Blue Eye Samurai S1 E2

Posted on December 25, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“A Unexpected Element”

Second episode was another banger. There is so much action and excitement in each of these first two episodes that I can believe how great this show has been perceived by the public.

Mizu was heading to a town to find a boat so she could pursue Shindo to his island fortress. Ringo had followed her there and, despite her attempts to shoo him away, he continued to follow her, making himself useful.

Taigen heads after Mizu in an attempt to reclaim his honor. He would find her at the end of the episode.

Prior to that, Mizu was confronted by The Four Fangs. She killed three of them, with the one survivor being a man named Chiaki who had come for a sword from Master Eiji. He was an assassin and Mizu had made a sword for him that was broken.

Back in the present, Mizu is able to kill Chiaki, but it nearly ended her. When Taigen approached Mizu, she told him to come on, but passed out. He moved forward, the show implying that he was going deal a killing blow.

Again, animation is gorgeous and the fight choreography is laid out wonderfully, especially with the fight on the cliff with the Four Fangs. That fight was remarkably clever and designed well.

This has been a great start to this season .

Blue Eye Samurai S1 E1

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“Hammerscale”

I decided last night to give the first episode of Blue Eye Samurai a chance on Netflix. I have heard a lot of positive word of mouth about this series and, after watching the first episode, I have to agree. This is a spectacular animated series.

Beautifully animated. Dramatically presented. Its share of animated violence and blood. Blue Eye Samurai is a classic revenge tale engulfing our main protagonist, who has a major secret to hide.

Not only is the samurai tainted by blue eyes, Blue Eye Samurai (aka Mizu) is in truth a woman masquerading as a man.

We see a good chunk of her back story, where she learned to fight and how she constructed her sword. Plus, there was a major series of sword fights, beautifully animated and constructed.

This is an adult animation as there are blood splatters, language and plenty of nudity and sexual encounters.

There are eight episodes of this show on Netflix and I cannot wait to continue seeing this show. I have heard that Netflix has approved a second season, so I am happy that I am jumping on Blue Eye Samurai when I am.

Picket Fences S4 E8

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“This Little Piggy”

The season four episodes of Picket Fences have been consistently lower on my list than the first three seasons. ”This Little Piggy” is a little better than most of the season four episodes so far, but it is still far from the heights this show reached in its first three seasons.

Animal rights take front and center on the show as Kimberly gets mixed up with a group who wanted to end the yearly pig wrestling that went on at the Rome fair. The group started having their protests escalate from words to actions, including an exploding pig balloon filled with feces during a city council meeting to the planting of a smoke bomb to cause more chaos.

Kimberly was involved with the leader of the group and she wound up volunteering to set the smoke bomb, which nearly got her shot and did get her arrested.

The whole animal rights bit in the episode was heavy-handed at times, using a video of horrendous treatment of these animals. It got Zack to swear off meat. That whole part of the story only got me thinking one thing… when Zack was weakening with his resolve and was opening the fridge, seeing a plate of fried chicken… all I could think was, “Why is that plate of fried chicken in that fridge uncovered? That’s dangerous, isn’t it?”

There was another story on the show of a patient of Dr. Joey who had terrible cancer and it brought up pain for her watching him struggle through the treatments. This felt odd and was one of the key issues with this season. In previous seasons, this patient would have been a character we had seen before, even if it was a background character. The recurring aspect of the show made the town feel like a real town. I had less connection to the old guy because I just met him and his daughter.

Overall, better than most of the shows so far in season four, but still a huge step down from most of the first three seasons.

What If…? S2 E3

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

What a delight.

‘Twas the morning before Christmas

And I couldn’t sleep

So I popped on What If…?

Season two just for keep.

The Avengers were tussling

With a purple freak,

Inside Avengers Tower

Things looked really bleak.

The Watcher took us back

Before things got too charred

And we realized the show

Was a nod to Die Hard.

With Happy and Darcy,

And Maria Hill, too

While Justin Hammer dances

As he is wont to do.

From a purple “Hulk” Hogan

Whose punches are stiff,

Merry Christmas to all

From the world of What If…?

This was an unbelievably fun episode that filled me with joy… and not just Christmas joy. Die Hard is one of my all-time favorite movies, so seeing Marvel put an Avengers-spin on it was so epic.

And then, the actual writing of the episode was so good. Christmas puns and tropes scattered throughout and great use of two secondary characters in Happy and Darcy that we all love. There was some great comedy in this episode and the use of the actual Avengers was just perfect as well. Was this the first What If…? episode that included Tony Stark where Stark did not die?

This was the first episode this season that did not feel as if it had a rush to finish. I thought the pacing of this was spectacular.

And the return of Justin Hammer, voiced by the one and only Sam Rockwell, as a stand in for Hans Gruber, was inspired. Sam Rockwell sounded as if he was having a blast with the character. You could hear the lilt in his voice. The fact that Marvel is able to get these huge stars to come back and voice their characters in this animated series never fails to blow my mind. Sure there are some who are voice actors (hiya Lake Bell), but the fact is this episode had Mark Ruffalo back for like two lines of dialogue. Jon Favreau, Chris Hemsworth, Jeremy Renner, Kat Dennings, Cobie Smulders were all here for this episode.

And that Happy Hulk Hogan fight with the Iron Man suits/robots in the hallway was amazing. The oil splatter, replacing blood, as the purple hulk rampaged through the suits was some special visual storytelling. There were plenty of visual jokes/bits that helped tell this story.

Legitimately, this is probably my second favorite What If…? episode of the entire series, only behind the S1 E4 Supreme Strange episode, and that is just barely ahead of this.

Merry Christmas to all…

Up to Date Running Order:

E3 ”What If… Happy Hogan Saved Christmas?”

E1 “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

E2 “What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”

Moonlighting S3 E4

Posted on December 24, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“Yours, Very Deadly”

This episode was the first of the episodes that lead to one of the downfalls of the series. It was the debut of Curtis Armstrong as Herbert Viola.

While Herbert Viola was not as obnoxious in this episode as he will become, he is one of my most hated characters in all of TV. He was brought on as a love interest for Miss DiPesto but he becomes such an obnoxious, unlikable character that is thrust upon us that I could never get into him.

Meanwhile, this episode had Miss DiPesto committing a lot of sexual harassments in the workplace, pinning Herbert down and kissing, groping him. Until, that is, he stands up and does not run from her advances and that upsets her. This is not how you start a relationship.

The case this week is an interesting one with a wife writing letters to another man she did not know, until things start to get dark. She hires Dave and Maddie to find the man and get him to stop writing.

As with all Moonlighting cases, things are not as they look. It is cool though that Dave and Maddie seem to be doing better in solving the cases and not just stumble into the answers.

This had some fun but it is all a portend for bad days ahead. Thanks a lot, Mr. Viola.

What If…? S2 E2

Posted on December 23, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.”

Episode two is a bit of a step back from the excellent first episode of season two.

Peter Quill gets taken by Yondu and given to Ego. They go about on the Expanse and Peter comes back to earth, leading Peggy Carter to bring together the best heroes the earth could muster at the time.

It was sort of a different style Avengers formation, including Bill Foster, King T’Chaka, The Winter Soldier, Hank Pym, and Dr. Wendy Lawson (Mar-Vell). Things picked up when Thor arrived too.

As with all of the What If…? episodes, one of the cool things is that the most actors who played these characters in the MCU films reprise their roles on the animated show. That led to an astounding cast for an animated show including Chris Hemsworth, Michael Douglas, Laurence Fishburne, Kurt Russell, John Slattery, Sebastian Stan and Hayley Atwell all on the call list for episode two.

There were some good things that happened in the episode. It is not as if I hated this one. It just felt too rushed in some places. I did not love some of the character choices and a lot of what could have made the episode stronger was left out.

The animation continues to be a highlight of the show so far. Everything looked awesome and feels like a step up from season one.

Running Order:

Definitely…

E1 “What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps?”

E2 “What If… Peter Quill Fought Earth’s Mightiest Heroes?”

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S1 E7

Posted on December 23, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“Will the Real May Stand Up?”

Answers about the past of May came in this episode.

Honestly, I was not that interested.

I have had a difficult time getting involved with the 2015 characters, outside of Kurt Russell. I am much more invested with the 1954 version of the show, but that was not on this episode.

Most interest part of the episode was that Tim did not die in that helicopter that Godzilla crashed last week. I guess Shaw didn’t notice him when he said no one survived the crash. Tim is showing some feelings toward the three 2015 kids and is willing to give them the benefit of the doubt.

No Godzilla this week though he was all over the show last week. Only one quick glance of a Titan this week and it got blown the hell by Shaw.

Monarch continues to be up and down every week.

What If…? S2 E1

Posted on December 22, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“What If… Nebula Joined the Nova Corps”

Marvel Studios kicked off the second season of What If…? in style today with a flashy episode that had a definite Blade Runner/noir vibe to it including a cast of characters that you wouldn’t expect together.

Marvel began their special release formula with the first of nine consecutive episodes released daily, from December 22 to December 29th on Disney +. Ever since I heard about the idea, I have been excited for it. It felt like a special Christmas gift to fans and I was down for it.

The first episode featured Nebula, once again voiced by the awesome Karen Gillian, investigating the murder of Yondu in an alleyway on the planet Xandar. One wonders where an idea like this comes from because it does not seem to make much sense. However, once it started, you could tell this was a solid episode.

We got a weird crew too. Howard the Duck, a casino owner, voiced by Seth Green. Korg, voiced by Taika Waititi, returned again. Groot was here too, though I do not know if it was Vin Diesel doing the “I am Groot.” Jude Law was here as Yon-Rogg, his character he played in Captain Marvel. Peter Serafinowicz resumed his role as Garthan Saal, that he brought to life first in Guardians of the Galaxy. The fact that the show brings all of these familiar voices back for this animated program is amazing and it really commits to the feel of an overarching universe.

Jeffrey Wright is back again as The Watcher, the narrator of the What If series, although Nebula took over the narration of this series in the noir style.

The animation is beautiful throughout, with some imagery that could be art.

The only drawback I have for the episode was that it felt too short. This could have easily been an hour and a half episode and have plenty to fill.

A strong start to our nine day marathon.

Percy Jackson and the Olympians S1 E1 & E2

Posted on December 21, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre-Algebra Teacher”

“I Become Supreme Lord of the Bathroom”

The new Percy Jackson series dropped its first two episodes on Disney + today and I watched them tonight.

What did I think?

It was okay.

Lots of exposition at the start. The introduction of the characters have been decent. The key to the series will be the casting of Percy especially. Walker Scobell, the young star of the Ryan Reynolds film The Adam Project, is playing Percy Jackson. How did he do? Okay, I guess. He seems to be trying hard. He definitely has potential and some charisma. I have liked what he has done before so I have hope.

We just met Annabeth in episode 2, played by Leah Jeffries. Percy, Annabeth and Grover, played here by Aryan Simhadri, and their chemistry is absolutely the key to this series.

I have to say that the first two episodes were decent enough that I am ready to continue to watch this weekly. It did not blow me away, but I do think there is a lot of potential for this series.

It did look pretty decent. The shot of the Minotaur in episode one was awesome.

I have not read the Percy Jackson books and I only know this franchise because of the movies, which I know were not great (the first was …okay). I am curious to see where this goes. I have heard that this series is closer to the books by Rick Riordan so we’ll see.

Picket Fences S4 E7

Posted on December 20, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“Down the Tubes”

John Littleton finally returns to the show after getting shot earlier in the season only to head out the door. Don Cheadle was always too big for the show. He is an excellent actor and he wound up leaving Picket Fences for bigger things in the world of cinema.

Meanwhile, Jill is scheduled for a tubal ligation, which has been driving her crazy. It was leading to some feelings that did not make a ton of sense.

Then, Jimmy was dancing the polka with Laurie Bay for charity.

Then, lots of weird things happen from out of nowhere.

Jimmy seemed to start having feelings for Laurie.
Laurie, by the way, is five months pregnant.
Jimmy sucks at basketball
Littleton started laughing during a court case.
Littleton had a dream that led him back to Chicago, and his way out of Rome.
Jill and Joanna try on wigs.

Things just happened this episode that did not seem to come form anywhere. It felt rushed and chaotic, much like most of season four has felt.

The X-Files S2 E7

Posted on December 19, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“3”

Scully is still missing, as Mulder places her file squarely in the X-Files, now reopened. Solo Mulder heads to LA to investigate a murder that had connections to a series of cases in the X-Files. Cases that have a connection to vampirism.

I did not like this episode very much. The biggest problem with it for me was the relationship that was forced for Mulder and the woman Kristen. I did not buy that for a second and it felt so out of character for Mulder, especially with Scully missing.

David Duchovny was solid but the absence of Gillian Anderson was absolutely felt. Bringing in vampires for this episode was not a good choice. Unlike later in the series where we had a more comedic episode with vampires, this one just never seemed to really work. It played with some of the vampire tropes, but was more of a mess than anything else.

Scully’s absence needed to be played up more than it was. Thankfully, I believe she returns very soon.

Picket Fences S4 E6

Posted on December 18, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“Heart of Saturday Night”

Saturday night in Rome.

What does everybody do when there is nothing to do?

They sit around bored? Like me.

This was not my favorite episode of the series. There was not much to it. It felt very forced in a lot of moments. Jimmy gets his penis stuck in his zipper. Maxine is thinking about buying a vibrator. Matthew spends about the first twenty minutes with his friends driving around chanting “party” in the most annoying way possible. One of Judge Bone’s friends dies at their poker game. Wambaugh wins the pot.

It just felt very muddled.

There were some sweet moments in there too, so it is not the worst of the episodes, but there just is nothing of note.

Season four has been a real downer so far.

Moonlighting S3 E4

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“Symphony in Knocked Flat”

Another one of my favorite episodes when I was watching in the late 1980s, Symphony in Knocked Flat has a lot of classic Moonlighting tropes and still plays very well.

There was a ton of slapstick involved in this episode, especially in the third act inside the arena and boxing ring. You can tell the influences of The Three Stooges and Charlie Chaplin in this episode, as well as some nods to Rocky IV.

There was also a really fun scene at the Blue Moon offices with two sets of FBI agents and a repetitive scene that both Maddie and David repeated lines within. A fourth wall break added in as David quipped that the writer’s just Xeroxed the other scene.

“No, it was par for the course.“

That scene was one of my favorites and I remembered it immediately as soon as Maddie said that line the first time.

Moonlighting could handle these over-the-top, silly episodes better than any show I can remember and still have the credibility with the characters and the story that they are telling.

It kicked off with a fun cold open with David and Maddie and the Temptations.

Oh, and by the way, Cybill Shepherd absolutely killed that dress she wore to the symphony. She looked unbelievable!

Fargo S5 E5

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“The Tiger”

There was this weird voice over going on through this episode with a voice talking about the tiger, specifically how dangerous one could be. In particular, the female of the species.

Of course, I understood the metaphor. It wasn’t subtle, but I found the voice over annoying and unneccesary.

However, that was the only drawback that I could see from this episode.

We continued to see the amazing abilities of Dorothy, as she had people coming after her from all sides and was desperately doing everything she could.

These scene between John Hamm and Jennifer Jason Leigh was exceptional. They both have a great grasp on their characters and you could see how they each were cautiously moving around each other verbally.

Meanwhile, Dorothy was steps away from being caught by several different people. Of course, she was a tiger and was most dangerous when cornered. I heard that somewhere.

It was clearly that the show is moving quickly toward a major confrontation between Dorothy and Roy, and I am here for it.

Monarch: Legacy of Monsters S1 E6

Posted on December 17, 2023 by Doc

Spoilers

“Terrifying Miracles”

I’m not 100% sure how he is getting around, or if he is supposed to be the same Titan or if he is a different one, but Godzilla was making the rounds in this episode.

The Godzilla of 1954 came back up out of the water after supposedly being blown up a couple of episodes ago. In 2015, Godzilla was in an African desert, coming up from beneath the sands. Was this the same Godzilla who rampaged through San Francisco during G-Day? I am just not sure.