Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

The Penguin S1 E4, E5

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“Cent’anni”

“Homecoming”

Episode four was my favorite episode of the series so far. We saw the backstory of Sofia, how she was taken to Arkham and the horrors that were unleashed on her there.

Legit, some of the scene at Arkham were horrendous… electric shock treatments… to someone who was innocent of the charge of being “The Hangman.” Sent there by her very own father’s manipulations. Her whole family, except her brother, turned on her, keeping her in the asylum for ten years.

It really made Sofia relatable… someone the audience could root for… before she went totally crazy. Sofia gassed her entire family (except the one little girl). She tortured Johnny Viti. When he swore to help her, she brought him to a meeting and promptly shot him in the head when he tried to disagree with her.

Sofia then told the members of the meeting that she was setting up a new family. That the Falcone family was dead and that she was taking the name Gigante. She found Salvatore Maroni, who escaped from prison after one of Oz’s men tried to assassinate him. She formed an alliance with him with the intention of killing Oz and running the new family in the right way.

Cristin Milioti is absolutely brilliant. She had so many scenes that illuminated the power of her performance as she was developing into a massive villain right before our eyes… and one that we were cheering for.

Victor was assigned to protect Oz’s mother Francis. Oz was worried because he was not having quite the successes that he was hoping for, and he sent Victor to protect his mother. Deirdre O’Connell is great in this episode as Penguin’s mother. She has some great scenes with Victor and a tour de force scene with Oz later in the episode. The performance of a woman slowly succumbing to dementia is truly powerful and sad at the same time.

The Penguin’s disposal of Nadia and her son in a blaze of flame was shocking and showed how horrible Oz was too. He may be the protagonist, but he is not a hero.

Battlestar Galactica S2 E19

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“Lay Down Your Burdens- Part 1”

Part one of the season two finale kicked off a rescue mission led by Starbuck back to Caprica. It also featured some presidential debates between President Roslin and Vice President Gaius Baltar.

By an accidental jump, one of the Raptors heading for Caprica came across a planetary body that had potential for settlement, which gave Baltar a topic to help his struggling campaign.

The Raptor that jumped into the mountain… whoa, tough thing. The old teleportation fear of teleporting into solid objects. Nightcrawler always talked about that and here Battlestar Galactica had it happen.

Starbuck reunited with Anders in a moment of happiness, only to be interrupted by Cylon forces attacking. It seemed as if the whole crew was trapped by explosions.

I have to say I was surprised that Sharon was involved with Starbuck’s crew considering the anger she had over the baby last episode. I kept waiting for her to turn on the humans, but she did not seem willing to do that.

Part II is coming up as the final episode of the second season.

Greatest American Hero S2 E5

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“Classical Gas”

It has been a long time since I have done one of the episodes of The Greatest American Hero. So long in fact it was no longer on Amazon Prime, where I had watched the first season plus. Fortunately, the show is now on Peacock, which I do have a subscription for so I continued with the fifth episode of the second season. Unfortunately, “Classical Gas” was perhaps my least favorite episode of the rewatch so far.

There were so many cliches and tropes swirling around this episode that just made it a tough one to sit through. How about the kids that Ralph teaches becoming a band? How many bands are formed on TV shows- from the Brady Bunch to Joanie and Chachi.

Secondly, Ralph finds himself jealous of Pam spending time with MASH’s Col. Flagg and his atrocious toupee. Edward Winter, who played Flagg, is a music exec. in this episode who happens to be crooked, but also trying to make a play for Pam. And, of course, Ralph was jealous and used the suit to spy on them.

The main antagonist of the show was named Hydra and he had apparently planned an escape from a German prison by having someone have plastic surgery to make him look identical and they flipped spots. Plastic surgery? Please.

Up to this point, Greatest American Hero has been better than I remembered and was an underrated series. This episode was a real flopper.

The X-Files S7 E3

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“Hungry”

This X-Files episode tells the story through the POV of the monster-of-the-week. Apparently both David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson had movies to film and they had to film their scenes ahead of time.

So the episode focused on the character of Rob Roberts, played by Chad Donella. We discover early on that he is the monster, eating people’s brains, and we see him through most of the episode.

LOST’s Jacob, Mark Pellegrino, also guest starred as Derwood Spinks, a dirtbag employee of the fast food restaurant where Rob worked.

This was an interesting episode with a noted bit of humor going through the episode. It is a light episode, but a fun watch. It is not going to find its way onto any best of lists of the X-Files episodes, but it is watchable.

Bates Motel S4 E9, E10

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“Forever”

“Norman”

In my mind, I thought I remembered that the whole gas thing was an accident. I misremembered that because, seeing episode nine again, it was painfully clear that Norman had intended for them both to have died in that room. Had it not been for Romero, they both would be dead.

I will forever remember Alex desperately trying to give Norma CPR and holding her corpse, sobbing uncontrollably. It was a horrific punctuation to this relationship that, in very short order, became one of my favorite relationships in the history of TV.

Norman really goes crazy in the season finale as he kept waiting for Norma to tell him the plan and eventually digs her up out of her grave. We know that Norman from Psycho did dig up his mother’s corpse, although it sounded as if his relationship with his mother was considerably different than the TV show. In Psycho II, Norman says he poisoned his mother when he was young. I know that Bates Motel Norman may not be exactly the same version of Norman Bates from Psycho. Perhaps he is a multiversal variant.

The cruelty of Norman not telling Dylan about his mother was unbelievable. Yes, there were some strange coincidences with Dylan, so he remains unaware of the death. They felt a little too on the nose, but I know it works for the story.

When Norman glued Norma’s eyes open… I mean… how creepy was that. Was that Vera Farmiga being the dead body because, if so, she was brilliant.

When I originally watched this show, I really thought that these episodes ended the series, but there is a whole fifth season to go. This felt like a good wrap up for the series, at least for Norman and Norma, but there are 10 more episodes to go. The side characters all need more of a wrap up, but I could see this having been the end of Bates Motel.

Not sure I liked the Christmas lights popping on at the end of the episode though.

Bates Motel S4 E8

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“Unfaithful”

Norman’s presence back home causes strife for Norma, who is scared to tell him about Romero.

Norman is trying to establish his own place by going to see Romero and telling him that he can start divorce proceedings. Romero was not happy about it, and he told Norma that she was going to have to take care of it. Norma said that she was not giving him up.

When the secret came out (sort of, though. Norma told Norman that she ‘liked’ Alex), Norman did not take it well. He has so much jealousy directed toward them that you can see his anger was clearly coming through.

The dinner with Norma, Alex and Norman was remarkably tense. The blow up between Norman and Norma was rough to watch.

All it did was reaffirm how much I love the relationship between Romero and Norma. He was in such control during Norman’s rampage and all he thought of was Norma’s safety.

They also teased what’s coming up. A little foreshadowing with the heater repair guy.

Grotesquerie S1 E7

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“Unplugged”

WTF?

I mean… WTF?

This episode started off with Lois being just a totally vicious bitch toward her daughter and her new fiancé, Travis Kelce. She was so cruel that I found myself hating her so much. Then she pulled the plug on Marshall. Then we found out that Father Charlie was Grotesquerie and that Sister Megan was his accomplice. Megan got into a massive fight with Lois, where she stabbed her multiple times.

Then things changed.

Lois is in the coma. Marshall is alive and in the Lois role from the beginning. Lois had been the one having the affair. Sister Megan was the police chief. Marshall decided to pull the plug on Lois. Travis Kelce wanted to say goodbye, but Marshall wanted no part of that, keeping him from the room. When they pulled the plug, Lois floated up and seemed to get her heartbeat back.

What the hell is going on?

Is this show implying that Lois has been in the coma the whole time and the first six episodes were all in her head? I think that is what is going on here.

Does that mean that everything prior to Lois waking up from her coma in this episode means nothing?

That is a massive sized twist if that is the case. It is also extremely confusing in this episode. Where does this story go from here? Is this a totally different story than the one we have been watching?

Only one episode released this week, but it was nearly an hour long, and it was totally insane. I am not sure what happened or where it goes from here. There are three more episodes remaining.

Shrinking S2 E1, E2

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“Jimmying”

“I Love Pain”

Season one of Shrinking on Apple + was one of the great unexpected treasures on streaming. Jason Segal, Harrison Ford, Jessica Williams, Christa Miller, Ted McGinley. Luke Tennie and Lukita Maxwell are a great cast that brought these stories of grief, loss and recovery to life.

The first two episodes of season two dropped on Apple + this week.

“Do you know what sucks about your baby carrots? They make you think they’re Cheetos”- Paul (Harrison Ford). I laughed out loud at this line. This is a perfect example of some of the great writing on this series. The dialogue is special and they are delivered by amazing actors.

I have to say specifically that the writing for Harrison Ford is unbelievably amazing in this show, and this episode is a prime example of that.

Episode one had a shocking surprise cameo at the end as Brett Goldstein (Roy Kent from Ted Lasso) showed up at Jimmy’s office. His name was Louis and he was the drunk driver that was involved in the car crash that killed Jimmy’s wife, Tia. This was just as Jimmy was getting past the loss, but dealing with his own worries over his patient Grace who pushed her husband off a cliff.

These first two episodes reminded me just how awesome this series was. It is so well written and acted that it is both deeply poignant and outrageously funny. I am happy that it is back again.

Agatha All Along E6

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“Familiar By Thy Side”

After last week’s big reveal at the episode’s end, I figured this week would be the back story of Billy Maximoff. And I was right.

I loved this episode. We went back and discovered how Wanda’s mind reading son wound up in a teenager’s body.

I had heard this speculation before. How the car accident that was reported earlier in the series, and was the back drop to the credits when Joe Locke’s name was up, would be tied to Billy’s resurrection (or rebirth?).

That car crash they shot was spectacular.

The crash came because Billy Kaplan’s parents, from Eastview, were distracted by the Anomaly created by Wanda was disappearing. I felt bad for the Kaplans but their son was gone. When he died in that car crash, Bill Maximoff took over the body. This is a decent origin for the Teen in the MCU considering how messy Wiccan’s Marvel Comics origin is.

We also get a special guest star… everyone’s favorite… Ralph Boner! Ralph Boner was the albatross around the neck of WandaVision. When he turned out to NOT be Pietro Maximoff from the X-Men universe, that was universally hated. However, we all still love Evan Peters and having him back is always welcomed. Ralph’s appearance was a little inconsistent here. I wish they had chosen a tone and stuck with it instead of trying to do both the fearful/intense tone and the funny/silly tone. Still, it was great to see him.

The discussion between Agatha and Billy at the end was really some great writing. Interestingly, no Aubrey Plaza. Where was she? I also hope the others in the coven are not gone for good. I know they are involved in other aspects, but I hope it is not just in flashbacks.

Three more episodes. One next week and then two on Halloween eve.

Bonus Action Vol. 2 E7

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“Welcome …to Fey Country”

A gigantic episode of Bonus Action this week… over 2 hours and 18 minutes worth of action. David the DM immediately split the six people of the group apart.

They spent most of the time one one one with David, playing all sorts of weird characters including a human faced bird, a disappointed marionette, and a not quite killed Minotaur.

David also left the group on several cliffhangers including Bar’B’s father about to reveal his deal.

So entertaining and exciting, these are some wonderful D&D players who understand that the key to the story are the characters, not just the power you can have.

Only Murders in the Building S4 E8

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“Lifeboat”

We basically cleared the Westies this week. Honestly, I was not as enthralled with this episode as I have been with every other this season.

It just felt too much. There was out regular cast, pus the actors, plus the Westies and flashbacks with Milton Dudenoff as well. Plus, we got to meet Helga and see her back story. The entire Dudenoff story is resolved, as we discover that he was dying and took a handful of pills, talking the Westies into putting him into the incinerator.

So no murder of Dudenoff, but Sazz is still a question. The show hinted at a new suspect this week, Paul Rudd’s Glen Stubbins. I do not believe for one second that he is not just another red herring. The main reason is this killer, who has been stalking and taunting them, feels way more sinister than Glen ever felt. Could he have been playing? Maybe. Except, wasn’t he in the hospital when the last text message came through?

There are so many pieces pulling the focus away from Oliver, Charles and Mabel. I would want to see more about them than seeing all of these other characters.

I have loved this season so much until this episode so I am sure that things will pick up once again with just two more to go.

Battlestar Galactica S2 E18

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“Downloaded”

This episode showed us what it was like for the Cylon resurrection. We saw the rebirth of Six after the initial attack on Caprica and the rebirth of Sharon after she was shot aboard Galactica. Both were very traumatic for the Cylons.

Sharon had her baby on Galactica and President Roslin decided that the baby girl could not be raised by a Cylon and so she had the doctor pretend that the baby died, and she had the baby given to another person, secretly. This felt like a cruel decision from Roslin because the show has done such a good job of redeeming Sharon from the early days of her betrayal.

However, Sharon had serious reaction to the baby’s supposed death as she believed that they had killed the baby. She had no idea about the truth of the situation.

We also got some connection between Six and Sharon on Caprica. Funnily, the Six that was reborn after the initial explosion was also seeing Gaius Baltar in her head just like he was seeing Six in his aboard Galactica. That was not what I was expecting and it changed my POV of that character as well. Six and Sharon both admitted to their love for human men and have decided to try and make it better. Not sure how that is going to come about or how the news of the baby’s ‘death’ will change that perspective.

It had been a long time since I saw the last episode of Battlestar Galactica, so it was awesome coming back to the series.

The X-Files S7 E1, E2

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“The Sixth Extinction”

“The Sixth Extinction II: Amor Fati”

It has been awhile since I ended season six of The X-Files, which was a first part of a three part story that would help to reboot the mythology of the series.

Honestly, the X-Files does such a great job of creating villains. Many times, villains are created to be cool, and people love them, despite of the terrible things they may have done. However, I hate these villains on the X-Files. I want Smoking Man dead. So badly. Same goes for Krychek or Diana Fowley. Of course, this episode saw the end of one of them… off camera. Diana Fowley dies at the end after the show tried to redeem her in the eyes of the viewers. It did not do that for me. The whole ‘she helped out Scully, find Mulder’ did not do it for me. In my book, she was never with Mulder in any way but the selfish way.

The show’s mythology took a turn here and set up the final push for the series. This became more of a sci-fi series than it ever had before. The whole old man Mulder arc was a bit much too, which again tried to show Smoking Man in a more positive light. I just want that smug bastard dead. Great performance from William B. Davis, as always.

The minute Albert Holsteen showed up in Mulder’s apartment, I knew what the show was going for. It was clearly a spirit coming to help Scully and that whole bit was quite a cliche.

The end where Mulder and Scully claim to be each other’s ‘touchstone’ was well acted, but I have never felt any sort of romantic relationship between Mulder and Scully. I could see them being something deeper than romantic and I choose to see this scene in that light.

This trilogy ended season 6 and kicked off season 7 well, and helped keep the show on track moving forward.

Bates Motel S4 E7

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“There’s No Place Like Home”

Norman discovers the truth about Norma and Alex’s wedding and that inspires the jealous little jerk to insist on checking himself out of the mental hospital.

I call him a little jerk because I so love Norma and Alex together and I know that this is the beginning of the end for them.

Norman finds the picture of Alex and Norma together while he was doing his paper mache dog and it started him into his manipulative state.

Dr. Edwards was not a fan of the idea, but Norman is able to convince him. I think it was as much Norma’s fault because she has done so much to enable Norman for so long that she just does not know what she needs to do.

Actually, Norma knows exactly what she should do, but she is too afraid of what might happen that she doesn’t have the strength to do what she has to when it comes to Norman. Just telling him that her marriage to Alex was only for the insurance money (even though that is how it started) says that she still allows Norman’s insanity to rule her life.

It only makes it more tragic with every scene of bliss that is between Alex and Norma. Alex told her about the money he took from Bob. Norma immediately told him about the Norman situation. The relationship is easily the only healthy one Norma has ever had.

All the more tragic.

Grotesquerie E5, E6

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“Red Haze”

“Good Caesarean Work”

Okay, this week was completely bat shit crazy.

Lois and Sister Megan wound up in a little town, being chased by someone/something. The town itself is absolute horror show of violence. All the women appear to have been assaulted, perhaps even as the day moves along. Sister Megan ends up shot. It was all surreal.

My guess is that the smoke from the pit they were at last episode had some kind of reactive property causing everyone to be angry and violent. It sure seemed as if Lois and Sister Megan were being affected too as they were very sharp and biting toward each other during this wild time in this little town.

The show also revealed a couple of secrets, including a connection between Nurse Redd and Marshall. It explained why she was so crazed about Lois turning over power of attorney for Marshall to her. Honestly, Nurse Redd is just as unbalanced as anyone on this show.

The serial killer Grotesquerie was the one to shoot Sister Megan as he followed them throughout the opening scene. He took Andrea, the bloody woman Lois and Sister Megan picked up at the end of episode four. She also seemed to be an identical twin to the clerk at the hotel they stopped at who appeared to be constantly being beaten.

Father Charlie made a return to the side of Sister Megan’s bed and immediately chastised Lois for her use of her as bait.

This led to a horrific series of scenes involving women who had forced c-sections and were allowed to then bleed to death. The babies were being taken for some bizarre reason. The scene at the end of episode six where there were a group of women who were hooked up to breast pumps feeding these babies is horrendous.

Then the show left us on a cliffhanger, just a remarkably cruel and hateful one. A masked figure snuck up behind Lois with a knife and she turned and shot him. It is clearly intended to be Grotesquerie and Lois pulled off the mask from his face. We as an audience did not get to see the face in the terrible end. I felt very upset about having this mask pulling scene being done so we could not get the reveal and would have to come back next week.

Two episodes each week means that the show will end on Halloween, which is very appropriate.