Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

One Piece S2 E2

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“A Promise Between Men! Luffy and the Whale Vow to Meet Again!”

The Straw Hats are on the way to the Grand Line and the path gets distracted by a giant whale.

Yes, a giant whale.

Laboon is his name and he wound up swallowing the ship of the Straw Hats. They give the whale a backstory and a reason why he was pounding his head against the Red Line. The show introduced Crocus as the man who watched and tried to help Laboon.

We also get two more assassins inside the whale. Miss Wednesday and Mr. Nine are the two assassins from a group and I do not think we ever found out why they were inside Laboon.

I do love the way that Luffy painted the straw hat on Laboon to symbolize that he was the part of the Straw Hats and keep him from pounding his head into the Red Line.

This was a fun side adventure with Laboon. The whale actually turned out to be a pretty cool character for the show.

One Piece S2 E1

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“THE BEGINNING AND THE END”

One Piece is back!

The surprise hit series from Netflix is back after a couple of years with a second season of pirate action and Anime adventures.

I knew One Piece was coming out on March 10th, but I did not realize that it was out right now. Because I did not realize this, I was only able to watch the premiere episode of season two, entitled “The Beginning and the End.”

The whole crew is back and they are on their way to the Grand Line, but they need supplies so they take a detour to Loguetown, which happened to be where the former Pirate King, Gol D. Roger, was born and died.

Zoro needed to buy two new swords. He wound up with a couple of very special ones after “haggling.” We were introduced to Tashigi, a young woman Marine who helped Zoro out at the sword shop. She did not mention being a Marine, and that she worked for Smoker.

Buggy the Clown and Alvida showed up too and grabbed Luffy. They were out for revenge for what Luffy had done to them before.

You can’t watch this show without getting swept up in the positive energy of Luffy. He is one of the best, most engaging characters on television. The crew around him are fabulous too. I am not a viewer of the Anime One Piece, since it has like five million episodes (Looks like it is actually 1,155… but may as well be five million). However, I loved season one of the Netflix live action show and I am here for these new eight episodes.

It is just a lot of fun and has such an energy about it. I am glad it is back.

Agents of Shield S3 E18, E19, E20, E21, E22

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“The Singularity”

This episode saw the final dismantling of Hydra… offscreen. Amazing that an organization that had such a huge impact on the MCU and this series was dealt with finally as Coulson watched on screens.

We get the debut of Holden Radcliffe, who would become more of a important character in the next season dealing with LMDs. Radcliffe is quite the snake as he is willing to switch sides without blinking an eye.

Fitz and Simmons have sex at the end of the episode, finally consummating a relationship that has been “cursed” from day one, seemingly.

“Failed Experiments”

The Kree appear in this episode as Hive lured them to earth in order to get their blood. Hive’s plan to turn the human race into Inhumans means he had to recreate the original experiment where he had been turned into an Inhuman.

Mac and Daisy faced off and she beat him silly. Mac kept saying that he wasn’t going to fight her. Mac is able to survive because Daisy does not really want to kill him. Mac ruins the experiment with the Kree too.

Daisy offers her own blood to continue the experiement.

“Emancipation”

The Sovokia Accords show their rotten faces in this episode as Talbot comes to Shield headquarters looking for answers. Talbot wants the Inhumans in Shield to be registered, but Coulson said that this is not what they need, they need to keep them secret.

Lincoln has been contacted by Daisy. It’s so funny how Daisy just pushes a few keys and she is throughout the Shield HQ. Daisy wants to help Lincoln to escape and come join her and Hive. Lincoln agrees, but it is part of the plan. Daisy manually brings in a Quinjet, that she believed had Lincoln inside. Instead, it was Lash.

Lash used his power to cure Daisy of the control of Hive, but ends up getting killed by James. Daisy returned to Shield with the Quinjet and the dead body of Lash.

“Absolution”

Daisy is struggling. Like she is addicted to Hive, she is having trouble dealing with things that she had done.

The team launched an assault on Hive, and they end up capturing him. They brought him aboard the Zephyr One, but it turned out that is exactly what Hive wanted. Hive had a bomb that had a virus connected to it and he needed a way to get high enough in the atmosphere to spread it across the earth, changing humans into Inhumans.

Daisy confronted Hive at the end of the episode and begged him to take her back. I was not a fan of this, because it made Daisy look pretty weak.

“Ascension”

The Hive storyline came to a satisfying conclusion as Coulson came up with a new plan, to load the bomb onto a Quinjet and send it into space. When the explosion went off, the virus would be in space and would not cause any trouble for the earth.

Of course, there are all kinds of trouble with the execution of this. Yo Yo gets shot trying to protect Mac. Lincoln gets injured by James. Hive is still running around causing trouble.

Daisy, who had had visions of the future where a Shield agent died, wanted to sacrifice herself in the Quinjet to make sure the bomb is safe for the planet. However, Lincoln beats her to it and he and Hive are trapped in the Quinjet as it leaves earth’s atmosphere.

I was never a big fan of Lincoln, but I appreciated his sacrifice and his last few moments with Hive in the Quinjet, knowing that their deaths were imminent, was very strong.

I did feel bad for Daisy, who sure went through it this season. Her grief over Lincoln’s death was tough.

The end of the episode restarted things for the next season, with Life Model Decoys, a vigilante Quake and Coulson no longer director being major hints dropped.

Sha Na Na S4 E7, E8, E9

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Three more episodes of Sha Na Na in its final season, and there were some weird things going on.

First of all, the guests were all over the place. Two country music performers, Mickey Gilly and Dottie West, which feels strange since Sha Na Na is not country. But even odder was The Ramones. Their acting in the short sketch was not good at all.

In the Dottie West episode, some of the group dressed up like country music stars including Bowzer as Loretta Lynn, Jocko as Johnny Cash and Santini as Dolly Parton. You could tell that Dottie West was having a good time as she laughed after each one.

Sha Na Na also did that strange thing where they pulled kids out of the audience and brought them up to the stage to sing love songs to them. It was a different world, I guess. Donny sang “Puppy Love” which has a sweet connotation to it. Honestly, the first girl of three they brought up sure did not look like she wanted to be there.

In the Mickey Gilly episode, they had a running joke that they were going to have Robert Redford come to the show to sing and dance for the first time or they were going to do an opera. The Redford joke did run through the show, but they did wind up doing the Bowzer of Seville. The opera was actually not too bad, and it kept the joke bit to a minimum.

Several of these songs were ones that I did not recognize outside of Chantilly Lace (done by Jocko), Come and Go with Me and Puppy Love (by Donny).

The Pitt S2 E9

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“3:00 PM”

I was thinking that it has been a while since we had a patient that seemed okay and then suddenly is in jeopardy. Wouldn’t you know that the next scene was that exact thing happened.

What would the Fourth of July be without having some kid blow off some fingers with a firecracker? We got one of those in this episode, but it is leading to more of a story than just that. The kid is being raised by his sister after their parents had been deported back to Haiti. This one feels more topical in its storytelling.

Howard, the overweight man returned with specifics. He needed surgery immediately, and the phone call he had with his estranged sister was heartbreaking. I have a real bad feeling that Howard is not making it. I sure hope I am wrong about that.

We got a new “old” character. Apparently, Monica was a clerk who got forced into retirement by the tech, but she was quite the storm coming into the ER with all the online stuff down because of potential cyberattack. She only had a few scenes, but she immediately became one of my favorite.

Mel was taken off for her disposition, just minutes after her sister was brought into the ER with stomach pains. Langdon took over that case and seemed to know exactly what was needed.

Roxie, the lung cancer patient, is actively preparing to die, as the morphine continues to be increased. It is another tough storyline currently being run through The Pitt.

And my favorite quote of the week was from Dr. Robby…

“Ogilvie, put your hand down.”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S2 E2

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“Resonance”

It has gotten to the point where the little, creepy bug thingy that made its way onto the Monarch ship is chasing after Cate and I am cheering for the little bug creature.

I just can not stand Cate and every time she is on screen, I find her selfish and whiny. Everybody was trying to make her feel better about pushing the button last week, but she was still feeling guilty… she had a huge case of the “Whoa-Is-Mees” wondering around the ship. Every time she made some comment about it, I would yell at the screen, “BECAUSE IT IS YOUR FAULT!”

There is also an issue I have with the flashback section of the show, which is usually the best part of this show. The thing is that when Lee and Keiko is the cliffhanger at the end of the show where you are not sure whether they will survive, you know they are surviving. They exist in the future. Because of that, they should avoid placing them in these situations because there is no tension whether they will live. Of course, they will.

I liked the Kurt Russell parts of the show. He works very well with the weak Monarch group. The titan that escaped last week is on its way to do bad stuff… but it apparently wants the little bug thingy. Weird.

Not sure how much I liked this week’s episode. It was fine, but not as strong as last week’s. Cate is absolutely a black hole in the series for me.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #59

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His & Hers

So, I thought I was right for a moment on this episode of His & Hers. I speculated last week that it was Anna’s mother, in a state of confusion, that killed Rachel. I thought the show was hinting at that when Jack had to pick her up again as she wandered down the highway.

Then, there was a second body.

So much for my twist idea.

The show is making this look like it is Jack as he seems to be the last person to consistently see the victims, this time it is Helen Wang at the school. We know that Jack was there earlier, though we did not see the confrontation.

There was one flashback to the time when Anna, Rachel, Helen were in school together and Rachel had some other girl drink a soda with her pee in it. That was mean and gross and I’m not sure why we saw it, unless they were planting some kind of seeds. There were other ways to show that this was the group of mean girls at this school.

I tell you what, if I was that girl, I would’ve thrown that soda/pee combination right back into Rachel’s face. Instead, she just ran off giving everybody a good laugh. Why are kids so cruel?

I think Priya is the one who is going to blow this case open… especially finding the connection with Jack. She is a smart one and she is already suspicious.

Jack knows that Anna was at the graveyard on the night of the murder, thanks to the old coach and his camera system.

Half way through and I wonder where this is going next.

Paradise S2 E4

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“A Holy Charge”

What a fabulously emotional and powerful episode. The first three episodes were strong, but this episode of Paradise was tremendous. It was surprising, engaging, emotional. I found myself tearing up at a specific spot in the episode.

One of my favorite things was that as Xavier and Annie were on their way to Atlanta, they came across some people in another wagon. If The Walking Dead and The Last of Us have taught us one thing, it is that the real monsters in any sort of post-apocalyptic world are other humans. Annie begged Xavier not to look at these people, just to ignore them, and not speak to them. Xavier greeted them anyhow.

Later, Annie goes into labor, and Xavier ran for help from them. I swear I have seen this scene before on one of the aforementioned dramas. However, Xavier returned with a group of these people who went right into helping with the situation. I loved the fact that this show led with the message that not everyone has become monsters. There are good people still around.

The show did a juxtaposition between two births: Annie’s baby birth, and the first birth of a baby in the Colorado bunker (it was great to see James Marsden, once again). I was so on edge the whole time expecting something to happen to one of the babies, and they both survived. I was so happy.

Then, the show threw a twist that fit right with those other shows. Annie died from the birth. I couldn’t believe it. It was such a major shock. This was where I was nearly crying. The scene where the horse would not leave her graveside was so great.

Excellent episode. Next week looks like the story will be taking off, big time.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S2 E1

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“Cause and Effect”

When Monarch: Legacy of Monsters debuted on Apple TV + a few years back, the show was definitely hit and miss. Most of the misses came from the human characters in the present day.

It’s clear that those characters in the present day have not learned anything since season one.

Cate Randa showed off her selfishness and her stubbornness in the last half of this episode and wound up getting Natalia Verdugo, the Deputy Director of Monarch, killed by a new monstrous Titan that also escaped into the world when she opened a rift to retrieve Lee (Kurt Russell), who was stranded in the other world last season.

She would not listen to anyone else. She was going to do things her own way and to hell with any consequences. Well, Cate, you got an innocent woman killed. A woman who was just trying to get you and your foolish group to safety. She may be a bureaucrat, she may have different viewpoints, but she did not deserve to be swept away by some giant tentacle.

Cate really should be held accountable for Verdugo’s death. It was her fault.

The new Titan is going to be called Titan X and it sure looked as if Kong wasn’t happy Titan X was here.

Of course, Kong is supposed to be guarding the island, but he is too busy sleeping away in the middle of the afternoon.

Kong looked great in this episode. He was massive and the effects were movie-like. My memory of the first season was that everything did always look great, but the humans in the present day were just insufferable.

However, any time we spent time back in the 1950s, this show was so much better and it seemed as if that trend is going to continue. Wyatt Russell, Anders Holm and Mari Yamamoto appeared in the flashbacks and they were always smarter, more engaging and less likely to do something deftly stupid. This season looks to be the same way.

I was up and down with the first season. At least this year, the action was top notch. The question will be… can I stand the stupidity of Cate and her friends in the present? Will there be enough positives in the rest of the show to keep me from hating her?

Shrinking S3 E5

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“Hold Your Horsies”

Another funny episode of Shrinking dropped on Apple TV + this week.

Maybe the scene of the season so far was Jimmy and Brian singing the song, “The Confrontation” from Les Misérables as they were driving to pick up Paul’s daughter Meg. I had seen Jason Segal do this before with Neil Patrick Harris and it was tremendous. This was every bit as awesome, but I spent much of the time watching Harrison Ford reacting in the back seat. Paul’s comment at the end of their song, “Did you guys make that up?” nearly knocked me out of my chair.

We looked at the relationship between Derrick and Gabby as well as the relationship between Sean and Marisol.

I suppose it is more about the individuals in Gabby and Sean than it is in their relationships. They have wonderful significant others at the moment, but both are dealing with their own issues to overcome.

The episode ended with the surprising kiss between Meg and Jimmy, although, to be honest, it did not seem to be a surprise kiss to me. I saw some flickers between them, at least with Meg, earlier this year, that made me think that there might be something here.

Jimmy is struggling to move on, clearly. He wanted one uncomplicated kiss to help kick him into the next level, but, of course, that is not from Meg, who is like a sister to him and is the daughter of his best friend and mentor Paul. Maybe it was me, but it felt like Paul was pushing for Meg and Jimmy to go get the files together. Was he playing matchmaker? That does not seem like Paul, but that is how I took those scenes.

Shrinking continues to be one of the most entertaining shows of TV, with the best dialogue you will find anywhere. This talented cast never fails to fill the show with laughs as well as true feels.

The Pitt S2 E8

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“2:00 PM”

The Pitt dropped its latest episode this past Thursday, entitled “2:00 PM.” Our group of ER responders are facing yet another new threat.

At the end of last week’s episode, they were informed that they were shutting down their online presence because of another hospital that had suffered a cyberattack. Much like last season when the team prepped for the mass shooting victims they expected, everyone gathered around the hub and got their instructions on what they had to do now that so many of the items they were used to having would be unavailable.

Coming in clutch immediately was Dr. Joy Kwon, who admitted to having photographic memory and she was able to recreate the board when Whitaker’s pictures turned out too blurry.

Another MVP of the hour was Princess, who had to take over as floor nurse during the chaos because Dana was still tied up with the sexual assault case. Princess was never confident during the time, but she still did her job.

A new patient struck a chord with me as they wheeled in a man who was well over 450 pounds and the discussions of his weight hit close to home. Once again, I wanted to throttle Ogilvie for his insensitivity. The actor who played the overweight man was great though, funny, self-deprecating, and kind-hearted.

The anger shown by Dana when she had finished the new rape kit only to find one that she had done two weeks before still in the pick up location. He phone call to the police was a great moment of the episode.

We got some foreshadowing this episode as Robbie’s friend Duke was late showing up. That was apparently unlike him and makes me wonder if Duke is the motorcycle accident that the show has been hinting at all season long.

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #58

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His & Hers

“Episode 2”

What a fascinating episode of His & Hers this week. It feels like this is one of those TV show that none of the characters are meant to be liked by the audience. Jack slept with the victim, Rachel, on the night of her murder, in his truck. Anna revealed info about the murder victim on TV claiming “It’s my job.” Rachel herself is being shown as a cruel individual whose husband is a piece of crap.

We met Clyde Duffie, Rachel’s husband, and it was revealed that he knew about Rachel’s extra-marital affairs. They had an apparent agreement since Clyde had heart problems. Clyde knows more than he is letting on though and he had some kind of connection to Rachel’s friend, Helen Wang. It did seem as if Rachel and Hellen were blackmailing Clyde.

Jack discovered Rachel’s phone in his truck. That was because it rang when Clyde was calling the phone to try and run out the battery- after Jack had told him to not call the phone nay more. There is something ont he phone that Clyde did not want people to see.

Of course, there turned out to be things on the phone that Jack did not want people to see as well… including some dirty pics on a text thread. Jack was having trouble unlocking the phone so he went to the morgue to use the face of Rachel to open the phone.

He deleted the text thread which won’t remove that totally from the phone. He as a detective should know that.

He also found, in a text conversation, that Helen knew of the affair Jack was having with Rachel.

Other details we learned:

  • The cameraman that Anna slept with last episode is the husband of her rival at the TV station who had taken the anchor job from her. Felt very purposeful
  • We got a flashback to when Anna told jack she was pregnant. This was back before the world made them such a-holes.
  • My favorite line of the episode was when Jack told Anna to stay out of the way or he would arrest her. Anna asked on what charge and Jack responded, “For being an asshole.” LOL.
  • Helen had been ignoring Jack’s calls all episode, but she wound up calling the Sheriff’s Department and asking to speak to the Sheriff, not Jack specifically. Is she revealing Jack’s connection?
  • Anna’s mother Alice is a sweetheart. She seems like the one person untainted by the world, even though she has been struggling with her mental health.
  • We learn that Anna’s year long disappearance had to do with a baby that she lost, probably the same one we saw her telling Jack about. I think we had inferred this already, but this confirmed it.
  • Anna gets called back to the station in Atlanta. Her rival Lexy has not shown up and they need Anna to fill in on the broadcast last minute. How much did this have to do with the cameraman/Anna?
  • Jack got his niece Meg to give him a DNA sample, which he then turned in as his own to prevent any identification from the body.

At this point, I think any of these people could be the killer. They all have motives. I wonder if we have met the killer yet? Could it turn out to be someone unexpected like Alice? She has been having trouble wandering recently. I hope it is not Alice, cause that would feel too soap opera-y.

I am fully engaged in the mystery at this point and I am looking forward to seeing next week’s Sunday Morning Sidewalk.

Agents of Shield S3 E13, E14, E15, E16, E17

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I got a chunk of episodes from season three watched tonight as I continue to try and fight my way through this cold that is kicking my butt.

“Parting Shot”

Starting off with the end of Bobbi and Hunter. They were originally written off the show to star in their own spin off Marvel’s Most Wanted, but it never got past the planning stages. It was a shame because I really liked these two…even though, technically, Bobbi Morse was not Mockingbird in the MCU. They were awesome members of the team and the story that wrote them out was strong.

The bar scene with the “Spy’s Goodbye” was one of the best scenes of the series.

“Watchdogs”

We get a little background on Mack as we are introduced to his brother and discover the lies that he has been telling him about his career. The Watchdogs are a new hate group formed to go after Inhumans… very much “mutant-esque.” In fact, they could easily have been the Friends of Humanity from the X-Men group.

“Spacetime”

We get an Inhuman who can glimpse into the future and show another person whom he touched the future. As with all futures, you only get a glimpse and so it is difficult to understand exactly what the images mean.

The team discovered that Ward is back during this episode, which really threw their plans out the window. Of course, it is not Grant Ward, but the Hydra “god” from the other planet, but with the face he showed, the buttons were drastically pushed.

“Paradise Lost”

This gives us a background episode for Malick as we see how he betrayed his brother in the traveler contest.

This led to Ward, or Hive- as he would become known, killing Malick’s daughter as a sacrifice. It also led to the Agents of Shield (non-Inhumans) to be captured.

“The Team”

Because of the team being captured, Daisy called in the Secret Warriors to help. Unfortunately, it also turned out to be a huge mistake, as we discover that Hive is able to mind control Inhumans. The mission of the Secret Warriors to rescue everyone is now in question as Malick indicated that Hive may have compromised that team.

The paranoia is rampant and led to a lot of mistrust to be spread. Turned out it was Daisy herself who was turned by Hive, and she and Lincoln left the base together as Daisy was ripping it down with the others inside.

This is a great stretch of the series, but my memory is that I was ready to be done with Ward. There are still several episodes of the season to go.

Movie Fights 2026

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Movie Fights was one of my favorite YouTube Show that the Screen Junkies had done. It was a regular debate show where three pundits would argue over questions posed by a host. It was always fun because they had a Movie Fights Champion, with a Championship title (like wrestling would have) as well.

I was introduced to Dan Murrell through Movie Fights, who is one of my favorite online critics, as well as introducing me to John Rocha, Scott Mantz, the Schmoes, Hal Rudnick, Spencer Gilbert, Greg Elba, Roxie Striar (actually met her from TV Fights), Ken Napzok, Coy Jandreau and Andy Signore.

Movie Fights ended around February of 2020.

Then, last night, I saw a brand new Movie Fights on YouTube and I was so excited. When I pulled it up, Hal Rudnick was hosting the show with the three movie fighters, Dan Murrell, Spencer Gilbert and Mike Carlson. Murrell, the former Movie Fights champ, Spencer, one of the key writers at Screen Junkies, and Mike Carlson, who is as eccentric as possible, and they have great chemistry.

Dan Murrell continues to be the best debater that you will ever see. He is constantly providing strong arguments and intelligent takes on movies. Spencer does a solid job arguing as well.

The format of the show did not change. It was exactly like I remembered. Hal is a bit chaotic as a host, but he is funny and quick. Emma Fyffe was the fact-checker for the episode and she did a great job.

I don’t know if this is a regular return or not, but I enjoyed the show and would love to see more.