Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Shogun S1 E9

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“Crimson Sky”

Holy crap.

I can’t believe what I just saw.

This is absolutely mind-blowing and I have a pit in my stomach. I thought Mariko was gone twice during the episode, and, when I felt as if she was safe, she was not.

The fight she had at the front gate was unbelievable and I was worried that Mariko was going to die at this point. She did not. Then, the whole seppuku scene with her, I was sure that she was a goner (especially after the death from episode eight) and when Ishido came and prevented it, I was relieved. I was sure she was safe.

Then the relationship between John and Mariko was made clearer. I have never felt like Mariko had the feelings toward John, but this was obvious with the actions and the slight looks.

All leading to the dramatic ending, starting off with a betrayal from Yabushige. I was confused at first what was happening, because I wondered if this were men from Toranaga that Yabushige let into the castle. However, when they started going after John and Mariko, I did not understand. And Yabushige was there with them at the end.

If I was correct, I think I was able to determine the shinobi were sent by Lord Ishido because he did not want these women to be able to leave and this would safe face for him.

This was a heavy Mariko episode, with Yoko Shimada, and it reminded me of a LOST episode when a major character would die. It always seemed like it was an episode that was centric to that character. This was very much that way. We even saw a flashback to when she was pregnant, which I did not know she had given birth. Her son comes to see her and does not treat her well.

I have not have had a reaction to a scene like the ending in a long time. I was totally shocked at the explosive death and it hit hard.

The finale is next week. What a powerful penultimate episode this was.

Fallout S1 E6

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“The Trap”

This show has been very consistently solid every episode, and it has given us enough from the history of the world and the background of these characters, as well as the mystery surrounding the vaults to keep things really interesting.

The main thrust of this week’s episode was two pronged. One, we get to see more with Lucy and Maximus inside the new Vault that they quite literally stumbled into at the hospital at the end of episode five. Then, two, we get to see more about the background and life of the Ghoul, and start to get some idea about what is motivating him all the while continuing to see what a bad ass he is.

Maximus finding the vault-life to be appealing is a funny bit. Having him see all of the things that he had never seen before while living on the surface, such as a hot shower, a record player or oysters, was comedic while serving his character. And Maximus’s response to Lucy’s questioning him to see if he wanted to have sex was truly hilarious. “It gets hard and explodes like a pimple” is an appropriate manner to describe it.

There was some weird stuff happening in this vault too as there were a lot of surface dwellers who had been brought into the vault. We saw them carrying off some kind of cult-like ceremony involving blood. Never a positive sign.

It creeped Lucy out and she is anxious about what is happening in this vault. The episode ends with Lucy getting grabbed by people from the vault while Maximus is just living his best life, with popcorn in his new, white robe.

There was also an epic scene with the Ghoul and some guy he knew from before, who claimed to be president. The Ghoul is just an awesome character.

Fallout continues to be so good that I am looking forward to the final two episodes of the season. Video game adaptations are on a pretty good role.

Man from Atlantis S1 E12

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“The Naked Montague”

Man from Atlantis saved Romeo & Juliet?

Very Shakespearian. Mark finds another one of those weird undersea portals that sees him transported to Verona, with the very real blood feud between the Montagues and Capulets as seen in the tragedy of Shakespeare’s Romeo & Juliet.

Mark is still such a noble character. He is an unlikely action hero and, despite his super powers, he does not slip into violence easily and he treats everyone with respect.

We have seen Mark in the land of a giant, in the old West, and now 14th century Italy. As Mark is inserted into the classic tale, there is some swordplay, some Shakespearian language, and some epic family rivalries.

This was a weird episode, but I enjoyed the story. I think I just really enjoy the character of Mark Harris and any time you place him in a situation like this, you have a winning formula.

Part of it is the way Patrick Duffy plays Mark, so straightforward and almost monotone. It makes the character almost naive, and certainly heroic.

Fallout S1 E5

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“The Past”

I have to say that I am really enjoying the mystery aspect of the Vaults. I wonder if the mystery is as compelling to those people who have played the video game as it is to me. Either way, I am excited to know more about the machinations going on with the elections. Betty is surprisingly sinister. She has some kind of plot going on.

My thoughts about Norm being suspect seem to be gone from my mind now. He is the person

The interactions between Maximus and Lucy are great. Maximus has not been my favorite character, and I think that is by design. When he revealed his identity to his squire and the squire did not react well, Maximus had every intention of killing him. This makes me think that Maximus has a long way to go to be a decent guy.

The whole conflict on the bridge with the fiends was tense and surprisingly funny. It was really well written.

It also led to Maximus taking a bullet wound that he tried to brush off, but was worse than he let on. This led them to a hospital and they ended up in a vault. Which one? I do not know. But I can not wait to see where it goes.

We did not see the Ghoul in this episode, which dealt with some of the past history of the world. We did get a glance at the head of poor Ben Linus…

The X-Files S4 E10

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“Paper Hearts”

This was one of the creepiest and most unsettling episodes of the X-Files and it was a story that kept the paranormal stuff basically in the background. A little dream stuff, but other than that, this could be a real story.

It was a story about a serial killer who was responsible for multiple little girls’ disappearances. Mulder had captured him years before, but when Mulder’s dreams lead him to a fourteen victim that he was not aware of, the case suddenly became mor personal for Mulder.

This was another story to make a twist connecting to the disappearance of Samantha Mulder. The killer, John Lee Roche, played by Tom Noonan, was playing a mind game with Mulder, potentially claiming that Samantha was one of two unnamed victims just discovered.

Tom Noonan does a spectacular job portraying Roche in an understated and dark character. He is not your stereotypical serial killer you see on TV program. David Duchovny does a great job playing off Noonan.

I rally liked this concept for what happened to Samantha. The show basically proved that Roche had not kidnapped and killed her, but they left enough of a doubt that it still could have been the truth. I like this a lot better than any of the other possible solutions for the Samantha Mulder mystery. I especially prefer it over the Mudler’s father chose to give up Samantha. I still wonder if they ever knew for certain what happened to her?

Really great episode.

Fallout S1 E3, E4

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“The Head”

“The Ghouls”

Lots of things happening on the next two episodes of Fallout. I don’t want to recap everything, but, instead, I just want to give some of my thoughts.

I love Lucy. She has shown to be a remarkable survivor, facing off with all kinds of challenges. And who knew the Golden Rule could be used like that? Her coming out party as a bad ass at the end of episode four was excellent.

The Ghoul’s back story looks to be awesome. Seeing more about him by seeing some of the time of his life when he was an actor provided some nice specifics about this character.

Maximus is still my least favorite character in here and his absence in episode four was fine with me. Giving him a squire to play off, specifically the one they give him, should help him to develop more.

The soundtrack has been amazing. I love the variety of the music that they use to tell the story.

Lucy’s brother Norm, is giving me the Maximus from the Inhumans vibes. I don’t know if I am misreading the situation, but I really get some eventual evil from him. Maybe I’m incorrect. There is certainly machinatio0ns going on in the vault.

The idea that they are all trying to find Ben Linus’s head is funny. I guess Maximus currently has the head, but who knows where it goes next.

Lucy saving the Ghoul at the end…where will that lead?

This has been a ton of fun so far. The whole series is available on Amazon Prime.

Man from Atlantis S1 E11

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“Crystal Water, Sudden Death”

Another weird world and the return of Mr. Schubert highlight the next episode of Man from Atlantis. Schubert has been searching for powerful crystals that will help him control the communications on the earth. and he needs Mark’s inadvertent help to get them.

It appears as if Man from Atlantis is not that concerned with continuity as Schubert, who the last time we saw him, had been struggling with finances. That does not seem to be a concern this episode.

We also got a new lackey/henchman for Schubert, played by René Auberjonois, who appeared on Benson and Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. Auberjonois’s character, Havergal, on Man from Atlantis was much angrier and meaner.

Mark Harris is truly unlike any character I have seen on TV. His calmness and heroic nature is always right on point. He does not respond with violence and he is constantly the diplomat. His manner with the people of Killsboro’s Deep, the underwater land found inside a bubble created by the crystals, was so different than other action/sci-fi heroes that it makes him wholly original.

I mean, Mark has super strength, as we have seen before, but he never uses the strength in opposition to others. He uses his words and his aura to create a peaceful nature that is cool to see.

This was another episode of Man from Atlantis that made me think about Land of the Lost, specifically with the crystals and the Sleestaks. This was some top notch science fiction television, a nice return after the Western parts from the previous episode.

American Horror Story: Delicate S12 E7

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“Ave Hestia”

Okay, what the hell did I just watch?

It was an episode where we saw background info on everyone but Anna, and what we saw was nonsensical and dumb.

I really have found this season, specifically since it has come back from break, to be some of my least favorite American Horror Story episodes of the entire series.

Honestly, I have a lot of things that I am watching right now and if this show does not get better in a hurry, I think it may be done.

Fallout S1 E2

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“The Target”

Look, it Benjamin Linus!

Oh…poor Ben.

Michael Emerson, who played Benjamin Linus on my all time favorite TV show LOST, made his debut and finale(?) on Fallout’s second episode in an episode that absolutely rocked hard.

Michael Emerson played a character named Dr. Siggi Wilzig, who is a scientist who goes on the run with his dog. He can’t be that bad of a guy, can he?

Well, he brings all of our main characters that we were introduced to last episode together for a big time fight over the now legless (thanks Ghoul) Wilzig.

I enjoyed the progression of the character Maximus in this episode too as he claimed this giant armor for himself. His battle with the Ghoul was rough and displayed how dangerous the Ghoul actually is.

Michael Rapaport cameoed as Knight Titus and I swear the guy trying to get the sand through the water filter sounded like Woody Harrelson, but I can not find a confirmation about that.

Lucy continues to have a great arc and is my favorite character. When she has to do what she does at the end of the episode, I felt so bad for Wilzig and laughed at the situation for Lucy.

I really enjoyed this episode all the way through. It feels as if it took a step up from a very strong premiere.

Twin Peaks S2 E22

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“Beyond Life and Death”

The ending of the second season of Twin Peaks, which was the final episode of the series (or so we thought at the time), gave us perhaps the worst ever cliffhanger heading into cancellation in TV history. I mean that in the best possible way.

When Cooper stares into the mirror in his bathroom at the Great Northern Hotel and Bob stares back and Coop drives his head into the glass and maniacally says “How’s Annie” repeatedly, the shock was traumatic. The idea that Bob had taken over the body of Agent Cooper (though we discover later that this is not Cooper, but his doppelganger) was horrific for the fans of the show. The knowledge that this would be Cooper’s fate forever was very difficult to accept.

Of course, we know that the series returned in 2017 to do another 18-episodes and helped free Cooper from the Black Lodge/Red Room.

This episode’s second part was like a dream sequence, with Cooper going through the “waiting room” in the Black Lodge as Windham Earle tried to gain its power, rather unceremoniously unsuccessfully. We get to see the midget, the giant, Leland Palmer, Laura Palmer, Maddy, Killer Bob among others in this mystical dimension.

This episode was directed once again by David Lynch and the craziness of the Black Lodge absolutely showed this in spades. The feral screams of Laura Palmer was utterly chilling, as was her comment abut seeing Cooper again in 25 years (which was how long it was between season 2 and season 3 of Twin Peaks). This fever-dream of an episode truly brought the weirdness factor to a new level, even for this classic show.

There rest of the Twin Peaks cast had their moments, many of which were very melodramatic and would fit right in with the soap opera concept that Lynch had originally planned for Twin Peaks.

This show, though it had some downs during the second season, is one of the most influential and epic series in television history. The Who Killed Laura Palmer arc of the show was as good as you are going to find on network television.

As I said in the last post, I plan on giving Twin Peaks a rest for awhile, perhaps jumping into season three during the summer. Until then, enjoy a damn fine cup of coffee and a slice of cherry pie.

Man from Atlantis S1 E10

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“Shoot-Out at Land’s End”

Man from Atlantis meets the Old West.

According to IMDB, “While investigating an underwater volcano, Mark is stricken with sudden pain in the shoulder. This is not the first time he’s felt pain for no reason, and his instincts lead him to a deserted beach and, inexplicably, to a frontier town of the old west called Land’s End. There he meets his identical twin, Billy, another water-breather who washed up on a beach with no knowledge of his true identity. Billy takes Mark’s place aboard the Cetacean, leaving the Man from Atlantis to face the villains of Land’s End.”

Mark in a fish-out-of-water story that sees much of the science fiction elements replaced by those of a Western. Science fiction shows like Star Trek have done this type of episode many times, traveling to a different land, specifically a Western motif.

The twin aspect of the show was intriguing. It truly speaks to the mysterious past of Mark Harris. Billy did not have the strength of Mark, nor did Billy have the webbed-fingers. I am not sure why there were the differences. When we first met Billy, I wondered about the webbed-fingers and why people didn’t wonder about them, but the show made a point to show that Billy did not have them. Still, he was a water-breather and got strength from getting wet. I am not sure if the show has an idea of the overall story or if this is just a fun idea that they had, connecting it to a mysterious past that they never intended to flesh out.

Pernell Roberts from Bonanza appeared as the villainous Clint Hollister, the man who hired Billy as a hired gun.

It did seem that Billy made a turn from the bad guy to the heroic character quickly, but there was only a limited amount of time in the episode. This would have been a better story with a two-parter or if this were like one of the TV movies that started the show.

The show did a decent j0b of shooting the two Patrick Duffys during the scenes that Billy and Mark were together. Most of the shots looked really good, but there was one at the sheriff station that was not as strong.

They never even tried to figure out how Mark wound up in the Old West. I can only assume it was the same type of manner in which happened in “Giant.”

Twin Peaks S2 E21

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“Miss Twin Peaks”

The penultimate episode of season two of Twin Peaks came hard to the Miss Twin Peaks contest as Windham Earle, dressed as the Log Lady, kidnapped Annie after her victory in the contest.

The entire moment felt so chaotic, bringing back the moments of the flashing strobe lights when Bob or the Giant would show up.

After Annie and Cooper got busy in his Great Northern room, she was clearly the target that would make the most sense for the revenge-minded Earle.

Andy comes through big time too, with an explanation of the mysterious cave drawing actually being a map!

You could tell that this episode was ramping back up into a more intense level. Much of the series had wandered since the reveal of the killer of Laura Palmer. Some parts had been good, some were bad. It felt unrefined and inconsistent. This had a much better feel to it. Even the Miss Twin Peaks contest, which was one of the areas of the recent weeks that were not the strongest, created some serious moments.

This sets up the finale of season two, which, it seemed, would be the finale of the series. However, a surprise season three came back on Showtime. When I finish the next episode, I plan on taking a time out before the season three rewatch (probably in the summer).

Fallout S1 E1

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“The End”

I think the TV shows that are based on video games have been doing great recently. There was The Last of Us, and now we have a new video game series on Amazon Prime called Fallout.

I have not played the Fallout video game so I have no predetermined expectations for the corresponding show.

However I do have a love for the actor Kyle MacLachlan, who was Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks. I know that Michael Emerson, who played Ben on LOST, is coming next episode. Love these actors and it gives me an inspiration to watch the show.

The opening scene of the bombs being dropped on LA was devastating and kind of difficult to watch. It reminded me of the dark beginning of The Last of Us, which saw the death of Joel’s daughter Sarah.

We focus in on two main characters for most of the episode: Lucy and Maximus. Then, we end the episode meeting The Ghoul.

Lucy is played by Ella Purnell. Lucy is Kyle MacLachlan’s Hank’s daughter. Maximus is played by Aaron Clifton Moten. The Ghoul is played by the exquisite Walter Goggins.

Hank is taken from the bomb shelter by people from the surface world. This sends Lucy after him. I would expect her to come into contact with our other protagonists. Her story, for me, was more compelling than Maximus’s so the show does have some work to do for me to engage with his character. The Ghoul is just a cool cowboy and I want more from him.

All eight episodes have dropped on Amazon Prime and I will be working to watch the rest of these over the next few weeks. I do not expect a binge as the episodes are all around (or surpassing) the hour runtime.

X-Men ’97 S1 E5

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“Remember It”

Wow, what an episode.

So much happened. There are so many things occurred in this episode, and had one of the most dramatic and emotional ends to an episode that I have ever seen.

The first half of this episode was beautiful X-soap opera and the second half was full action spectacle.

The line Rogue says at the end of the episode as it went to black, “I can’t feel you” which was a call back to earlier in the episode, was heartbreaking as she held the dead body of Gambit.

The dialogue was so fantastic in this episode, taking a brilliant step up from the great dialogue from previous weeks’ shows. It is so well written and impactful. This is so much better writing than most animated shows you are going to find.

We got Cable. We got Tri-Sentinel. We got a story kind of like the Mutant Massacre. We had progression on the Scott/Jean/Madeline storyline. Nightcrawler was here along with a ton of cameos. Was there a secret cameo with the Watcher?

Gambit is such a kick ass stud during this episode. His ending battle with the Tri-Sentinel where he sacrifices himself to save Rogue is some of the best action storytelling that you are ever going to see.

Magneto and Rogue background comes out to Gambit.

This was unbelievable. There was so much in this episode. I absolutely loved this. It was one of the best episodes of animation on TV I have seen. What are they going to do after the tragic events of this ending? It is so fantastic. Next Wednesday can not get here quick enough.

American Horror Story: Delicate S12 E6

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“Opening Night”

Okay, I saw that American Horror Story: Delicate returned for the second half of its season. I was not overly inspired to watch it.

I was interested in Delicate when it first aired back in 2023, for the first five episodes. However, it was not the best AHS I had ever seen. Then, it went away for months.

Whatever momentum this series may have had, this long of a break really killed it. I was not anxiously waiting to see this episode and I only watched it tonight because it fit into the schedule.

The episode was really good, but I had a very challenging time trying to recall what was going on. It was weird and bloody. Things started to come back to me as I watched the episode, but there were still parts that I did not recall.

This long of a break can really sap a show. I feel the same way about Invincible on Amazon Prime which I have not yet watched, and I liked that show more than the current AHS. I am not sure about the choice to wait so long before the second part of the season dropped.

The show was really creepy though and hopefully I will continue to be intrigued moving forward.