Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

Loki S2 E1

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“Ouroboros”

I loved season one of Loki. With season two now starting on Disney +, I can start looking forward again.

Okay, this was epic.

One of the best parts of this was the fact that I did not have to either stay up until 2 AM Central time or wait until the early morning to see the new Loki episode. Prime time, Bae-beee! Apparently Disney + had success with the release of Ahsoka in prime time so they decided to do the same with Loki. I loved it. The anticipation as the clock slowly moved toward 8 PM. Watching it without being half asleep. This is the way they should release all shows.

And… Ke Huy Quan brings every ounce of charm you expect from him. The title of the episode is named after his character, Ouroboros, or O.B. as Moebius called him (apparently).

We are reminded immediately how much chemistry and charisma Tom Hiddleston and Owen Wilson have together as Loki and Moebius. They are the ultimate buddy cop duo in the MCU. Putting themselves on the line for each other, this is one of the big reasons that Loki season one was so great. And Ke Huy Quan fit right in with that pairing beautifully.

Kang… or, I suppose He Who Remains, as Loki knows him, is all over this episode without ever showing up. Statues, murals, recordings, he is totally enveloped in the TVA and the frantic dread and sinister nature of the world.

This looked amazing, with unbelievable sets and a beautiful direction. The music was spot on.

I can’t believe I have to wait until next Thursday. This is the feeling I used to have with some of the early Disney + shows. I have enjoyed them all (except Secret Invasion) but with WandaVision and Loki Season 1, there was a different feel between episodes. I remember counting down to the next episode, looking forward to the next one.

This was awesome.

Only Murders in the Building S3 E

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“Opening Night”

Season three of Only Murders in the Building came to a conclusion with their tenth episode of the year, the finale called “Opening Night.” We discover the truth about how Ben Glenroy was killed.

Last week, I speculated that there would be someone different who killed Ben and that Donna, who was shown to be the one who poisoned him on the first show’s opening night, did not end up killing him.

I thought that it would turn out to be Donna’s son, Cliff, and that is exactly what happened. It was because Cliff and Ben met each other outside the elevator shaft when Ben figured out that Donna had tried to poison him. It was an accidental death, but Cliff did end up shoving Ben.

All this was revealed at the opening night of Death Rattle Dazzle, and things were working out while the musical was going on. Oh, and by the way, Oliver wound up in the role that Ben Glenroy had originally been cast in. We saw clips of the musical throughout the episode and they looked awesome.

I really enjoyed the wrap up of this season, even though there were times I thought season three was a tad off-kilter. Where as the early part of the season focused too much on the musical/play, I found the last several episodes split that storyline in just the right manner and that it really brought everything together well…including some of the earlier episodes of the season.

The end of the show also set up the mystery for season four as Sazz, played by Jane Lynch, who was Charles’s stunt double for years. Sazz showed up at the after party for the musical in time to get shot through the window in Charles’s apartment. Was she mistaken for Charles? If so, who wants to shoot Charles? Seeing the beloved recurring character dying on the floor was a tough way to end the season, but it did make it clear that we would be getting a fourth season of Only Murders in the Building, which is fabulous news.

Bonus Action Volume 1: Odd Jobs 2

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Week two of Bonus Action Vol. 1 arrives on YouTube tonight, featuring Jay Schmidt and his campaign partner, Ja-Ron Young.

Once again, these pre-campaign mini-adventures featuring a pair of players are brought together to create a little connection. Last week, you had two really top notch improvisers. However, this week is a different case.

Ja-Ron Young had never played D & D and you could tell that he was not as experienced as Jay or last week’s team and you could see that he was not as comfortable with the game as Jay was. However, as the episode progressed, you could see him becoming more at ease and more creative with his gameplay. Sending the “Bric” illusion running away as a distraction was a genius move and the dice helped out beautifully. Ja-Ron came through big time.

Jay was his usual awesome self and created such a fun and entertaining character in Bahbric Warm Hearth (called Bric). I love when a player engulfs themselves into the character even if it may not be for the best, and Jay totally embraced that.

I would have 100% released that displacer beast too. Jay’s face when the displacer beast first asked him for mercy… was epic.

Two weeks in, this has been a lot of fun. DM David Armstrong is wonderful, moving the story along perfectly with humor and creativity. His expressiveness really helps the storytelling going on.

Adam will be next week. I’ll be here for it.

American Horror Story: Delicate S12 E2

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“Rockabye”

I did find this episode of American Horror Story: Delicate to be chilling at times, and disturbing almost completely. I found myself blurting something at the screen several times in the episode as things happened that I did not expect. That is always a good sign.

I feel so badly for Anna as she went through the ringer this week. Although, when she left that fan lying and bleeding on the bathroom floor to go accept her award, well, some of the empathy went away.

This entire show has that dream-like feel to it, as plenty of it seems to be surreal. I am not sure what exactly is happening a lot of the time or if it is meant to be actually happening or if it is a delusion in Anna’s mind.

She discovered that she was pregnant and lost the baby all within the confines of this episode and some of the side characters that showed up were really suss or creepy. That nurse who did the ultrasound only to be revealed as not a hospital employee was just wildly bizarre.

Dex is fairly suspicious as well… or am I just supposed to think that because Anna is having some doubts? I don’t know. He seems to be a good guy, but the show is hinting heavily that he has a secret, perhaps an affair happening as well.

However, I can’t tell if this is accurate because clearly Anna’s POV is skewed and unreliable.

And what was up with those creepy looking vials that Kim Kardashian gave for Anna to drink? What was that again?

I love how this episode showed what an Oscar campaign can be like. The politicking that goes on for actors to win that award seem to take away from the overall value of the award, but everyone does it. There are definitely some themes about award shows going on with this show.

Lots of questions surrounding this story so far and I am definitely intrigued by what is happening. I enjoy the meta commentary as well.

The X-Files S1 E4 & E5

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E4: “Conduit”

E5: “Jersey Devil”

I was able to watch a couple of episodes of The X-Files this morning. The first episode I watched was one that I did not remember at all, which was a treat.

The second episode was one that I did remember, as it was one of the monsters of the week episodes with a variation on the Jersey Devil myth.

“Conduit” was one of the first episodes centering around the memory Mulder had of the night as a child when his sister was abducted/disappeared. This was a part of Mulder’s backstory that got a lot of traction over the years.

However, the story was not directly connected with the abduction of Samantha Mulder. This episode dealt with another sister who had disappeared and her mother had an experience with aliens when she was younger, which drew Mulder’s attention.

The Jersey Devil had another running theme that went throughout the show’s history. That theme was local law enforcement and their lack of help for Mulder and Scully, specifically for some of Mulder’s theories. I know this is a common issue among law enforcement, but I remember the younger me wondering why no one ever cooperated with Mulder.

We also get a look at how caring and kind-hearted old Spooky Mulder actually was, as he gets information out of a homeless person and he treated him with so much respect that it was impressive.

This shows how unsuccessful Mulder and Scully are at solving cases. That is a running joke through the series.

Gen V S1 E2 &E3

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E2: “First Day”

E3: “#ThinkBrink”

With three episodes in to the new spin-off of The Boys, Gen V, I have enjoyed this new show. Much like The Boys, there is a shock factor involved, with unbelievable things happening.. for example the amazing start to episode two with a haunting version of Metallica’s Nothing Else Matters as the pieces of Golden Boy are being swept up and his blood is being mopped up. However, that shock factor is not done just for shock. It is important to character or to the story. It is extremely well done.

These two episodes took Marie in a really different way. She battled with her own conflicts over her rankings and taking advantage of what happened with Golden Boy and how it made her look worse. It seemed as if she was moving toward becoming the corrupt ‘hero’ much like the Seven. Still, she was able to not succumb to the evil of the world.

Emma also has a great arc during these two episodes as we discovered the horrors of her powers, and how she gets taken advantage of by another influencer. She had a fall out with Marie and then they made up. Andre Anderson begins to look into the truth of the woods and discovered that Golden Boy’s brother Sam was still alive and held in the underground ‘hospital’ known as the woods. Andre talked Emma into going small and sneaking in to find Sam.

She did that and she and Sam bonded a bit. Of course, Emma lied to him about Luke having sent her in to see him. That ended with Emma crawling into a guard’s ear and climbing through his brain.

We get more with Kate in these two episodes, who is dealing with Luke’s suicide as well as her own feelings with Andre. Mental powers are always questionable and they are clearly taking a price on her.

These characters of Gen V have been awesome so far. They have gone into great details and character arcs to create deeper people and allowing me to be invested in the show. And I really am invested after the first three episodes.

Gen V S1 E1

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“God U”

So this was awesome.

The new series from the world of The Boys, Gen V premiered on Prime with the first three episodes dropped this past Thursday evening. I was not able to see episodes two and three, but I did see the first episode and I found it great.

A group of new, cool characters attending a school preparing them to be the next members of the Seven. It’s called Godolkin University and there are some clear questions about what is going on around the college.

We meet a young Marie Moreau and see when her blood control powers started, in one of the most shocking and tragic origins I have seen, her power led to the death of both of her parents and the estrangement of her sister.

Marie was the focus of the story and she was a wonderful new character. So was her roommate, Emma Meyer, a new shrinking character who had a YouTube channel and was desperate to do what she could to advance. Literally some of the sex scenes with Emma were something that I never thought I would see on TV.

Golden Boy Luke Riordan looked to have everything. It looked like he had his ticket punched to the Seven. However, his murderous rampage against Brink and his attempt to kill Marie would lead to his own death, exploding across the area. It was clear that the show had that same feel as The Boys did as you were never sure what could possibly happen.

Then, there is a mystery brewing with the woods that I am definitely interest with. It feels like it is some kind of psychological problem with the woods.

This started off really strong and I will be watching the other two available episodes this weekend.

Moonlighting Coming to Hulu!

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Some of the best news of the year popped up the other day.

Moonlighting is coming to the streaming service Hulu on October 10.

Wooo-Hooooo!

I loved Moonlighting back in the late 80s and anxiously waited every Tuesday night (although admittedly, not every Tuesday night as the show had a reputation of missing deadlines) for the romantic comedy/detective show featuring David Addison and Maddie Hayes.

The banter, the arguing, the slapstick, the slamming doors… it has everything.

It had an episode written in total iambic pentameter.

It had a nine-minute Billy Joel song with a dance routine.

It had a double dream sequence episode in black and white.

And I will be looking to rewatch all 67 episodes once it arrives on Oct. 10.

Moonlighting, which was my personal Wild Card inductee into the EYG Hall of Fame in 2023, was an awesome classic that help boost EYG Hall of Famer Bruce Willis into prominence while bringing Cybill Shepherd back to the forefront of the entertainment industry.

I can’t wait to add Moonlighting to the watch list.

Only Murders in the Building S3 E9

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“Thirty”

Happy birthday, Mabel!

Oh, and this dream sequence where Mabel gives birth to triples, one that looked like Charles, one that looked like Oliver and a microphone was trippy as hell. Funny too in an episode that had some things that just did not work.

Charles, Oliver and Mabel went through their clues, planning out a timeline (thanks to the recordings they had made of the interrogations) and eliminated suspects. The did a cool technique where they went through flashbacks to the opening night of the Broadway play and the three of them watched as it developed.

Everything lined up nicely and the suspect that they wound up determining was our killer, who poisoned Ben with a rat poisoned cookie and it was the person who I thought it was going to be, Donna DeMeo, the producer of Death Rattle. Apparently the shredded letter was a review panning Ben’s performance and Donna was afraid that the bad review would destroy her son’s career.

I thought it was Donna, but I also think we may have a bit of a twist coming. Could it be someone else who shoved Ben down the elevator shaft? I feel as if that is still a potential story beat for next week.

The episode ended with the three of them rushing to Loretta’s court appearance with Mabel dressed in a wedding dress. That did not really make much sense to me, but whatever.

I did like how they laid out this episode and how we learned about the events of the night of the poisoning. We also got a bit of a new look at Ben, who seems to not be as much of a jerk as we were led to believe.

However, I have a huge issue to speak about. The eight episode ended with Oliver in a dramatic heart attack as Loretta was taken away by the police. They had brought up the heart issues early in the season and I thought they were going to drop it. Yet, it came back at the end of the episode and it felt amazingly tense and frightening.

Then this episode opens up with Oliver fine. They put in a stint and he got right out of bed and never brought it back up again. The whole heart attack/heart issues was nothing but a waste of time and, if they were not going to treat this seriously, it should have been left out of the series.

Next week is the finale for season three and everything is set up for a big final episode.

Bonus Action Volume 1- Glassy & Dapper-Odd Jobs 1

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“Where friends don’t ley friends adventure alone.”

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this. I was excited about seeing this new YouTube series from the pReview’d guys Jay Schmidt and Adam Lash. They had talked about it being a D & D campaign, which I used to play years ago.

They were kicking off their 11 volume series with what is called “Odd Jobs 1” where the six member campaign would be split into pairs and run a minor campaign with the duo. The first week included Amanda Nicholas and Josh Hurley in a mission to find and recover an item called the glass menagerie.

David Armstrong was the DM (Dungeon Master) leading them through the story and playing the other characters of the world. He was excellent in this role as he provided great details of what was happening and provided a series of voices and accents.

Amanda and Josh both were playing barbarians, Amanda played Bar’b the Barbarian and Josh played Todd the Barbarian. These two were very enjoyable and entertaining with their improv and their game play. They did several things throughout the campaign that were creative and played off of their characters. Amanda was on fire with her dice role too.

When the campaign started, they dropped a word that we used many times that brought me back to our own campaigns, and it was ‘nondescript.’ Ah, nostalgia.

Jay and Adam were not on this episode, but their presence was absolutely felt. Jay’s laughter echoed through the video from off camera. Jay’s laugh is awesome and only makes you want to laugh as well. Adam’s hand appeared in the show moving the figurines around the board during the combat.

This was a lot of fun. I am not sure I can commit a regular two our block every Monday night to watch this as a debut, but I would like to try and fit it in some time during the week.

Congrats on a solid first volume.

The X-Files S1 E3

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“Squeeze”

A great episode which started off with the first “monster-of-the-week” episode that would become one of the trope of the X-Files. Some of my personal favorite episodes were the the one-shot, one-off monsters of the week episodes.

This one is entitled “Squeeze” and featured Eugene Victor Tooms. Tooms would be back in later episodes, but this one really set up him as a monstrous villain who murdered people for their livers so he could survive while he hibernated. Weird.

We saw more of the disrespect “Spooky” Mulder gets from other FBI agents, including one that was a former classmate of Scully. That guy was a huge jerk. And this was the first point when Scully stood up and picked a side. When she had a chance to leave Mulder, she refused and went to Mulder’s side.

Doug Hutchinson played Tooms and he created one of the most iconic X-Files villains of the entire series. Tooms is creepy as hell and his confrontation with Scully in her apartment was really great.

The Bear S2 E9 & E10

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E9: Omelette

E10: The Bear

Season two of The Bear wrapped up with episodes 9 and 10 where the restaurant is nearly ready to go and they were planning a “friends and family” night to do a run through of the way to run The Bear.

Things did not go very smoothly to say the least.

Both Carmy and Sydney were going through their own crises as the opening and the night of the opening approached. Carmy was trying to wrap his head around the fact that he had been distracted by Claire and that his attention was divided. Sydney was struggling with her own self-doubt and her questions on if she is up to this job.

They are both getting in their own way and, because of that, are causing issues among the staff.

Still, the group really knock it out of the park at the opening, except for Carmy, who gets trapped in the walk in refrigerator because he had forgotten to call the “fridge guy,” and Sydney, who had made a problem with Marcus and shied away from the stress-spotlight. Richie was definitely the MVP of the night, showing how much he learned during episode 7. Fak is dressed in a suit and showing that he is more than just a handyman even if still carries a screwdriver in his suit coat pocket.

Jamie Lee Curtis returned as Donna, Carmy and Nat’s mother. She had been invited to come to the opening, but she could not bring herself to come inside, despite the sweetness from Pete toward her. You could tell that she was very proud of her kids, but that she was afraid that she would not be able to handle it and would ruin it for them. When Pete let slip about Nat’s pregnancy, it was clear that there were borders between them. Jamie Lee Curtis is tremendous once again. I really was not sure if the mother was still alive, but I am glad that she is still living since that means there is more drama from her.

This final two episodes were tremendous and brought a ton of drama to the front while setting up the questions for the series moving forward. The relationship between Carmy & Claire being one of the top ones. Can Carmy and Sydney overcome their own self-image issues? When will we see Jamie Lee Curtis again?

This was a great second season and the performances were off the charts.

American Horror Story: Delicate S12 E1

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“Multiply Thy Pain.”

I have not watched American Horror Story for several years.

I was a huge fan of the anthology series by Ryan Murphy in its early days. Season one Murder House, Season two Asylum, season four Freak Show, season six Roanoke are some of my favorite seasons of television around.

However, I did kind of lose interest as the seasons moved on. Part of it was the Wednesday night release time because there was conflicts with it and I never got around to watching it online. Part of it was that the stories had gotten a touch out there. In particular, Hotel and Cult had not grabbed my attention. It was a series that just slipped out of my necessary viewing.

Then, yesterday I was on Hulu looking at No One Will Save You when I saw the release of episode one for the 12th season of AHS, called Delicate. To say that I was intrigued would be an understatement. I decided that I would give a chance to the new series, especially if I could watch it easily on Hulu.

I am considering using Sunday morning to be the target date for the next episode, which seems as if it will be released once again on Wednesday nights. This feels like a nice weekly series designed to give me the creeps and to keep me unsettled. I do love me some good horror.

If this goes well, perhaps I will look into some of the other seasons that I have not seen or even to do a rewatch on some of the previous AHS seasons that I loved so much.

This new season kicked off with a really spooky beginning with actress Anna Victoria Alcott (Emma Roberts), who had just found some major success with a movie that no one expected to do anything, but went huge, in bed. However, there was some black hooded figure there too. Shocked by the arrival of this figure, Anna chased it out of the apartment only to find what looked like blood all over the floor beside the bed and on her nightgown. We discover later that it was not blood, but lipstick and that there was a message on the mirror, “Don’t do it, Anna.”

Anna and her husband Dexter (Matt Czuchry) were trying to get pregnant via a fertility expert but Anna was seeing things, believing that she was being stalked. Some of the scenes involving these women dressed in black with glasses were filled with anxiety, especially those with Miss Peecher (Julie White) and Ivy (Cara Delevingne), as we see what Anna was seeing. There feels as if there are things we do not know about Anna and that this is all tied together.

Kim Kardashian is playing Siobhan Corbyn, Anna’s friend and publicist and she does a great job with this character. I am curious about her motives and how she will play into the story that they are telling.

The story, for the first time, is not an original story as this is based on the novel Delicate Condition by Danielle Valentine. It is also the first time that Ryan Murphy is not the showrunner for the series, as he has passed off the mantle to Halley Feiffer, who did Impeachment: American Crime Story.

There are some fun imagery involving spiders both in the episode and on the poster so I am curious to see where this takes me.

Bonus Action- The History of Wild Country

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Interesting.

So, Jay and Adam, who are YouTube reactors/content creators with the show pReview’d are taking a step out to do something new and potentially exciting.

I have enjoyed this duo’s videos on YouTube for much of the last few years. Their reactions to TV shows such as WandaVision, Loki, The Mandalorian, Cobra Kai, Squid Game to name a few are highlights of the week for me.

What truly makes this pair stand out among the crowded YouTube space is the friendship that they share and the passion and emotion they show during their reactions. They are so supportive of each other and they are both extremely funny. Listening to them laugh at their jokes is such a treat. Seeing them support the other if the tears are flowing is beautiful. Whether it be laughter or tears, there may be no more sincere, genuine friends in the space.

Today, I saw a video from Jay and Adam making an announcement for the release of a project that they have been teasing for some time now, a project that they have been working on for awhile. They are doing something with their Dungeons & Dragons group, creating a story with their role play. I’m not 100% certain exactly what it is going to look like, but I am very intrigued by their excitement and their enthusiasm for the project.

They are calling it a show, named Bonus Action. They announced that Bonus Action will be starting early, originally intended to be released in October. The first episode of eleven to debut on Monday night at 7 PM EST. I have no idea what this is going to entail, what the run time will be or how it is going to look like, but I would like to watch.

My personal goal is to watch an post about the episodes. Whether that is possible depends on my own schedule, but I fully intend on giving it a chance.

Adam and Jay did release a lore preview for their show with a computer generated, animated info drop on the world of Era Hest which, according to the comments on the YouTube video, is “A brief history of the origin of the fantastical world of Era Hest, leading to the beginning of the fourth age, where the adventure of Bonus Action begins….”

This was a fun exposition drop that had a lot of details in it. It has been years since I played D & D, but I really hope to see this weekly series. I believe in pReview’d and if it is as much fun as their typical content ( I mean, they have made their reactions to Jeopardy Masters must see), then this could be a great time.

Video above:

Animation- Isaac Sever

VO- David Armstrong

Character art – Breanna Williams

Overlay Art – Cody Badaczewski

Background Art – Isaac Sever

Bonus Action Theme Song – Written by Amanda Nicholas and Alex Flannel.

Mixed by Travalor. @alexflannel    / @mrtravalor  

The X-Files S1 E2

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“Deep Throat”

One of the key bases of The X-Files is a conspiracy with the U.S. Government hiding the existence of extra-terrestrial lives and UFOs. This is the first example of that trope that would go throughout the entire series.

I was excited to see ‘Deep Throat’ approach Mulder. This informant, if I recall, does not last long, but opens up the door for those who provide Mulder inside information.

This episode, like many, show the dichotomy between Mulder and Scully while showing their real connection that was forming. Mulder believes everything and Scully doubts anything that can not be proven by science. Yet they have a willingness to aid the other.

There were some creepy scenes in this episode, with Mulder being taken inside the government base and having some of his memories taken from him. While inside, he sees a government UFO, although we are never sure if this is true or if it is some kind of hallucination.

Scully goes to extreme efforts to find and save Mulder from himself. She shows herself as a bad ass in this episode and how, though she does not believe the same beliefs as Mulder, she is the perfect partner for him. She keeps him balanced, as much as he could be balanced.