Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Invincible S3 E6

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“All I Can Say is I’m Sorry”

This one was a tough episode to watch.

It started off with the Batman v Superman set up as the character who would become Powerplex lost a sister and niece in the battle of Chicago between Omni-Man and Invincible. He blamed Invincible for the loss and tried to get justice.

In the end, Powerplex’s quest for justice cost him the life of his own wife and son.

Honestly, when I saw that, I immediately thought about Jay Schmidt from the YouTube show pReview’d, which I watch regularly and I know review this show. Jay is very sensitive to anything family-wise since he became a father recently. Seeing the after effects of Powerplex’s attack was devastating, even as an animated show. I had to go watch the pReview’d episode after this and, as I expected, he did not react well. I felt bad for him because he is such a sweet man.

The themes of the episode focused on the results of the loss of life around the fights of the superheroes and how much responsibility the heroes share in the deaths. This is an argument that some films and stories have made, including the loss of life in Man of Steel and, as I mentioned earlier, BvS.

I read a comment that this event in the comic book made a huge impact on Invincible and that it may be a needed moment for the character development of Mark.

Changing the subject for a sec, I just do not like the new black and blue costume. I miss the old one, but it looks as if there is a reason for that change as the tag at the end of the episode looks like something is coming.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #6

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“Bastogne”

As we start the second half of the season, the soldiers of Easy Company are in bad shape. The defense of the Belgium city of Bastogne was part of the Battle of the Bulge and was one of the most important moments of the war.

One of the key parts to this episode was the focus on the character Eugene Roe, the medic with the group. The horrors he had to endure in an attempt to keep the soldiers of his company in one piece was devastating. I was always a fan of the TV show MASH, but this took the realism to an all new level with the injuries and the blood. It truly gave a portrait of a man trying to hold his own self together to do what he could for the wounded.

Eugene met up with a nurse in the town of Bastogne, Renee. They connected over their efforts to save people and their wartime moments were the sole peace in this episode. Sadly, I knew what was destined to happen here, as Renee appeared to have died in a German bombing run on Bastogne (although no body was found).

Eugene went through the mental wringer in this episode, but the final moments with him seemed to indicate that he was going to make it through. He had slowly been starting to become like a zombie, but the final moment in a foxhole with Heffron, who he calls by his nickname “Babe” which was significant because Eugene did not use the nicknames before.

One of the more haunting moments of the episode came when there was a lull in fighting and the Germans could be heard singing “Silent Night” in German from out of their locations in the woods. Since it was Christmastime, this little bit of singing humanized the Germans, reminding us that they were just people fighting for their side, even if the Nazi Party was completely evil.

Another brutally powerful episode of this mini-series. Just four more weeks to go for this series in the Sunday Morning Sidewalk.

Paradise S1 E7

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“The Day”

Holy $%^$

Flashback episode and WHAT A FLASHBACK episode. Man this was tense. The show finally showed us the day when everything changed. We learned what happened to the earth that sent the Americans into the plan to go inside the Colorado mountain.

And man, was it powerful.

I mean, this was something else.

Not only the flashback, but the bookend scenes with Xavier and Sinatra was absolutely jaw-dropping. I found myself hating Sinatra almost as much as I used to hate the Cigarette Smoking Man on the X-Files. I was yelling for Xavier to put a bullet in her head, just like I used to want Mulder to do to CSM.

Sterling K. Brown and James Marsden are absolutely tremendous in this episode. Both of them gave amazing, Emmy-worthy performances in this episode as they dealt with the crisis of the earth’s downfall and the President’s drastic decisions prior to entering the mountain.

The tying of the events of The Day with the Cuban Missile Crisis is a stroke of genius and amazing writing. The determination of President Bradford in his decision to set off the huge EMP instead of launching the nuclear armory from the nuclear football is stunning. Could he have save the world with his choice?

Hearing Teri’s voice at the end was shocking and made me just hate Sinatra (aka Samantha all the more).

Plus, Sinatra told Xavier that the DNA found at the President’s murder site did not match anyone from inside the mountain, meaning that the murderer came from outside. I am not sure I believe her, but it is a massive twist if true.

This was the best episode of the season so far in a show that is chocked full of amazing episodes. Such a great hour of television on Hulu (or Disney +).

The White Lotus S3 E2

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“The Meaning of Dreams”

I do think this episode was a slow burn. There was some interesting conversations and what felt like a lot of set up.

There was a robbery that was surprising and exciting.

I am pleased that Gary is truly Greg, from the previous two seasons. I would love to see this rat bastard get his comeuppance for his involvement in Tanya’s death from season two.

What is happening with the Ratliff family? There is a plethora of storylines stuck within this group of characters.

Rick is a mystery for me and I am intrigued by who he is.

There is a lot of humor and curiosity going on with this season.

Dark Matter S1 E8, E9

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“Jupiter”

“Entanglement”

I’m conflicted over the last two episodes of Dark Matter.

On one hand, I like the sort of happy ending for the characters… at least, it seemed like a happy ending.

On the other hand, I am not a fan of the League of Jasons that suddenly formed with hundreds of doppelgangers coming together. All apparently able to find their way to the same universe.

I was so confused when Jason 2 killed that first Jason right off the bat in episode eight. Then, there were Jasons coming from the woodwork. There were Jasons everywhere you turned.

The entire time, I kept wondering how we were going to know if the Jason who wound up with Daniela and Charlie was the OG Jason. I suppose they all were OG Jasons, but I mean the Jason that we have been following since the beginning of the series. Not an alternate version because Jason made a choice.

Overall, I am not a fan of how this ended. The multiple Jasons just did not do it for me. I just wanted Jason and Jason 2 to be the final conflict, but Jason 2 even helped them out at the end. That character changed his tune too much for my tastes and I just did not know what was going on.

The X-Files S8 E6

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“Redrum”

This was a very interesting episode of the X-Files. Actor Joe Morton was the main protagonist of the episode Martin Wells, as he was in jail, arrested for the murder of his wife, something that he did not remember. He was murdered by his father-in-law as they were transferring him to a more secure location.

After dying, he awoke and it was the day before he is killed.

The episode is told backwards for the rest of the time and Martin was trying to figure out what was happening to him.

Martin was friends with John Doggett and Doggett and Scully would make appearances throughout the episode.

I found this plot very clever and intriguing. I liked everything about the episode. I saw some criticism that Morton had too much exposition during his monologues, but that did not bother me at all.

Scully and Doggett did not appear a lot in the episode, as it was definitely focused on Martin Wells. Still, I thought the use of them was well done considering the plot that they were using.

I thought this was another good-to-great episode from season 8, which I did not expect. What I expect is that I had a poor mindset about the season when it first came out because there was no Mulder. Looking at it now, these have been much better than I remember.

Dark Matter S1 E7

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“In the Fires of Dead Stars”

This was a great episode that has seemingly set the show up for a huge final two episodes.

Jason finally found his way back to his universe.

Jason 2 returned Ryan from The Box after the police started looking for him. Was this a different Ryan from a different universe?

Amanda had decided to stay in a universe instead of continuing on with Jason.

Jason tried to buy a gun, after seeing Jason 2 with his family in his home.

Jason 2 came into the gun shop right after Jason left and Jason 2 discovered that Jason was there.

Jason 2 had cracked open the cement covering the Box, leaving it open for Jason make his way through.

Jason 2 had a disagreement with his therapist version of Amanda, telling her that he wants to leave.

There is so much in this episode and it feels as if the next two will be insane. Episode eight is the penultimate episode of the first season.

The White Lotus S3 E1

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“Same Spirits, New Forms”

I wanted to have season one and two pf The White Lotus completed before season three kicked off, but I found out that the first episode had debuted last week and I was still in season two. So this week, I made it a goal to get through season two so I could follow along with season three as a weekly show.

I did complete the second season earlier this week so today I watched the first episode of season three.

The White Lotus for this season is set in Thailand and the exteriors and the surroundings are absolutely stunning. They have always looked great, but there is something both beautiful and mysterious about the set up for this season.

The opening of the season is as dramatic as always, with gunfire breaking up a young African-American’s one-on-one meditation session. We learn that he was at The White Lotus with his mother, but we do not have any ideas whom that is. However, I did have an idea whom that MIGHT be. I knew coming in that Natasha Rothwell would be resuming her role as Belinda Lindsay from season one, and so I could assume that this was her son. Maybe I am wrong, but I am fairly certain that is the case.

I do have more of a connection to this new group of characters in the first episode than I did in the season two introduction. That’s not to say that these characters aren’t rotten jerks, because clearly they are, but I have more of a connection to these. Why? I am not sure.

Actors in this season, along with Natasha Rothwell, include Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Parker Posey, Patrick Schwarzenegger, Sarah Catherine Hook, Sam Nivola, Michelle Monaghan, Carrie Coon, Leslie Bibb, Aimee Lou Wood, Nicholas Duvernay, Lalisa Manobal, Tayme Thapthimthong, Lek Patravadi, Christian Friedel, Shalini Peiris, and Jon Gries.

New episodes are on MAX every Sunday night at 8 PM CST.

Invincible S3 E5

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“This Was Supposed to Be Easy”

Invincible and Eve form their own protection company. Invincible Inc., and they take the contract to protect the prison after there was an attempt to break out Paul.

Invincible takes on the dragon form of Mister Lu at the prison, and that does not go too well for him. The dragon is extremely formidable, but ends up disappearing when Mister Lu is killed by Machine Head.

This was all orchestrated by Titan, whose family was being threatened by Lu in order to get Titan to bust out Paul. Paul tried to recruit Invincible to help him out, with the idea that the Order is much better when Titan was in charge than when these other killers were. Mark did not buy that, but does inadvertently helped him.

Meanwhile, Mark and Eve decide to start to take things a little slower. They had considered getting their own place, but Mark eventually decided to stay at home with his mom and Oliver. Oliver had been sneaking out of the house to go see friends in the night to skateboard and Mark and his mom were worried.

This episode did feel like a step back, but it was still entertaining and it did cover an area that had not been addressed for awhile now.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #5

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February 23

“Crossroads”

This episode of Band of Brothers moved through time, showing us different moments in the life of Captain Winters, from his last command in the field in Holland to his promotion to Executive Officer (XO) of 2nd Battalion. This would mean that he was no longer in command of Easy Company.

We see his response to all the paperwork that his new position entailed and how he returned mentally to the front lines. This is juxtaposed with a memory of his final shots of his command when he shot a young German soldier. The moment when the young German, who was kneeling, smiled, only to have the smile leave his face in realization, was haunting and stuck with Winters moving forward.

Fredrick “Moose” Heyliger is the person that Winters suggested to take his place, but Moose is shot by a twitchy Army sentry. Moose does survive, but he does not return to Easy Company after his injuries. What a scene this was with the young Army sentry actually shooting someone on his side.

We saw a cameo with Jimmy Fallon as Lt. George Rice. This was an episode that was directed by Tom Hanks, and he does a great job with the non-linear storytelling.

The White Lotus S2 E6, E7

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“Abductions”

“Arrivederci”

Season two of The White Lotus wrapped up with these final two episodes, and I feel kind of empty.

Madame Butterfly died at the end.

The reveal of who the body was in the water was heartbreaking and several of these stories turned out tragic.

I never would have guessed that Tanya would have been the one who drown. Even more so… the plot surrounding her death was crazy, but, seemingly, not just paranoia. The worst part of everything was Greg gets away with all of Tanya’s money, and we never see him again. The whole Tanya and the Gays story was a heavy part of these last two episodes and had such a tragic twist at the end that it hit me like a punch in the gut.

Tanya’s death was not the only story that I thought ended sadly. The whole storyline with our two prostitutes was terrible. Lucia turned out to be scamming poor, naive Albie to get money… in the end 50,000 Euros. Albie thought it was to get her out from under a crazy Italian man, but that guy was just part of the scam, as we see in the final moments of the show. I feel disappointed in myself because I had started to come around on Lucia and Mia after spending the first part of this season disliking them quite a bit. I should have stuck to my opinions, but the show played me good.

There was so much toxicity in the relationships of Ethan and Harper and Daphne and Cameron that I had soured on that story already. Watching these four being so horrid was my least favorite storyline. Did Ethan and Daphne have a sexual encounter on the island? Did Cameron and Harper do more than what Harper confessed to? My one favorite part was Ethan going to nearly murder Cameron in the water. I would never see that guy again if I were Ethan, but that was not the implication that I got. However, Ethan and Harper seem to have gotten past their troubles and are, apparently, happy once again.

These last two episodes were extremely well done, but they did not go out of their way to give us a happy ending. Maybe in the end it will turn out okay for Albie and Portia, who reconnected at the airport (even though Portia had no idea about Tanya’s fate… or at least, only suspected).

There was a lot of things left ambiguous, which does not bother me. I have a good idea what happened. I just would have liked something more positive than the scamming hookers being the big winners.

The first episode of season three of The White Lotus is out and I will get that one done before the next episode Sunday night.

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E9, E10

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“Hero or Menace”

“If This Be My Destiny…”

The finale two episodes of the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are absolutely amazing!

In episode nine, we get a big showdown between Spidey and Scorpion, with Lonny smack dab in the middle. Lonny gets exposed to a gas that gives him super strength (and will eventually turn him into the Tombstone we know in the comics). Spidey and Lonny defeat Scorpion.

In episode ten, we have a big battle with Dr. Strange and the symbiote and we are shown that this battle is what would lead to the battle from the first episode at Peter’s school, and the spider that bit Peter was the spider that Norman had created with Spider-Man’s blood that they had collected. I loved that adjustment in the story. It made everything work for me.

The writing on this series has been excellent. It has developed more than just Peter Parker. I feel like they built the supporting characters around Peter so well, especially Lonny who could arguably be considered a co-lead character. They show us the beginning of several villains in the Spider-Man world, like Otto Octavius, Scorpion, Norman Osborn, Venom etc.

With Spider-Man’s actual suit debuting in episode nine, Spider-Man looked sensational. The animation of these episodes were so great with some amazing shots. I have not necessarily loved the animation prior, but this seemed to really be something special.

The voice acting did great all season long. Everything was excellent, especially Coleman Domingo, who was so epic. I would love to see Domingo play Norman Osborn in the MCU. The show has done a great job of slowly building Norman into who we expect he will become. And yet, it feels very justified.

I did not expect this series to be great because recent Spider-Man animation has been more directed toward very young children. This series was right up there with the best Spider-Man series and right there with X-Men ’97. I am happy that this series has a three season order so there are at least two more to go.

I love Spider-Man.

The White Lotus S2 E4, E5

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“In the Sandbox”

“That’s Amore”

It was two interesting episodes that seemingly flipped my opinions on some of the characters from the first three shows of season two.

This was the first time that I was interested in the two prostitutes who had been hanging around the White Lotus, Mia and Lucia, had been a distraction for much of the first three episodes, but, for some reason, I started to enjoy their presence in these two. Mia’s relationship with Albie felt sweet. I was a little uncertain because it felt like she might be taking advantage of him. Then Lucia’s accidental poisoning of the piano player led to her to gt a chance to play the piano.

Tanya, whom I already like, was able to get out of her depression over Greg’s leaving when she came across a group of gay men who invited her into their circle. I’m still not sure about the overall positiveness of this though. The end of episode five made me wonder. Still, it was nice to see Tanya apparently happy for a bit at least.

I was rooting for Portia, but her hooking up with Jack felt beneath her, and I was not sure I liked that storyline piece.

This was also the first time that I got into the story with Dominic and his father Bert. There was a scene between the two of them at dinner that brought this troubled relationship to light, making me understand these two way more than discussions of The Godfather ever did.

Aubrey Plaza’s Harper, who had been my favorite character up until these episodes, found a condom wrapper in the apartment and became extremely unhappy with Ethan. This entire arc has done nothing but make me dislike Harper and make me feel sorry for Ethan. It feels at this point that Ethan is way better than any of the people he is with, whether it be Harper or his best friend, Cameron, who is just a creep.

I do think that the show has begun to hint at who the bodies are going to be and we had a couple of characters go out to the water in moments of melancholy and close their eyes. It was both Dominic and Harper at different points during these episodes. I do not know if this is meant to be red herrings, but these two are easily the most depressed characters on the canvas right now, even lower than Tanya.

Two more episodes to go before I start season three.

Paradise S1 E6

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“You Asked For Miracles”

I love Die Hard so much.

Using it as flavor for this episode was such a great idea.

Paradise is such an incredible show. I never expected this being as amazing as it is.

Xavier is leading the charge against Sinatra. He has everything planned out perfectly, knowing what she would do at each step. It led to a dramatic showdown at the episode’s end between them, and something that Xavier did not see coming.

His wife is alive?

Xavier also does not know that his daughter Presley is not safe and secure. She is in the custody of Jane. Presley did not know that Jane was someone not to trust.

Xavier has all the guns. Things are really coming together.

Yippee Ki-Yay, Mfer.

White Lotus S2 E2, E3

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“Italian Dream”

“Bull Elephants”

I just discovered that White Lotus season three has begun over on MAX, with episodes dropping on Sundays. Apparently episode 1 of season three is out and the next one will arrive this Sunday night. I had just started season two recently and so I would like to set a goal to finish season two and watch the first episode of season three before Sunday night so I can caught be caught up with the series.

So today I watched episodes 2 & 3 of season two.

I am not incredibly connected to any of these characters yet, outside of Aubrey Plaza. She is in a wild situation with her new husband and his best friend. They are seemingly dancing around each other and the tension is palatable. Between the two husbands, Ethan and Cameron, Ethan is so much more likable and he seems a much better person than anyone else on the show.

I feel for Tanya too. Her husband Greg definitely has something going on. He has been getting phone calls, speaking to someone he tells he loves. He’s plotting something. It seems like his potential illness that was going to kill him is gone. He indicated that Tanya helped him get better. I wonder if the show is trying to make him look like a bad guy and it will be a swerve, or is he after Tanya’s money?

Again, I have not seen any progression toward the scene we got in the first episode with all the dead bodies in the water. It was late in season one when things started to happen in that area as well.