Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

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.

Shogun S1 E8

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“The Abyss of Life”

Whoa.

The scene near the end of this episode was unbelievably powerful and tense. The confrontation between Toranaga and Hiromatsu, which led to Hiromatsu committing seppuku. Man, what a moment among a pretty solid episode filled with moments.

It seemed as if Toranaga has more planned than what it appeared. He claimed that Osaka must believe he has given everything up. The loss of his son last episode and Hiromatsu’s death in this one has given Toranaga, who appeared very sick and frail from the trip, time.

John faced a member of his crew finally after months and it did not go well either. John had attempted to sway Yabushige to forming an alliance. Yabushige rejects the offer in name of loyalty to Toranaga. However, the death of Hiromatsu changed his opinion, saying that he did not want to die for the crazy old man.

There was a powerful scene over some tea between Mariko and her husband Buntaro. Buntaro wished to have them both commit suicide as a protest to Toranaga’s decision, but Mariko came out and specifically said that she did not want to follow him into death and that she would rather live a thousand years because of the way he had treated her.

Two more episodes remaining in this series and who knows where it is heading. This one left that knot in my stomach as I watched the pain involved in the machinations of Taranaga.

Moonlighting S5 E12, E13

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“Einme Kleine Nacht Murder”

“Lunar Eclipse”

This is the final two episodes of Moonlighting. They wrapped up the series finishing off the storyline with David and Maddie’s cousin, Annie.

They still have David and Maddie having repressed anger with each other. Even Annie called David out on his anger, which, of course, he denied. However, it is fairly obvious. It is the same anger that has poisoned the series and brought about the end of the show.

These final two episodes included all of the reasons why Moonlighting lost its way. The anger between Dave and Maddie. The overuse of Herbert Viola, in over the top comedy. The cases taking back seat and being tossed aside.

Dave and Maddie end up two of the most depressing characters in TV history.

Even their giant meta ending to the show fell flat. Denis Dugan appearing as Cy the big time producer did give the final repose on the show.

The final clip montage was more sad than anything else. And I do not mean sad in the good way. The last two seasons of Moonlighting really miscalculated what made this show so classic that it wound up in the EYG Hall of Fame. The last two seasons had so much bad in it, but there still had some great moments too. And very few shows can provide three seasons like the first three did.

The rewatch of Moonlighting has now come to an end. I am very happy that Hulu gave me a chance to see the show once again for EYG.

The Anselmo case was never solved.

Moonlighting S5 E11

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“When Girls Collide”

You knew what kind of episode this was going to be when you heard the sad Maddie piano music that we had a lot during season three and four. That was a bad sign.

There was a funny cameo from Demi Moore, who married Bruce Willis in real life.

After that there was way too much Viola. The relationship between Dave and Maddie felt very childish with the inclusion of Maddie’s cousin/old roommate, Annie.

The case was one of the worst ones that they have had in ages.

Why do we have to have the anger back between Dave and Maddie? I thought they were getting more into the act recently, but this truly felt like a step backward.

By the way, Maddie has no one to blame but herself if David is looking for a new relationship.

They then through the “To Be Continued” up on the screen, as if I want more of this soap opera storyline. This show does not do drama well. It is just too angry, degrading the relationship between Dave and Maddie.

Only two more episodes of Moonlighting to go.

Twin Peaks S2 E20

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“The Path to the Black Lodge”

Three remaining Twin Peaks remaining in season two. Things are slowly picking up the connections between the first story arc and the new arc with Windham Earle.

We discover something more about the Black Lodge and we see Killer Bob make another appearance, connecting Bob with the Black Lodge.

Windham Earle dressed up as a horse (with Leo as the horse’s ass) and kidnapped Major Briggs.

Miss Twin Peaks hypes up. Sounds as if Annie may be joining in when the giant returns to attempt to warn Cooper.

A few of the men had some strange reaction with their hand. I saw Cooper and Pete both have it happen.

The whole Ben Horne may be Donna’s father feels forced. If Ben had such a deep connection with Donna’s mother, why did we see nothing about it before now? Why was there absolutely no tie to Donna until just recently? I do like the new Ben Horne, but this just does not work.

They spend some more time trying to make me care about John and Audrey. Not sure I do. I liked Pete more in the episode. When he offered to take Audrey fishing, that was very sweet.

This episode was clearly bringing a lot of the mystical energy back again.

The X-Files S4 E9

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“Terma”

This is the conclusion of the story that started in the previous episode, Tunguska,” with the term conclusion being a loose descriptor. It just seems that the overall message of the X-Files is that the bad guys are just so much smarter than Mulder or Scully because they just keep getting away with things.

The Smoking Man, Alex Krycek, even some retired KGB agent are always one, maybe two, steps ahead of Mulder and Scully and they just can never bring anyone to justice. The whole mythology of the series winds up being frustrating at times, not just for the characters on the show, but also for the audience.

The two part story was full of action and dramatic moments from the Russian gulag (that Mulder escapes really easily) to an oil refinery explosion in South Dakota, the action beats are exciting.

I’m not sure how the cliffhanger from last episode was resolved. Mulder had been exposed to the Black Oil (or as they started calling it this episode, “Black Cancer”). We see people who have had their arms amputated to stop the testing, but that does not happen with Mulder (sorry Krycek).

This episode really was not structurally well designed. There are just too many issues. It has its moments but not enough.