Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Sweet Tooth S3 E1

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“The Beginning is also the End”

The final season of Sweet Tooth dropped on Netflix this weekend. This is based on a comic book from one of my favorite writers, Jeff Lemire, and has been a great two season series. Now, Gus, Big Man, Bear and Wendy are on their way to Alaska to find Gus’s mom, who happens to be in bunch of trouble herself.

Christian Convery returned as the titular character and shows, once again, how perfectly he was cast as the deer hybrid, Gus. The young actor exudes charm and warmth, making this character the perfect protagonist for this world filled with sickness and cruelty.

Jeb, aka Big Man, has to face his own problems as he is trying to continue to protect Gus. Big Man is getting older and life’s conflicts just don’t bounce off him as they used to do.

The first episode provides some further insight into the relationship between the two hybrids, Gus and Wendy. They both seem to be the most good hearted characters you could hope to see, and I hope that does not lead to their eventual downfall.

With the first episode cliffhanger, the arrival of Dr. Singh wanting to talk about Alaska, the show kicked off with a bang. There was an avalanche in the Rocky Mountains that was awesome, placing another challenge before our foursome.

Jeff Lemire has written some of my favorite comic series from outside of Marvel, but I never read Sweet Tooth. It has that same feel that one might get when reading Fishflies. I do not know how much the series has stuck to the comics, but I can definitely feel the touch of Lemire in the story.

Sweet Tooth on Netflix has a total of 8 episodes in the final season.

The X-Files S5 E12

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“Bad Blood”

This is one of my favorite, if not my favorite, X-Files episodes of all time. “Bad Blood” is a monster-of-the-week story involving vampires, but the best part of the episode is the humor. This is one of the funniest X-Files episodes in the entire series.

The concept behind the episode was Mulder and Scully telling the story of what happened in their case in Texas, describing what happened in each of their own POVs. While the scenes were similar, little differences between the way Mulder saw things and the way Scully saw things were just hilarious.

Even more intriguing was how Mulder and Scully saw the other one. Scully’s tale had Mulder being more exuberant and not very forthcoming while Mulder saw Scully as irritated and snipy.

Luke Wilson guest starred as Sheriff Hartwell, both with and without buck teeth. The running gag of Scully’s attraction to him was in both of their stories and led to Mulder adding the detail of the buck teeth, assumingly out of jealousy.

Some of my favorite lines/moments from “Bad Blood” :

  • “It’s not that Mexican goat sucker either”
  • “I was drugged!”
  • Scully getting hungry during an autopsy because she saw pizza in the stomach contents.
  • Mulder’s “Yee-haw” and Scully’s “Hoo-boy”
  • Mulder throwing the sunflower seeds, saving himself.
  • “Probably Cause of Death: Gee, that’s a tough one”
  • In Scully’s version: Mulder does the Shaft theme song to which Mulder responds “I DID NOT!”
  • “I just put money in the magic fingers” -Scully’s total disappointment.
  • The small intestine sliding out from the scale.

That is just a sampling of the brilliance of this episode. As I stated, if this is not my number one episode of the X-Files, it is certainly in argument for the top three. It is wholly original and provided Gillian Anderson and David Duchovny a perfect situation to show off their excellent comedic timing. It also allowed a look inside the minds of Mulder and Scully to how they can see the other person in their partnership at times.

“Bad Blood” is outstanding.

Bates Motel S2 E2

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“Shadow of a Doubt”

Lots of things going down on Bates Motel as the second season gets underway.

  • Norma is concerned over Norman’s blackouts and she finds a pearl necklace in his room.
  • Norman is trying to help Bradley get away with the murder she committed.
  • Speaking of which, the murder Bradley committed, Gil, whom killed her father, started fireworks between the two weed families in the area.
  • Norma and Norman try out for local musical at the theater in town. Norma knocks her song out of the park.
  • Romero arrests a suspect for Miss Watson’s murder, based on a seaman sample.
  • Romero presses charges without much evidence.
  • Norman can’t get away from Norma to drive Bradley to the bus station. He called Dylan to help. Dylan will make it look like she committed suicide.

Then, the episode was coming to an end in what seemed to be a happy moment. The word about Miss Watson’s accused killer got out and everyone was happy (especially Norma who believed that Norman had killed her during one of his blackouts). Dylan had returned and gave Norman the good news about Bradley getting on the bus and gave him a handwritten note from her to Norman. There was happy music playing in the background. It felt like the episode was going to end on a happy note for once.

I should know Bates Motel wouldn’t let that happen.

Norma’s brother arrived in the town, looking for the Bates Motel. At the end of season one, we discovered that Norma had been sexually assaulted by him through her teenage years. Things aren’t looking good for this guy.

The X-Files S5 E11

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“Kill Switch”

AI rear its ugly head once again on The X-Files and this time, Scully get to kickbox a bunch of evil nurses.

What?

It was a weird episode that featured an armless Mulder, action hero Scully, and a computer programmer trying to prevent an AI from going worldwide.

It included a couple of laser beams from a satellite targeting our heroes from space, leading to massive explosions.

I saw a lot of love for this episode online, but to be honest, it was not a personal favorite of mine. The whole Scully does roundhouse kicks seemed silly to me and it damaged the tone of the episode, in my opinion.

It was always nice to see the Lone Gunmen once again and their jaw-dropping idolization of “Invisigoth”, the hacker involved with the AI, was very funny. Her attitude toward them put them in their place too.

Overall, this episode was fine and the armless Mulder scenes were scary, but I just was not as into this as some previous X-Files episodes. It was far from bad, but I just did not love this one.

Doctor Who S14 E6

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S14 E6 or S1 E7 or …who the hell knows

“Rogue”

I could feel the internet melting down every second that I watched this episode.

The Doctor and Ruby arrive in a Bridgerton type location (19th Century earth) and come across a bounty hunter named Rogue, who believed that the Doctor was the shape shifting killer that he was chasing. The Doctor and Rogue flirt throughout the episode and try to drive the trolls online crazy. I mean… they end up teaming up trying to capture the shapeshifters from the Chuldur species.

They actually use the term cosplay for what the Chulder species does, really a insider term. This show has been very meta all year long and this played right into it.

Jonathan Groff played Rogue and he and the Doctor had a great deal of chemistry between them. The time they gave to this new relationship feels as if it is setting up something else for the future of the character in the romance manner.

This show continues to be well written and entertaining every week. I have enjoyed my first real dive into Doctor Who.

The X-Files S5 E10

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“Chinga”

Stephen King co-wrote this episode of The X-Files along with series creator Chris Carter, who would help get the voices of Mulder and Scully correct. King was a fan of the show and approached David Duchovny with the hope of writing an episode.

The episode he helped to pen featured an evil doll, much like Annabelle or Chucky, that was able to force people into violent behavior.

Scully was on vacation, actively trying to avoid the phone calls from an obviously bored Mulder, but she came across this terrible scene at a supermarket and she wound up getting roped in to helping the local sheriff.

As the episode was basically a Scully solo episode, with a few phone calls coming from Mulder to provide some comedic relief, it was a fun time. I enjoy Scully being able to show that she is a capable FBI agent and not just depend on Mulder. She did seem to slide into Mulder’s way of thinking perhaps a bit too fast, considering scientist Scully would have a difficult time accepting the possibility of a talking, killer doll. Still, it mostly made sense and there is little that was funnier than Scully taking this doll and putting it in the microwave.

Clearly the doll, Chinga, was not at the level of Chucky or Annabelle because there is no way nuking them in a microwave would take care of them.

There were some creepy moments of the show too, including the “Hokey Pokey.”

The X-Files S5 E9

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“Schizogeny”

… or the killer tree episode.

I first thought this was the episode with the kid who could summon lightning and was always in the arcade, but it switched up quickly. I do not remember this episode at all. Perhaps that is because this is terrible.

Did I mention killer trees?

Poor Aunt Linda.

I think there was an intention to speak against abuse in children, but the ridiculousness of the rest of the episode just did not fit with the topic. The tone of this episode was all over the place and the abuse did not work for the story.

And evidence that Mulder should not be involved in car chases.

The X-Files gave us, perhaps, the first crazy Karen. Decapitated, even.

If I missed this the first time around, it seemed that I was lucky. This was one of the worst X-Files episodes in a long time.

Bates Motel S2 E1

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“Gone but not Forgotten”

I was about halfway through the episode on Amazon Prime when my internet went out. So I had to wait a couple of hours before I could finish the season premiere of season two of Bates Motel.

One of my favorite scenes of the show happened in this episode. Vera Farmiga had the most righteous rant at the city council meeting and I threw my arms into the air as she ripped into the council and the prudish women who had presented about removing books from the school. This gave another great look at the character of Norma Bates, who is being shown to be a force of nature.

The show took the character of Bradley in a different direction this season as she tried to kill herself at the beginning of episode 1. She started going all in on an attempt to find out about her father, who died in season one. That led her to killing the guy that had some knowledge of the death in a shocking moment. Then she drew Norman into the problem at the very end of the episode. I did not remember this part of the storyline from the first time I saw this back in season two, so it was a cool, seemingly new, feature.

Norman is continuing to have trouble getting over the death of Miss Watson. The show is implying that he had something to do with the murder. Norman does not remember what happened that night, but, when he was talking to Norma about it, Norman said that he did not remember and when he left, he could have been there to help her when the person who killed her arrived. You could see that Norma was thinking that Norman had something to do with the death.

Great kickoff to season two.

Bates Motel S1 E10

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“Midnight”

Season one of Bates Motel wrapped up with some major events that both put an end to some dangling threads and set up what will be happening in season two.

Norma goes to Sheriff Romero with the details about Abernathy’s threats at the end of the previous episode. Romero basically tells her that he would take care of it and that she should trust him. I don’t know why anyone would at this point because Romero is sus as hell.

Norma asked Dylan if he could get her a gun and teach her to use it. Dylan refused at first, but changed his mind and they had a nice mother-son moment while shooting cans and bottles.

Norma still planned on going to the meeting with Abernathy at midnight.

Meanwhile, Norman and Emma decide to go to a school dance together, but Norman’s obsession with Bradley tanked that.

Prior to Norman and Emma going to the dance, Norma told Norman about her brother. She said that when she was 13, her brother would make her have sex with him and she told Norman because she just needed someone to know. You could see how this news affected her barely sane son.

So at the dance, when Emma leaves Norman alone, Bradley’s boyfriend punched Norman and he started walking home in the rain. Miss Watson picks him up and takes him to her house to fix up his bloody eye.

Norma went to the docks to meet Abernathy despite Romero’s warning for her to trust him. She saw Romero arrive and hid. Romero confronted Abernathy and shoots him multiple times, shoving him into the water. Romero then told Norma, whom he knew was there, to go home. It was a laugh out loud moment when Norma popped up from her hiding spot after Romero said that. Romero told Norma that she needed to trust him when he says to trust him.

Romero is a bad ass in these episodes. He is also a huge riddle. Is he corrupt? Is he just like a vigilante, taking care of things on his own? He says that this was his town, to what extent does he mean that? Nestor Carbonell brought the intensity of this character to the screen and would become a series regular in season two.

We then see Miss Watson dead on the floor of her home with her throat slit. We know Norman was there and we know that “Mother,” the delusion that Norman sees, told him that he knew what he had to do. Did Norman off his teacher? We did hear Miss Watson on the phone earlier with what sounded like an old boyfriend so it may not be cut and dried that Norman killed her.

After a couple of lesser episodes, the season finale of season one of Bates Motel really rocked and set up everything for the series moving forward.

Doctor Who S14 E5

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“Dot and Bubble”

Wow, what an ending.

At first, I thought this was going to be an episode with a theme about the dangers of social media, but it became so much more in the last five minutes.

Lindy is our main protagonist in this world called Finetime. She was very unlikable but the Doctor and Ruby tried their best to help her avoid being eaten by a large bug-monster creatures. These bug-creatures are just really creepy and seeing them devouring the people of Finetime was unnerving.

Most of the episode had the Doctor and Ruby appearing on screens inside the ‘bubble’ , the screen-like function that went around their heads and allowed them access to the social media world. They did a great job without being in much of the episode.

Lindy became even more unlikable as the episode progressed and when Ricky September showed up and she tossed him to the wolves, I really started to want to see her pay for her meanness.

Only it got even more.

The last five minutes revealed that Lindy was a racist and she made implications that she wouldn’t go with him because he was different. It did not come right out and said it was because he was black, but that is absolutely what she was referring to in that ending.

Going back for a minute. In the Bubble, the Doctor and Ruby see whom Lindy said was her mummy, but it was the same actress who has been in all the other previous episodes. She is played by Susan Twist, and this episode, the Doctor and Ruby realized that they recognized her face from previous episodes.

I think this is an episode where a second watch, after knowing the ending, makes the rest of the episode look differently than it did on the first view.

Another strong episode with a very creative story.

Bates Motel S1 E9

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“Underwater”

Poor Norma.

She has had a rough time. Finding the cadaver in her bed only started her stress. She was clearly afraid that this was the start of something worse, and she was very apparently correct.

The scene with Norma in the car with Jake in her backseat telling her to bring him the money that Shelby owed him was tense. Poor Norma had no idea what he was talking about, but she was stuck.

And she needs help but there is not much that Sheriff Romero could do and his comments to Norma with the flowers was completely understandable, even though she was 100% right.

Norman is still slowly descending into his craziness and I know it is heading toward his teacher getting the death treatment. Norman is showing the cracks in his life, especially when he trots into the house with his stuffed dead dog.

This is the penultimate episode of season one and it is again kind of a feeling of set up than a full story. It is a solid episode but it is not the same as the first half of this season.

The X-Files S5 E8

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“Kitsunegari”

In a sequel to the third season episode “Pusher,” Robert Modell returned to the show to play more mind games with Mulder.

Modell went by the nickname Pusher because he could ‘push’ his will on other people, in a mental control kind of way.

Modell came out of his vegetable state and escaped from prison. But Mulder felt there was something different than the last time he confronted him. Even when the prosecutor who had convicted Modell was found dead from drinking gallons of blue paint that he was also covered with from head to toe, Mulder could not shake the feeling that there was something else going on.

Turned out that Modell had a sister who could also do the “push” thing and she was playing the game. She was married to the prosecutor, but she had married him after two days and it seemed as if it was for revenge.

While this does not match up with the quality of “Pusher” from season three, this is still a decent episode. I did like how the main characters were all uneasy with each other and had a hard time believing what was going on. It felt as if all of them were being manipulated.

This is the way mental powers are supposed to work.

Bates Motel S1 E8

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“A Boy and his Dog”

Compared to the rest of the episodes so far in season one, this episode felt like a transitional one. There are some good scenes, in particular between Norma and Jake Abernathy (Jere Burns), but much of the episode felt as if it were setting other things up.

Such as:

  • Therapy for Norman
  • Dylan taking a step in the criminal organization
  • Dylan and Remo’s work relationship
  • Building Norman’s taxidermy hobby.
  • Building Norman and Emma’s relationship.
  • Another side to Sheriff Romero as he put Norma in her place.
  • Abernathy’s mysterious business.
  • A possible connection with Norma and Dylan

Of course, everything was leading up to that horrifying end sequence with the corpse in Norma’s bed. It seemed obvious that it was Zach Shelby in the bed, because of the scar on the face and the badge on his chest. It also seems fairly apparent who put it there. How did it happen was another question.

Overall, this was the weakest episode of the first season so far, but there was a lot of solid character work that will pay off down the line.

The X-Files S5 E6, E7

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“Christmas Carol”

“Emily”

The two part story dives into Scully’s desire to be a parent, something that had apparently been taken from her when she was abducted.

The first episode was Scully-centric, with only one quick cameo appearance by Mulder. Scully gets a mysterious phone call when she had returned to her family for Christmas and Scully believed that the voice on the phone was that of her deceased sister, Melissa.

The call led Scully to a house where a woman had seemingly committed suicide. However, there was more to it than that.

What was at the center of this was the woman’s daughter, Emily. Turned out that Emily was an adopted daughter and, as we find out at the very end of the episode, that Scully was her mother.

This dated back to the time frame when Scully had been abducted and had her eggs removed.

Gillian Anderson did some fine work cycling through all the emotions in these two episodes. The final scene where she laid on the bed beside Emily in the hospital was painful and beautiful at the same time.

Oh, but I have to say, Scully’s brother is still a jerk.

Strangely, I do not remember this two part episode. I can’t imagine that I missed it when it first was broadcast, but I did not recognize any of the scenes. The only child I remember for Scully was later on in the series run.

The Jinx Part Two S2 E6

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Season finale

“It Takes a Village”

After Bob Durst was convicted in California, but before he could appeal, Bob Durst died.

It seemed as if Bob Durst was still evading justice, right up to the end.

Because he died before he could appeal, the conviction would be negated. It is a California law.

This led to Kathie’s family, The McCormacks, deciding to sue Bob’s estate for wrongful death. So we get to hear more from Debrah, Bob’s wife.

We also hear from Bob’s siblings, and they were some kind of rotten. I just found them to be such a group of monsters, to varying degrees.

There was no final, surprising confession at the end of season two as there was in season one. Instead, they make it appear that Debrah really won in the long run. She has fought the McCormacks the entire time, and still is doing so. With some legal machinations with a trust, most of Bob’s money is salted away. Debrah refused interviews. She said that everything was worth it.

And the Durst family had never once offered any help or assistance to the McCormacks.

Sounds as if Bob wasn’t the only horrific person in this story. Perhaps he is the sole murderer.

These two seasons of The Jinx is one of my all-time favorite documentary series that I have watched. Andrew Jarecki does a tremendous job of both of these seasons.