Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

An Afternoon with the X-Files

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S4 E21-24, S5 E1-2

SPOILERS

“Elegy”

“Demons”

“Gethsemane”

“Redux Part I & II”

With a lazy Sunday on record, I decided that I wanted to go ahead and finish the X-Files season four, knowing that there were three episodes remaining.

However, when I arrived at the season four finale I discovered that it was going to be a three part arc and it was Redux, which I remembered when it first aired as a very key episode. So with nothing else planned, I decided to go ahead and watch the five episode stretch for the day.

The first two episodes of the day, “Elegy” and “Demons,” were both solid episodes. “Demons” especially was a favorite episode as the inner mind of Mulder was explored and the memories of the incident with his sister was examined with a cool new twist.

Of course, the whole Samantha situation is redefined again during the Redux episodes as the Cigarette Smoking Man, in an attempt to tempt Mulder to the dark side, brought Mulder’s sister (or what he claimed was Samantha) to meet her brother. There have been several answers to what had happened to Mulder’s sister, so I remember not believing that this was her when I first saw the episode.

The reshaping of the concept of the series, with Mulder convinced that the government had been orchestrating a hoax with UFOs the whole time and had played Mulder and Scully for fools taking center stage.

Of course, it also saw the end of the Scully cancer storyline. The script does a fine job of keeping the reason Scully’s cancer went into remission debatable. There is the microchip that they reinserted in her neck, her faith returning, as well as the doctor trying to get her body to fight against the disease.

The whole Scully cancer arc was up and down. There were a bunch of episodes that basically ignored the fact, but the resolution of it was well done. The tension with Scully’s brother added some real anxiety to the scenes, especially those with him and Mulder.

CSM was shot and killed at the end of the episode, but it was not a satisfying moment for a couple of reasons. One, because it was not Mulder doing it. It was from a hitman. And two, because there was no body and he was clearly not dead. No body, no death.

Mulder calling out Blevins as the mole inside the FBI was a truly dramatic scene. David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson both had some great scenes in these episodes, in particularly in “Demons” and in “Redux Part II”.

Bodkin S1 E4, E5, E6, E7

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Spoilers

I chose to finish this series up this morning with the final four episodes on Netflix. I found Bodkin to be a fairly enjoyable romp that had moments of messiness. Still, I think the strength of the show was the characters and the shades of grey that they all displayed.

The mystery of what happened to the missing kids from 25 years prior is dealt with by the sixth episode, where we basically knew everything that we needed to know. It would lead into a climatic confrontation with all the forces in episode seven.

Honestly, episode seven was convoluted and, as I already mentioned, messy. Still, I think the show stuck to our characters, Dove, Gilbert and Emmy, and provided a satisfactory end to the series.

I did like how the mystery itself played out. When we discovered that one of the bodies in the trunk of the car that had been sunk in the bog was not Fiona, that took the tale in a different direction… back to the Yoga-using nuns.

The mystery aspect of the story did blend together very well, with all of the different tentacles of the story fitting together well.

Then there was the eels.

Apparently, eel smuggling is a major crime in Northern Europe and the producers, after discovering this, felt as if they had to include this bizarre fact in their series. It did work with Seamus, as he was known to be a major smuggler from his past.

And when Seamus discovered that he was the father to Sean, who was the son of Fiona, who died in childbirth and was buried by the nuns, things got really chaotic.

It all took place on the night of Samhain and the big celebration going on in Bodkin. And a bomb? Yes, a bomb. This is the part of the story that felt over-the-top and messy as everything is set up for a major showdown.

Overall, I enjoyed this series. It was passable entertainment, and it was carried by the three main characters. I especially liked how none of them were necessarily great people. Dove, in particular, would be clearly defined as an arse.

You can stream Bodkin on Netflix.

Doctor Who S14 E3

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S14 E3

S1 E4 (Disney +)

Spoilers

“Boom”

What an episode.

Three very different episodes this season and this was just suspenseful as it could be. I have to take a moment to catch my breath.

“Boom” was so different than “Space Babies” and “The Devil’s Chord” and it shows how flexible the series can be. It can be silly with fart jokes, or over the top with music numbers or absolutely nail-biting with tension.

The Doctor spent nearly this entire episode standing on a land mine, part of the time on one foot. Ruby is absolutely a boss here and her near death brings such a dramatic moment filled with unbelievable stakes.

There are so many messages in this episode dealing with religion, religious wars, and faith. The use of the term “thoughts and prayers” speaks to the uselessness of the statement. There were also a major father theme working its way through the episode and helped with the finale.

This was just so amazing.

Kiss Kiss

The X-Files S4 E21

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Spoilers

“Zero Sum”

No Scully this episode.

Instead we get Skinner involved up to his neck with the Cigarette Smoking Man.

He is stuck because of his attempt to save Scully.

We also see some of the bees, which have been used as a transportation device for smallpox. Tested on a group of children at a school? CSM is truly a heartless bastard. These bees become a major piece of the mythology, even being a focus of the first X-Files movie.

How does this rotten bastard continue to escape? Skinner stood in the dark with a gun to his head, and fired three shots. However, Skinner allowed his shot to the side, not plugging him in the head. I still wish someone would just finish him off. How bad could it be?

It was also a key moment for the relationship between Mulder and Skinner. Mulder caught Skinner in his lies, but listened to what he told him and he believed him.

Apparently, Gillian Anderson was off filming The Mighty during this time. There is no doubt about it… Scully was missed in this episode. It was still entertaining though.

Bodkin S1 E3

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Spoilers

“Perfectly Innocent Life”

Bodkin episode three saw Dove, Gilbert and Emmy head to an Irish wake.

The wake of Darragh led to a lot of drinking, dancing and some intriguing clues to what happened on Samhain when the three strangers went missing.

They discovered more about the connections among Seamus and both Malachy and Fiona. Seamus was Malachy’s brother.

Dove and Emmy also found a suspicious image in a local bog. It looks like a car. Several comments about a car crash that night sent them to this bog to see what might be in it. Dove went into the water finding a car.

It was pulled out, but it was empty. At this point I was saying out loud to my screen for them to look in the trunk, but they seemed to not plan on doing that. Fortunately, Dove kicked the back end of the car in frustrations and the trunk popped open revealing two bodies that had been in the trunk, in that bog for 20 years.

With the bodies in the trunk, it supports the theory that these two were murdered.

The Netflix series has been a decent watch so far. I really do enjoy Will Forte in his role.

X-Men ’97 S1 E10

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Spoilers

“Tolerance is Extinction, Pt. 3”

The third part of the season finale was brought to a close on Disney + in one of the most epic animated wars ever put to screen. A struggle with Bastian, with the mind of Magneto, and with the conflict within the Marvel Universe.

There is so much to see in this finale. A finale that ranged from Magneto and Charles inside Magneto’s head, to the momentary return of Phoenix, to cameos from Daredevil, Cloak and Dagger, Cap and Iron Man, Peter and MJ, Omega Red, Alpha Flight, Doctor Strange, Black Panther, Red Guardian, Darkstar, and ending with Apocalypse.

The show did an amazing thing, telling this story of Bastian’s future and finding the threads of family within. It blended perfectly with Magneto’s story and the battle with Xavier for his own soul. Onslaught is surely in there somewhere, but I am not sure it is where the next step for this series lies.

Post credit scene with Apocalypse, grabbing something from the ashes of and saying the word “death?” I am not sure after first viewing what it was that was in Apocalypse’s hand, but it will clearly lead to Death in his Four Horsemen. Will it be Gambit?

A version of Bishop returned to meet Forge, telling him that the X-Men were not dead, but were instead lost in time and that they needed to find them. A crew of them in Ancient Egypt with En Sabah Nur and Scott and Jean in the far future with a young Nathan. But we did not see Storm. We did not see Wolverine. Where did they end up?

Phoenix messed up Mister Sinister something bad. Then Phoenix was gone, regulated to a feeling deep inside Jean Grey. I knew we were seeing Phoenix this season. Every opening credit included a scene with the Phoenix. It only made sense. Apocalypse has been on most of them as well.

This animated series truly has been one of the greatest things that Marvel Studios has put out, especially among the Disney + shows. It has to be considered right there with WandaVision and Loki as the upper echelon of projects on the streamer.

They do a sensational job of wrapping up the season’s story while building toward where the next season is heading. The Apocalypse material did not come at the cost of the Bastian/Magneto tale. It was masterful storytelling.

I know season two has already been written, so I cannot wait until this gorgeous series returns to my screen. It can not come too soon.

X-Men ’97 is masterful. An amazing ten episodes that brought the mutants to the forefront of Marvel where they belong.

Bodkin S1 E2

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Spoilers

“Who We Are”

Episode two of Netflix’s Bodkin was pretty decent as the show seems to be starting to grab some footing in both the mystery aspect and the characterization of the group.

The trouble between the investigative Dove and the more relationship-building Gilbert is an intriguing conflict with them. Both seem to have success and failure in their methods of going about their jobs, even if their overall goals are different. Dove is after the story, the answers to the mystery of what happened to the three boys who disappeared, but Gilbert is more about the path that the story takes and presenting it in a manner in which people can relate.

It does feel like the journalist vs. podcaster theme is in full effect. Meanwhile, Emmy is caught between both worlds.

The mystery at the center of the story feels slight at this point. They seem to be trying very hard to make it feel more compelling and I hope that there is more coming from it, but this series right now is more about the conflict between Dove and Gilbert than it is about this mystery.

There are also a few background details finding their way into the story, but none of that feels like it will have the needed kick to elevate the characters into more than the simplistic characters that they have started out as.

Still, I liked the second episode and I think there is enough here with the talented cast to keep watching the remaining five episodes on Netflix.

Them: The Scare S2 E7, E8

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Spoilers

“One of Us Is Gonna Die Tonight”

“The Box”

This is what American Horror Story: Delicate wished it could be.

I was very disappointed with AHS this year as the classic horror anthology series just failed in this season. However, Them: The Scare was everything that AHS was not.

I had not seen the first season of Them, so some of the things that happened in the finale seemed a little confusing. I could only guess (and then confirmed after the show was done) that the photo and the woman giving baby Dawn and Edmond away had some tie to the first season (she did) and that the weird creature at the end also tied it to the first season (yup, it was something called Da Tap Dance Man).

So we have a connection between the first and second seasons, but the story of this season was all about family and the pain of being rejected and tossed away. The seventh episode does a tremendous job of laying out everything that we needed to know to understand what was happening and gave us a horrendous end for Athena Reeve (Pam Grier).

With the exception of the arrival of Da Tap Dance Man, there was plenty of satisfying moments in the finale. The confrontation between Dawn and Edmond was tense and powerful, showing how much love still existed between the twins, even if Dawn had forgotten about him. The scene of Edmond killing himself and giving himself over to the demon with the red hair was tough to watch. The shooting of McKinney was dramatic and pleasing to see the rotten racist get his comeuppance.

This was just so creepy. The imagery of the red-headed man will never allow me to look at Raggedy Andy the same way ever again.

There were several times that I found myself holding my breath from the tension of the situation. The performances were top notch and the tone was just so exceptional.

Them: The Scare was everything you would want in a horror anthology series, filled with thrills and anxiety and a story with themes of family, loss and rejection. I loved this show and I was happy I gave it a chance. Them: The Scare is on Amazon Prime.

The Jinx Part Two S2 E4

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“The Unluckiest Man in the World”

The trial had been going Bob Durst’s way at first.

Then came Emily Altman.

Emily and her husband Stewart were long time friends with Bob. When the prosecution put Emily on the witness stand, they were able to get her to place Bob in Los Angeles at the time of the murder of Susan Berman. That was something that had never happened before.

Because of that, Bob admitted to writing the “Cadaver note.”

I’m not kidding.

This is absolutely nuts.

Bob had sent years denying that he wrote that note, the one sent to the police alerting them to the death of Susan. The one with the misspelling of “Beverly” with an “E”. Now, he has changed his story and claimed that he had walked in and found the body and sent the anonymous note to police to avoid his own suspicion.

This changed the entire feel of the trial.

Emily had not intended on making thing bad for Bob. In fact, the show speculated that she may have thought she was trying to help him.

This episode ended with the shocking reveal that Bob had decided to testify on his own behalf. We get that next episode. Can’t wait!

Boy did this one take a turn. I love how the producers of the mini-series used Bob’s correspondence with friends and others to score the program. Bob’s voice was the key to the first season, and this second season uses his voice just as well. When Bob said that Emily was so stupid, it was an amazing moment.

Them: The Scare S2 E5, E6

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“Luke 8:17”

“Would You Like to Play a Game?”

Whoa. Some huge revelations dropped in these two episodes that made it a little clearer about what was going on… however, there are still some strange things going on.

I always thought Raggedy Andy was creepy.

Part of the intended confusion early in the show, the stuff that made me think that Edmond was only a copycat killer, was that he seemed like he had not killed before. I actually thought for a brief second last episode that these two stories going on we in different timelines, but I dismissed the idea quickly. Turns out, what we were seeing of Edmond was two years before the stuff with Dawn. Boom, mind blown.

Things go down hill quickly for Dawn Reeve. Edmond is her biological brother. She tries to save a little boy by taking him to the hospital and he dies in the back of her car. This little boy had told her that he was seeing a red-headed man who wanted to kill him. She is put on leave from her job because of this. The racist cops of the LAPD made things even worse, making sure that everything looked bad for her. McKinney is such an a-hole.

However, it is not as simple as Edmond is the killer. There is something supernatural going on too. How does that happen? Edmond hears voices. I do not think it is as simple as Edmond has mental illness. There is something deeper and darker going on.

The attack on Dawn’s son during his performance was frightening as could be, as was his breakdown in the classroom as he was seeing the red-headed man.

Wild speculation time: Does Dawn have something to do with these murders? I mean, more than just being connected to them or being Edmond’s sister? The missing time suggestion means something. What is it? Clearly, Dawn is not very stable at the moment and her life is falling down around her.

Deborah Ayorinde was outstanding in these two episodes. I am very conflicted by her character and I am not sure what this show is expecting me to think about everything. Is she just a victim? Or is there something more sinister going on?

Only two episodes remaining and there are a lot of questions with the show. Either way, this has really kicked into high gear, which was impressive because it was always very compelling already.

Bodkin S1 E1

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“One True Mystery”

“People will listen to it?“

This was the question throughout the entire first episode of Bodkin, a series from Netflix featuring Will Forte as a podcaster and Siobhán Cullen as an investigative journalist whose editor insisted on her accompanying Forte on his podcast to get her out of the way.

IMDB says, “A group of podcasters set out to investigate the mysterious disappearance of three strangers in an idyllic Irish town. But when they start to pull the strings, they find a story much bigger and stranger than they could have imagined.”

Bodkin is a dark comedy/thriller dealing with the disappearance of some people in the small Irish town of Bodkin. By the end of the first episode, I was intrigued enough to continue with this.

I definitely liked the actors. Both Siobhán Cullen and Will Forte were great and Robyn Cara as Forte’s investigator on his podcast was good too. The Irish people of the town were very quirky and mysterious.

I did not find anything downright funny, but oddball worked as a descriptor. The curiosity of what exactly was going on when Cullen’s character Dove was struck by a car was definitely interesting.

With some open spots on the schedule for TV shows, I think the seven-episode series on Netflix will work nicely.

Them: The Scare S2 E3, E4

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“The Man with the Red Hair”

“Happy Birthday, Sweet Boy”

This series on Amazon Prime has been so very tense so far, and I am not sure exactly what is going on. I was thinking that Edmond was not the bone breaking killer, but just a warped and mentally sick individual, but the end of episode four seems to show us that my thought was inaccurate. Or was it? Still not sure. That is good writing at this point.

McKinney comes into more view than he had before with his inclusion in a hate group that Detective Reeve comes across and is caught observing. This was a tense moment and helps solidify my hatred of the character of McKinney. When he picked up Detective Reeve’s son and drove him home, it was such a anxiety-ridden moment because you just did not know what he was capable of doing in the moment.

Pam Greer came to play in episode four as she had a real shock to drop on Dawn. This is the first moment of the season where it made sense why they cast an actor the quality of Pam Greer in this role.

Edmond was totally creepy in both of these episodes as it seems as he is escalating things terribly. However, it still does feel as if this is not something that he has done multiple times and that makes me wonder if he is simply copying the serial killer or if this just lets us into the mind of Edmond. Either way, Edmond is completely unhinged.

This has been exceptional so far and it does such a top notch job of creating tension and suspense in the viewers. I am on the edge of my seat every episode and I had not planned on watching a second episode today, but after episode three, I needed to see more.

Halfway through the season and this has really elevated the material.

The X-Files S4 E20

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“Small Potatoes”

Some of my favorite X-Files episodes are the ones that lean toward the comedic. Jose Chung’s From Outer Space, Humbug, Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose, and War of Coprophages are so awesome to watch and David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson work extremely well within them.

So Small Potatoes goes on that list of great episodes.

Shape shifting Eddie Van Blundht is our villain of the episode as he fathered five children with tails with five different women. Thing was, the women did not know they were have sex with anyone except their husbands. One of the women thought she had sex with Luke Skywalker.

One of the best parts of this is that Mulder does not have a theory for a good chunk of the episode. Usually he comes up with his idea of what was going on immediately, sometimes even before the case started. They are quite a bit into the story and Mulder even admits that he does not have a theory of what was happening.

The show did seem to go out of the way to make Eddie a relatable character despite the fact that he is basically a rapist. Eddie was played by Darin Morgan, the former X-Files writer who penned Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose and Jose Chung’s from Outer Space. In fact, Vince Gilligan, who wrote this episode, said they wrote the character of Eddie specifically for Morgan.

One of the best scenes of the episode was at the end when Eddie had taken Mulder’s place and him going through Mulder’s office and trying to seduce Scully. This entire stretch of time when we see Mulder’s life and career through Eddie’s eyes deconstructed the Mulder character and provided a different aspect of it. It was just fantastic writing and showed our favorite conspiracy theorist in an entirely new light.

Doctor Who S14 E2

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“The Devil’s Chord”

I knew Paul and John saved music, but I never thought it was quite so literally.

Note: I have changed my mind about the listing of these Doctor Who episodes. I have decided from now on, I will call them Season 14. This is now S14 E2.

I really enjoyed this episode. It was over-the-top, yes, but I am one of those people who love music and I can understand the power of it. This was a love letter to music in all its forms.

Maestro was an amazing villain, and as a child of Toymaker, and the performance of Jinkx Monsoon in the role was exceptional. Monsoon brought a sinister tone to this character, which by all rights, could have been a joke. Maestro was a mixture of Ethel Merman and Freddy Krueger and Jinkx Monsoon played it with a perfect flair and monstrosity.

The use of the Beatles as an important cog in this machine was a stroke of genius. Having Paul and John come together at the end to play the missing note to banish Maestro was poetry.

“There’s Always a Twist at the End” served as an awesome wrap up to the episode and a fourth wall break that was unexpected. Ncuti Gatwa does an amazing job this episode spanning the emotions of the Doctor, as he made reference to the split of his soul from the specials this past year.

I also loved the warning Maestro gives at the end of the episode, when it is tied back to the warning the Toymaker gave in the special. Something big is coming and I am here for it.

Doctor Who S1 E2

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“Space Babies”

The new Doctor Who has arrived, for the first time, on Disney +.

I was not sure what to call it for the season number, but it was listed as season 1 on Disney + so I decided that is what I would call this.

I have not watched much Doctor Who over the years, but I enjoyed the specials on Disney + last year and I find the new Doctor, the 15th Doctor, played by Ncuti Gatwa to be a lot of fun. That meant that I would give this series a try.

Ncuti Gatwa has a very comedic presence to him and it worked very well with this episode. How many times does he say “Space Babies?”

I also enjoyed Millie Gibson, who is playing Ruby Sunday, the Doctor’s companion. I thought she was very charming.

I wonder if long time fans of Doctor Who will not appreciate the humorous tone as much as I did. Again, I have not seen much Doctor Who over the years, so it did not bother me at all.

I did like this episode and I plan on watching the next episode some time tomorrow.