s new costume. I preferred the first one, but perhaps the new one will grow on me. The whole Invinci-Boy stuff was funny. Oliver is an interesting hero and kind of plays with Mark’s hypocrisy. His conflict with Cecil was based on basically the same idea, especially with Oliver killing the Mauler Twins.

The conflict between Mark and Cecil was rough and we saw how Cecil came to be with a backstory. I am not sure if any of them are in the right with this. Mark does seem to be overly erratic at times, but Cecil is totally condescending. We’ll see where this goes from here.

I did enjoy the arc of the Guardians over these first three episodes, with the conflict between Mark and Cecil splitting the team in half. I found this Guardians storyline to be a worthy addition to the stories going on.

I also liked the Mark-Eve relationship and how they have started to date. Admittedly, date might be a bit of a relative term, but I do like them together.

After watching the first three episodes, I feel as if I will keep giving the show another episode until I find myself feeling as I did during season two. So far, I would say, so good.

Dark Matter S1 E5

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“Worldless”

Dark Matter’s fifth episode was another banger.

Between this, Silo and Hulu’s Paradise, sci-fi television is hot again.

Jason and Amanda moved through different universes, learning along the way about what they need to do to try and find their way to Jason’s original world. Meanwhile, they are encountering a variety of worlds where that world’s Jason had something tragic happen.

One world was filled with a deadly disease, and Jason found Daniela sick and dying, after they took away her Jason. Another world, Daniela and Charlie reacted to Jason in a terrible way because their Jason was supposed to be in prison.

As they met Blair, from Amanda’s reality, they learned more about the Box. Blair had gone through so much inside the Box that she simply could not go back into it at that moment. She could not face the differing universes and the stress that built on her inside the Box. She warned Amanda that she needed to know what she wanted for herself, instead of just following Jason.

meanwhile, Jason 2 has been moving in and out of the Box easily, including returning to his home universe to grab some more of the drug. He told Leighton that, after he leaves the reality, Jason planned on sealing the Box’s entrance, essentially preventing anyone from coming into the universe. He knew that Jason and Amanda had made it into the Box a few days before and he is looking to keep Jason from finding his way home.

Four more episodes to go for season one.

The White Lotus S2 E1

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“Ciao”

I started the second season of The White Lotus on HBO MAX and we found ourselves in Italy. I discovered that the White Lotus is a franchise across the globe. And, just like last season, we started off with a dead body. Actually, several of them in an apparent drowning.

Once again, the show started off in present day and then flashed back a week in the past to show how they got there.

We get a whole new crew of guests arriving on the boat. Well, not completely new as Jennifer Coolidge resumed her role as Tanya McQuoid, who was meeting her husband, Greg Hunt, who was also reprising his role from season one, at the hotel. Tanya does not seem happy with her life.

Audrey Plaza joined the cast this season. She is always great so I am excited to see where her character goes.

Much of this episode was spent just slowly getting to know this group of people. The hook at the beginning with the bunch of dead bodies definitely is a strong start. We’ll see how things go from here.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E6, E7, E8

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“Duel with the Devil”

“Scorpion Rising”

“Tangled Web”

The next three episodes of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man dropped on Disney + today and, boy, they were epic. I really liked how the three episodes worked together a story seeing Spider-Man get his butt kicked a couple of different times.

Daredevil showed up… and voiced by Charlie Cox. Spidey and DD fought, with Daredevil showing the inexperienced Spider-Man what a real fighter was like.

Then the arrival of Scorpion led to Spidey getting beaten so bad that he was nearly killed.

Lonny kept his downward spiral towards Tombstone going as he imbedded himself into the 110 Street gang even more. Pearl discovered his involvement and things went poorly.

There were some great scenes with Nico and Harry as they begin to show some signs of a connection. The whole Nico drag racing scene was a lot of fun and teased the powers that Nico have.

Otto Octavius is arrested… by Iron Man? We get a hint at his future with the octopus arms working separately from Ock.

Having Norman Osborn do the “Great Responsibility” line and switch it around to make it “Great Responsibility – Great Respect” fits the character well. It is a really awesome, unexpected turn.

And we are just about to have the actual Spider-Man suit, as we got a giant tease at the very end of episode 8.

There are just two more episodes remaining in season one and Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man has been an excellent Spider-Man animated show. It is well written and blended together well.

The X-Files S8 E4

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“Roadrunners”

I have to say that so far, I have been enjoying the second watch of John Doggett in the X-Files. My memory of these episodes when they first aired was that I simply was not a fan of them because he was not Mulder. I think that I was really being a hater toward Doggett because this was an awesome episode.

It was creepy as hell. It was so good that I was able to ignore how Doggett seemingly teleported from Washington DC to Utah during a commercial break. I have no idea how he made it across country so quickly. But the fun episode allows me to ignore the little things.

And this story was one of the creepiest X-Files episodes in quite a few years.

I believe the idea was to help solidify John Doggett as a good guy, and to help the audience accept him more. There is no doubt that I have that same issues.

I enjoyed the work from Gillian Anderson as she was just awesome. I was yelling at my screen when she gave her gun away. There is no way I was giving up my gun, if I were her. Her frustration of the events which changed to utter anger was fabulous. When she was threatening the cult members and calling them SOBs, it was tremendous.

So far season eight has been more consistent than season seven. The first four episodes I liked to loved. I am hoping that this continues in this manner.

Paradise S1 E5

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“In the Palaces of Crowned Kings”

What an intense episode. I love this show so far.

Paradise dropped its fifth episode on Hulu last night and I watched it this night, and it is just exceptional. Just when you think everything is clearing up, the show twists away from the story and takes the tale in a different direction.

Lots of flashbacks in this episode back to prior to Cal’s death, including a potential motive for the death of the president. We see his relationship with his son Jeremy and his father Kane Bradford. Gerald McRaney is fantastic as the president’s father, slowly succumbing to dementia of some form. His mistaking Jeremy for Cal lead to some powerful moments… including a huge WTF moment when it seemed as if Xavier’s daughter Presley was involved in everything.

I did not see that one coming.

Nor did I see the big cliffhanger… a message across the “sky”- THEY’RE LYING TO YOU.

That is because there is the possibility that there were survivors above ground. We know now that this is the reason “Sinatra” sent Billy Pace to the surface to kill the group of investigators.

I am not sure how many more episodes there are for Paradise, but I will be here for them moving forward. I even have a hope for a season two, especially with the possibility of survivors from above.

Dark Matter S1 E4

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“The Corridor”

The Apple TV + series Dark Matter episode four was on the docket tonight and we get a very cool display on the multiversal travel. It felt as if the corridor where Jason and Amanda found themselves after their harrowing escape from Leighton. They found their way into the Box and were transported to the corridor, with an infinite number of doors, and an infinite number of possibilities.

I was really wondering how they were intending on finding their way anywhere without it feeling random and coincidental. It seemed as if this was never going to have a reasonable answer to how to navigate the multiverse.

And then Jason figured it out.

So far, this has been great. I am still working hard to keep in focus on which Jason is which, and when they brought Leighton into the situation, I was even more confused (though I think I worked my way through it). The concepts here really work well and feel very tightly scripted. It had to be otherwise it would feel like a major issue.

The story of Charlie’s twin brother was very emotional and how his family honors him (Max) is quite lovely. It is also something that I am not sure if Jason 2 knows about and could be something to trip him up eventually.

Jason 2 is taking some big life changing steps as he occupies Jason’s life. Quitting a job and going full in on the Box, with Leighton’s help, of all people. It was interesting how Charlie had been picking up some vibes from Jason 2. Charlie knows something is not right, but he would never in a million years be able to come up with a theory of why.

Dark Matter is some outstanding sci-fi so far, even if it is a slow burn. I am loving it so far.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #3

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February 9

“Carentan”

Week three of the Sunday Morning Sidewalk was the third episode of Band of Brothers, which showed that it continued to be one of the most realistic and stunning displays of wartime battles ever put together.

This episode featured Private Albert Blithe, a solider who was struggling with the war and its trappings. He went through a bout of “hysterical blindness” and ended up being wounded on a scouting mission. This was an amazing story of self-doubt and fear. 1st Lt. Speirs was a key piece to this story, as his brutal nature became legend among the men, but it was his wisdom that helped keep Private Blithe going. Speirs’s death was totally foreshadowed when he told Blithe that he was scared because he still had hope, and had not accepted the fact that they were all already dead.

There was a great scene at the end of the episode where Sgt. Malarky went to pick up his laundry that he had dropped off before the mission. Mrs. Lamb had done the laundry and he paid her. She asked if Lieutenant Meehan had forgotten about his laundry and she hoped he would come and pick it up. She had not realized that he had been killed. Malarky paid for his laundry as well, not telling her that he had been killed. She then asked about 1stSgt. Evans, Pvt. Moya, Pvt. Bloser, Pvt. Gray, PFC. Miller, Sgt. Owen, T-5 Collins, and Pvt. Elliot and Blithe, all of whom were dead. The show used this as a way to indicate that the Easy Company had lost 65 men during this offensive and that Blithe did not recover from his wound and died in 1948.

Dark Matter S1 E1, E2, E3

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“Are You Happy in Your Life?”

“Trip of a Lifetime”

“The Box”

Apple TV + has had some great series. Ted Lasso, Shrinking, and Silo are three of my all-time favorites shows. So with an opening in the schedule and Battlestar Galactica done, I needed a new show to go along with the X-Files and The White Lotus. I knew of a show called Dark Matter, which I had heard positive things about, and I decided this would be a good opportunity to start this watch.

After the first three episodes, I am completely in! This is some fantastic sci-fi storytelling and some top notch multiverse action.

I will admit the first episode or so was kind of confusing until I was able to figure out which one of the Joel Edgertons were Jason and which one was Jason 2. Once I was able to focus in on which one was which, things fell into place.

Three episodes in and this is really rocking hard. So hard that I am trying to avoid just binging the entire nine episodes in one sitting. That would defeat the purpose.

Joel Edgerton is awesome in this series, playing two versions of Jason Dessen. You can see the differences, subtle as they may be, between the two men. Edgerton does a fantastic job of carrying this story on his back.

With Jason and Amanda conceivably back in Jason’s universe (or on their way) I am curious to see where this show goes next. When Jennifer Connelly took a bullet to the head in the one universe, it was a shocking moment that told me that anything could happen. No one was safe in this multiversal tale.

I have found yet another massive winner on Apple TV +.

Dexter: Original Sin S1 E9

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“Blood Drive”

I was more impressed with this episode of Dexter: Original Blood than I had been for a few episodes. Then Dexter did something so stupid that it defies explanation.

In the last few minutes, he captured Captain Spencer and wrapped him up on his table. He taunted him for awhile and then decided to let him escape. I understand he was doing it so he could follow Spencer to where he had the missing Nicky hidden away, but there are so many things that could go wrong with that idea that it is shocking. I mean, just off the top of my head, the police captain could decide to turn Dexter in and frame him for the death of the kids. I can’t believe that would be hard to do… especially since Dexter had already cut off Spencer’s little finger, something that everyone knows the killer had done.

Spencer’s motive for kidnapping Nicky (and the kid before whom he killed) was fairly week too. I mean, just to get back at his ex-wife, he was going to torture and kill his own son? That felt so bizarre. I assume the other kid was taken and killed as a way to throw off the investigation, but that was so out there that I just do not accept that any of this made sense.

The flashbacks this episode were more engaging, which was not typical for this show. They featured the two traumatized brothers, Brian and Dexter, being adopted by Harry and Doris and having Brian be psychotic. It feels like it was a bit of a stretch from Brian and Dexter seeing everyone killed to Brian trying to suffocate baby Deb with a pillow to make her stop crying. The time frame seemed rushed.

I do think making the serial killer involved in this season Dexter’s separated brother is a good twist. I’m just not sure that this is done well either. Brian did not show much emotion about being separated from Dexter as a child, so having the separation be the driving force behind Brian’s murder spree did not feel right. Maybe it was just his excuse to unleash his own Dark Passenger, which makes more sense to me.

I believe there is only one more episode remaining for this season so we’ll see how things get wrapped up. The Brian storyline does not feel like it can be finished up in one episode, especially an episode where the Dexter-Spencer story is still a high priority. Still, we’ll see what happens.

The White Lotus S1 E4, E5, E6

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“Recentering”

“The Lotus-Eaters”

“Departures”

I finished off the first season of The White Lotus with some mixed feelings. The show is amazing, beautifully shot with gorgeous imagery of the Hawaiian Islands. However, the characters, while intriguing and deep as well as wonderfully acted, are just the worst people around.

Even those characters that I think we were meant to connect with as an audience are just the worst examples of people.

Armond is the perfect example. I am both sorry for and disgusted by Armond. He took so much grief and unnecessary strife, particularly from Shane, but he made so many choices that led to his own downfall. The scene of him pooping in Shane’s luggage was gruesome, shocking, and downright disturbing (albeit really funny). Of course, this “feud” with Shane sure seemed as if Shane came out on top and I am not sure how I felt about that. Shane was one of the biggest jerks on the show. Just losing his wife did not seem to be enough Karma for him.

Another character that we were meant to support was Paula, but she was every bit as bad as Olivia. She totally corrupted Kai which led his his arrest. That arc was anything but satisfying as that character was sacrificed to the show. I kind of expected Kai to have given the jewels he stole back, maybe anonymously, because he was better than that and had felt the regret of his actions. I guess not as Armond just said he was caught and that was all we got from him.

If there was one character who was worth rooting for, it was Belinda, who got royally screwed over by Tanya. The whole storyline with Tanya and Greg did not work much for me. He just blew in, had sex with Tanya, and told her he was sick. This was so out of nowhere, it felt out of place. Plus, it led to Tanya turning away from Belinda, whose heartbreak over the rejection of her business plan, a plan that Tanya encouraged in the first place, was crushing. Actor Natasha Rothwell did some wonderful acting in the final episode, keeping much of her own disappointment and ache inside and expressing it through her eyes and face.

There are seven episodes of season two also on MAX and I expect that I will be jumping into them soon. This first season was really well done and acted, creating some definitive feelings for these people. They just may not have been a happy feeling.

The X-Files S8 E3

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“Patience”

Agent Scully and Agent Doggett went together for the first time as partners out to chase down DC Comic’s Man-Bat.

Okay, so maybe it is not specifically the Man-Bat aka Dr. Robert Kirkland “Kirk” Langstrom. But there sure were a few similarities to the two characters.

I thought that the scenes with Scully and Doggett worked fairly well. Scully going out of her way to try and fit into the role of Mulder in the story seemed logical and the conflict with local authorities continued to be a trope of the X-Files.

John Doggett is an interesting piece. He seemed more willing to buy into the paranormal than Scully would have been, but he proved himself with his late second return after what looked to be a potential watery grave. I was never worried that Doggett was going to be killed, but it was a dramatic moment as Man-Bat and he fought in the water.

The ending was a bit anticlimactic as the Man-Bat just swooped down, was shot at, and disappeared. Doggett’s idea that he had shot him, as did Scully did not feel like a satisfying conclusion. Sure, it fell into the type of ending the X-Files thrived on, but this did not work as well as many of these previous monster episodes did.

Overall, it was an okay episode, and it furthered the partnership of Scully and Doggett, which was a vital component for the rest of the season.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E3, E4, E5

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“Secret Identity Crisis”

“Hitting the Big Time”

“The Unicorn Unleashed”

The second week of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man on Disney + saw the release of three new episodes. Three solid episodes again this week as we see several new interpretations of Spider-villains as well as the debut of one of the most iconic ones.

The dual story of Peter’s rise as Spider-Man and Lonnie Lincoln’s downward spiral to Tombstone is fascinating. They are spending a ton of time building the character of Tombstone to become, perhaps, the big bad of the series, long term.

But we also got our first look at Otto Octavius, pre-Octopus arms. It is revealed that Octavius is behind the weapons that have been showing up around New York.

We got a version of Speed Demon, Unicorn and who will eventually (I think) become Rhino.

Harry Osborn is brought into the “Team Spider-Man” by Norman. Norman said that he couldn’t always be available, but his son could. The Peter-Harry friendship is starting to develop, even though Harry seems to be becoming Peter’s Ned Leeds in this cartoon.

This is also interesting since the show is using the Iron Man/Captain America MCU storyline as a backdrop. I assume they will show up sooner or later.

My biggest problem I have in this show is the fact that everybody wears the same clothes every time. I know it is meant to identify these characters, but it is becoming very odd. I want Peter in something besides that yellow shirt and blue jacket.

I would say that the animation style is still a little distracting, but the storytelling has been top notch so far.

Paradise S1 E4

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“Agent Billy Pace”

Okay, I am officially in.

I may have still been slightly uncertain about this show after the first three episodes, but after the fourth episode, I am all in. I thought this was easily the best episode of this show that I have seen yet, and it was also the one that crushed me.

This episode featured Billy Pace, with a look at his background, and it was tremendously engaging. He had a dark past and the episode played with the uncertainty that he was the reason the president was killed. As it moved on, it became clear that Billy Pace was a bad guy who had found his friend and family with Xavier and his kids. By the end of the episode, I was in love with this character.

And then the show killed him off.

Man, that scene where he is poisoned by Jane on the orders of Sinatra. Then there was a scene with Sinatra and Billy that was just tense and anxious, which is what led to his death. I know I was nervous about Billy the rest of the film at that point and I thought he had made it when he got home. Then, the rugged gets pulled out from under me.

The death of Billy Pace was a kick in the gut. I would not have guessed that his death would have meant anything to me, but it has been awhile since I have felt this upset over a character death.

By the way, the mystery of the surface world is another cool thing and having Billy kill the people doing the investigation was a rough truth that caught me off guard. I am looking forward to seeing how everything ties together.

The music was by Poison this episode… Every Rose Has Its Thorn. Was the band’s name a hint?

I am fully in on this show now, at I guess, the halfway mark. You can watch Paradise on Hulu or Disney +.

The White Lotus S1 E3

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“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.