Category Archives: TV-G[eek]

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law S1 E3

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SPOILERS

“The People vs. Emil Blonsky”

Another great episode of She-Hulk: Attorney at Law. And we got…

Wong!

The Sorcerer Supreme has ben all around the Marvel Cinematic Universe during phase 4 and it is great. You can never have enough Benedict Wong. He showed up at the law office in response to Jennifer Walters’s request for questioning over the video from Shang Chi that was floating around at the end of the episode last week.

I thought that the two 4th Wall Breaking this episode were some of the best of the series so far. It started with Jen in a car saying that this was not a “cameo every week” show (despite there being Bruce, Emil and Wong, as she said). The second was my favorite when Jen said the “A & B plots coming together, nice” was so meta and clever.

Another cameo was the appearance of Grammy winner Megan Thee Stallion, as herself. She showed up to twerk with She-Hulk in the post credit scene.

One of the best moments of the show may have slipped by many people. When a reporter asked Jen about the rumor that she had gained her super powers from a mob hit gone wrong, that was a shout out to She-Hulk’s real comic book origin.

The Wrecking Crew arrived too. Now, they got crushed by She-Hulk, but that did not bother me any. They seem as if they had just gotten their weapons just recently. The big part of the use of the Wrecking Crew was the reveal that they had a “Boss” that wanted She-Hulk’s blood. Who could that be? Val? The Leader? Thunderbolt Ross? There are plenty of possible choices.

Jen wins her case by getting Emil Blonsky released from the DODC. The B plot with Pug was a lot of fun too even though the most unlikable character, Dennis, was involved. There were a bunch of shenanigans with the shapeshifting Asgardian elf.

Love She-Hulk’s man’s suit too.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law S1 E2

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“Superhuman Law”

I’m a little behind on the She-Hulk write-up, but I watched this show on Thursday when it comes out. I have enjoyed the first two episode tremendously.

Let me address this week’s internet controversy over the short run time of She-Hulk episode 2. Some are losing their minds because they felt it was too short. My guess is that, since they moved the origin stuff from episode one up (it was supposed to be in ep.8) that the tag at the end in the court with Titania from last week, was meant to be with this episode. That makes sense to me why this wound up a few minutes shorter. Now, if you are saying that the show is only 28-30 minutes long and you want more, there is not much I can tell you. This is a sitcom and most sitcoms run about 30 minutes (23 with commercials).

Bruce Banner returned for a wonderful cameo in this episode where he dropped one of the best lines of any Marvel property when he and Jen were talking about her taking on Emil Blonsky’s case and Bruce said, “Jen, that fight was so many years ago, I’m a completely different person now – literally.” This was a laugh out loud moment with the reference to Ed Norton from the Incredible Hulk and one of the best Breaking the Fourth Wall moments so far.

And by the way, greatest cell phone reception ever…

Meanwhile, Bruce is on a ship heading to Sakar, most likely not to return this season. Mark Ruffalo’s use in this show has been nearly perfect, showing a great deal of chemistry between the cousins. While bringing credibility to Jen, he also gave us some moments with Hulk that we have never had.

The main thrust of the show came across this week as Jen is hired for a Superhuman Defense with the competition, the GLKH law firm. First, Jen was fired from her job and seemed to be unhirable since she was a distraction to juries.

Tim Roth returned as Emil Blonsky, the Abomination, with a reasonable argument as to why he should be paroled, armed with heartfelt Haikus. Roth is a great actor and he looked like he was having a lot of fun. The show then tossed footage from Shang Chi showing Abomination and Wong fighting in the underground cage fight.

Cousin Larry showed up as Jen’s father. Mark Linn-Baker, who was one of the stars of the 80s sitcom Perfect Strangers, arrived as Jenn’s oddball father and we meet the remainder of this strange group of family members.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law has been very solid so far and has a lot of humor. I am excited about seeing the next episode Thursday.

She-Hulk: Attorney at Law S1 E1

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“A Normal Amount of Rage”

The next Marvel Studios television program debuted this past Thursday on Disney + as we got the first episode of a nine-episode sitcom, the first for the MCU, in She-Hulk: Attorney at Law.

Tatiana Maslany was cast as Jennifer Walters, cousin of Bruce Banner, who winds up being exposed to Banner’s blood after a car wreck. Banner’s blood turned his cousin into another Hulk.

Turned out that Jennifer was different than Bruce as she could retain her intelligence after transformation as well as being able to change back and forth.

This first episode was great. The interactions between Jenn and Bruce were some of the best writing you could get. Smart Hulk talked about the time during the blip where he was able to integrate his Hulk sides into what he was now. When he spoke about Tony Stark, there was such emotion. These scenes really gave us some much needed depth to the Green Goliath.

Mark Ruffalo did a fantastic job delivering the excellent dialogue and he and Maslany had amazing chemistry. The training montages were funny and charming, even though I had seen most of these in the trailers. My personal favorite one was when Hulk threw the boulder into orbit to show that he was stronger than Jenn.

However, this is clearly Tatiana Maslany’s show. She is perfectly cast as She-Hulk and she brings it. Known as a great actor and an Emmy winner from Orphan Black, Maslany is able to not only provide funny lines, but also the dramatic moments and the MCU world building.

The CGI had been controversial after the first trailer was released and She-Hulk did not look very good. Here, the CGI had been much improved. Was it perfect? No, but I do not think it needed to be. It is difficult to create full human faces and this is very close.

The mid-credit scene was one of the best of all the MCU as one of the most debated questions ever was answered- Was Steve Rogers a virgin?

The use of the Breaking of the 4th Wall was done beautifully too. It was not overused, and each time fit right in with what the show was trying to do. Like let people know that this is a lawyer show.

The first episode was great and I am excited to see where they go with their sitcom.

I Am Groot

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Today, Disney + dropped a new Marvel series, I Am Groot. This was five animated shorts that followed the life of Baby Groot, voiced by Vin Diesel.

The shorts were all between 3-6 minutes, so they were a very quick and easy watch. The character of Baby Groot is remarkably cute, predating even the cuteness of Grogu. Each episode took a small moment with our favorite walking tree and created a fun, humorous and enjoyable interlude.

While, I Am Groot is clearly directed toward a younger audience, there is plenty here for the older viewers as well. The humor tends toward the dark end of the spectrum and there are a couple of moments that are laugh out loud funny.

The animation is gorgeous. It is so full of life and beautifully rendered. There are several specially designed characters through the five shorts.

My favorite of the shorts was entitled “Groot’s Pursuit” where Groot wakes up in the middle of the night and encountered a water-based creature. The end of the short has everything great about Baby Groot and the Guardians of the Galaxy type humor.

These shorts are just fun and they are uncomplicated. They do not require you to worry about the greater MCU, the significance of the story or finding the hints toward the future of the films. It is just here and it is a joy of visual storytelling with a bare minimum of dialogue. I hope Marvel continues making shorts with Baby Groot and other edges of the MCU.

Only Murders in the Building S2 E6

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“Performance Review”

Every week when I watch Only Murders in the Building, there are two items that every week I can almost guarantee that I think about after watching the new episode on Hulu.

  1. I would love the charming, humorous episode, and….
  2. It feels like it goes way too fast.

Ever since I have begun watching this show on a weekly basis, I swear each episode ends and it feels to me that it had just started. It’s always around 35 minutes, give or take, but it goes so quickly that I feel upset. This is not a show issue, it is a me issue. I just want to make the comment that I am enjoying this show so much that time flies by in no time.

Last week’s cliffhanger over the question of Oliver’s son’s true parentage was teased all episode. I do love the fact that Oliver has told his two friends the truth of this so he could lean on them while he awaited for the DNA test to come in. We did not see him tell Mabel or Charles, but the discussions indicated that he had. I love that he did that and it played off the fact that Charles had hidden the fact of his relationship with Jan (by the way, using Jane Lynch as Charles’s stunt double to break up with Jan was inspired).

It was a tough week for Mabel. When the three crime fighting podcasters realized that they were not texting with Detective Williams when they were asking about a matchbook they found that had a blood mark and a fingerprint upon it, they decided that they would set a trap for this person. They were going to set up an evidence pick up and placed a glitter bomb in the trash can instead.

Turned out the mysterious man in black was bombed with the glitter, that our crimefighters missed because they were arguing over Charles’s strange relationship with Jan.

Mabel had come across her girlfriend Alice at her apartment, who was creating some kind of mural dedicated to ‘Bloody Mary.’ Mabel took off feeling betrayed.

She also wound up on a subway train with the man in black covered with glitter who came toward her.

Oliver’s son sent an online video to his father from someone who filmed Mabel stabbing the man in black with her knitting needle, continuing to make her look like an unbalanced killer.

There was also an interview on Tina Fey’s character’s podcast, Only Murderers in the Building, of one of Mabel’s old co-workers who claimed that she had cut off his finger.

Public opinion is certainly building up to make Mabel look like she is guilty. Our killer is going out of the way to make her look bad.

Only Murders in the Building S2 E5

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“The Tell”

Only Murders in the Building has become one of my must sees right away. I have fallen in love with this series and I love our three main characters played by Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez. They have tremendous chemistry with one another and with any other characters that may show up during their investigation of the season’s mystery.

The writing is always top notch and clever as can be and I do not see the twists coming as I do for most other shows where the mystery is not as well developed.

Of course, this season is the murder of Bunny and she casts her ample shadow over the show. It seemed as if the patron of the Arconia’s murder is tied to a ton of secrets in our main characters past, or even current, lives.

In a fun segment called “Son of Sam” which featured a card game where Oliver passed out cards and tried to figure out who was the killer among the room filled with innocent blondes. We see him playing this game early in the episode back in the 1970s (including Nathan Lane) and he pulls the same routine at a present day party trying to get info about Cara Delevingne, whose character is currently dating Mabel.

Interestingly enough, Jan, from her jail cell, pointed her finger at an artist as the killer of Bunny. I have to say that the odd connection that Charles seems to still be encouraging is a tad uncomfortable. I thin it is meant to be and to highlight how lonely Charles actually is for a relationship beyond his friends.

The whole Cara Delevingne story revealed that she had been lying about herself to Mabel, but that she had nothing to do with the murder, the latest red herring that this show does an admirable job of setting up. However, I think there is more to this suspect that what we have seen so far and I am not ready to count her as not guilty. She may not be the killer, but there is more to this than we know.

The big reveal of the episode was implying that Oliver was not the actual father of his son, Will, and that Will was a result of an affair between Oliver’s wife Roberta and Teddy Dimas. We saw the pair sitting together at that murder mystery party we flashed back to in the 1970s. This was quite a bombshell and could be extremely painful for Oliver moving forward.

With this episode focused mainly on Martin Short at the center of the show, while the other two cement or reignite relationships with other people, Oliver gives us a really strong character portrait and sets us up for what could be a terrible smack when Oliver and Will learn the truth.

Ted Lasso Season 2

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This morning I finished off the second season of Ted Lasso on Apple TV + and I have to say that my life goal as of right now is that I want to be more like Ted Lasso. I want to be able to rip off constant pop culture references within sharp banter while being unbelievably respect to everyone. Ted Lasso’s dialogue is one of my absolutely favorite parts of this series and Jason Sudeikis delivers it perfectly.

We also were introduced to my favorite new character of season two with Dr. Sharon Fieldstone (played by Sarah Niles). Her arc with Ted as he recounted the reasons behind his panic attacks is just tremendous and her no nonsense approach made me love her so much more. In fact, when she was hit by the car while on her bicycle, I audibly gasped and would have been pissed off if she had died from the accident. Thankfully she did not and she remained. I am still upset that she left the team as of the season’s end.

I loved the whole season, but there was one episode that just did not do it for me. Episode nine, entitled “Beard After Hours,” followed Coach Beard after he left Wembley Stadium and got involved into a series of strange adventures that reminded me of the old episodes of Moonlighting when Mrs. DiPesto and Herbert Viola would have their own solo episodes. Those episodes were fine, but they were what you turned on Moonlighting for. You wanted Dave and Maddie, not Agnes and Bert. While I like Coach Beard as a character, I was not interested in this episode, even though the things that happened to Beard were fun and original.

I loved the relationship between Roy and Keeley but I was not happy where they were at the end of the season. I kept rooting for Roy to pop the question, but it did not happen. I found the confession episode where Roy and Keeley told each other all of the details of what was happening to them in connection to their love life. I want them together.

The relationship between Rebecca and Sam was interesting and brought some fascinating depth to the show. Sam brought out a lot of his character, much more than we had seen before.

Nate’s turn to the dark side was remarkably well done and he will be a very fascinating villain for season three.

Diamond Dogs! Woof Woof Woof Woof Woof

I love this show because they consistently take this show in different directions. I was sure that Ted and Rebecca were going to develop into a relationship. I thought that was the obvious route they were going to take, but there has been no sign of that happening. They have just created one of the best male-female friendships there is on TV. This show avoids clichés and tropes better than any show I think I have ever watched.

I can not wait until season three comes.

Ted Lasso Season 1

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I included a spoiler tag even though this has been out for a couple of years now. Just to be safe in case there are people out there, like me, who had not seen Ted Lasso before today.

Ted Lasso has been one of those shows that everyone loved and everyone talked about, but that I had not watched. It is on Apple TV +, which I have, but I never got around to watching it. After hearing so many positives about the show, I put it on my list, but I had not gotten around to it. With The Boys, Ms. Marvel, Stranger Things over for now, and Only Murders in the Building releasing once a week, it felt like the right time to dive into Ted Lasso.

So I started it up, knowing that there were ten season one episodes and that if I was not interested, I could easily discard the binge and watch something else. However, that was not going to be a problem because I was immediately hooked after the first episode.

Jason Sudeikis played Ted Lasso, an American football coach hired to come to England and coach football (aka soccer) in a Premiere League team that had been ravaged by an ownership divorce between Rebecca Welton (Hannah Waddingham) and Rupert Mannion (Anthony Head).

Rebecca, angry over her ex-husband’s affairs and betrayal, had decided that the way to pay him back was to ruin the one thing that he loved, the AFC Richmond. This story started with a very Major League flavor to it, but I like this storyline much more, because we meet Rebecca and we find out why she has been such a cold and angry woman. While she is sabotaging her team, we can see the reasons and we can see the strain it put on her as she grows closer to Ted and others in her orbit.

There were plenty of other stories going on through the season including the brash, young and selfish stud Jamie Tartt (Phil Dunster), the aging and always angry captain Roy Kent (Brett Goldstein) and his developing relationship with club manager of PR, Keeley Jones (Juno Temple), who had a relationship with Jamie. There are several interesting characters floating through the series as well.

Other great actors involved included Brendan Hunt, Nick Mohammed, Toheeb Jimoh, Kola Bokinni, Annette Badland, Andrea Anders, and Ellie Taylor.

The episodes were hilarious and kept the sport team clichés away from the show. In fact, I would go as far as to say that I was never sure how things were going to happen and I enjoyed how the show kept me off balance with the sport tropes.

The character of Ted Lasso is as hopeful and inspirational as you are going to find, yet he is instilled with his own personal issues that he has to overcome. Jason Sudeikis truly deserved his Emmy win for this season.

Next up will be season two.

Ms. Marvel S1 E6

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SPOILERS

“No Normal”

The finale for the first season of Ms. Marvel on Disney + aired this morning and was just a fantastic finale that really nailed the landing on one of the most surprising, unexpected and undervalued Marvel Studios series on the streaming service since they began producing them.

And… in the biggest shock of all… Kamala Khan was revealed to have a “mutation” according to her best buddy and science whiz Bruno. As if that word wasn’t enough of a trigger for Marvel fans, the few chords of the X-Men Animated theme played over top of the scene to tell everybody… yep, we have just introduced “mutants” into the MCU and we did it in Ms. Marvel episode 6.

Not in Spider-Man: No Way Home. Not Dr. Strange in the Multiverse of Madness. Not in WandaVision. Not in Loki. Not in Thor: Love and Thunder. Not in any of the other countless, constantly-speculated series or movies from Marvel Studios. Nope, in Ms. Marvel.

Of course, some people are still mad that she is not an Inhuman. Some people are still sore about them changing her origin and her powerset. None of that bothered me in the slightest because the real key to the character of Kamala Khan is not that she was an Inhuman, but that she had this large and supportive family. Honestly, I loved the way they adjusted her powers and we even got the “embiggen” in this episode, despite it being shown in a different style than in the comic pages.

Once again, with Kamala back in Jersey City, the main focus of this series, which has been going since the beginning, is that of family. The Pakistan episodes 4 & 5 still dealt with family, but felt a little weaker because we lost out on everyone except Kamala, Muneeba and Sana.

Episode six, back in Jersey City, took the best parts of the first three episodes (the art design, Bruno, Nakia, Yusuf) and the next two (increased powers, Kamala and her mom) and blended them into a great final episode.

Great family bits:

  • Muneeba present Kamala with her new superhero suit.
  • Kamala announces to her family that she was “Light girl” and they already knew because Muneeba told Yusuf and he had it on speaker.
  • Yusuf, sitting on the roof of their house, telling what the name “Kamala” meant and it leading to Ms. Marvel.
  • Aamir appears from out of nowhere to watch over Kamala because his mother wanted him to and Kamala says “Superheroes don’t need chaperones”
  • Muneeba says to a concerned Yusuf about trusting Kamala, a switch from episode 1.
  • Kamala and Nakia make up.
  • Zoe joins the group at the school and becomes a big part of the “Home Alone” bit.

I thought the battle with Damage Control at the end was tremendous. I loved the use of the powers and how Kamran’s powers were both potent and out of control. This series was not about the villains, which is why there are several people who feel like there was something missing. The whole storyline with the ClanDestine and Damage Control was meant to give them a plot point. This show was about the Kamala and her friends and family.

I say this every week, but Iman Vellani is absolutely a treasure, and she needs to be protected at all cost. I have heard some people criticize her performance in some of the more emotional moments from episode 5, dismissing it because of her lack of experience. I hope that, as she learns more of the craft, she does not lose the realism, the authentic nature of Iman Vellani that she showed every time she was on the screen. I truly believe that Iman Vellani could be the new Robert Downey Jr. of the MCU as we move along into Phase 5 and beyond.

And then there was a mid-credit scene featuring Carol Danvers that really was confusing, but was clearly a set up for The Marvels film coming in July 2023. Bri Larson looked fabulous in her new costume.

2022 EMMY Nominations

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Drama Series

“Better Call Saul” (AMC)   

“Euphoria” (HBO)   

“Ozark” (Netflix)   

“Severance” (Apple TV+)   

“Squid Game” (Netflix)   

“Stranger Things” (Netflix)   

“Succession” (HBO)   

“Yellowjackets” (Showtime)  

Comedy Series

“Abbott Elementary” (ABC)   

“Barry” (HBO)

“Curb Your Enthusiasm” (HBO)   

“Hacks” (HBO)   

“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” (Amazon Prime Video)

“Only Murders in the Building” (Hulu)

“Ted Lasso” (Apple TV+)

“What We Do in the Shadows” (FX)   

Limited Series

“Dopesick” (Hulu)   

“The Dropout” (Hulu)   

“Inventing Anna” (Netflix)   

“Pam and Tommy” (Hulu)   

“The White Lotus” (HBO)   

Lead Actor in a Drama Series

Jason Bateman (“Ozark”)  

Brian Cox (“Succession”)  

Lee Jung-jae (“Squid Game”)   

Bob Odenkirk (“Better Call Saul”)  

Adam Scott (“Severance”)  

Jeremy Strong (“Succession”)  

Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Jodie Comer (“Killing Eve”)   

Laura Linney (“Ozark”)  

Melanie Lynskey (“Yellowjackets”)  

Sandra Oh (“Killing Eve”)  

Reese Witherspoon (“The Morning Show”)   

Zendaya (“Euphoria”)  

Lead Actor in a Comedy Series

Donald Glover (“Atlanta”)   

Bill Hader (“Barry”)  

Nicholas Hoult (“The Great”)

Steve Martin (“Only Murders in the Building”)   

Martin Short (“Only Murders in the Building”)  

Jason Sudeikis (“Ted Lasso”)  

Lead Actress in a Comedy Series

Rachel Brosnahan (“The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel”)  

Quinta Brunson (“Abbott Elementary”)  

Kaley Cuoco (“The Flight Attendant”)  

Elle Fanning (“The Great”)  

Issa Rae (“Insecure”)  

Jean Smart (“Hacks”)  

Lead Actor in a Limited Series or Movie

Colin Firth (“The Staircase”)  

Andrew Garfield (“Under the Banner of Heaven”)  

Oscar Isaac (“Scenes From a Marriage”)  

Michael Keaton (“Dopesick”)  

Himesh Patel (“Station Eleven”)  

Sebastian Stan (“Pam and Tommy”)   

Lead Actress in a Limited Series or Movie

Toni Collette (“The Staircase”)  

Julia Garner (“Inventing Anna”)  

Lily James (“Pam and Tommy”)  

Sarah Paulson (“Impeachment: American Crime Story”)

Margaret Qualley (“Maid”)  

Amanda Seyfried (“The Dropout”)  

Variety Talk Series

“The Daily Show With Trevor Noah” (Comedy Central)  

“Jimmy Kimmel Live!” (ABC)  

“Last Week Tonight With John Oliver” (HBO)  

“Late Night With Seth Meyers” (NBC)  

“The Late Show With Stephen Colbert” (CBS)  

Competition Program

“The Amazing Race” (CBS)  

“Lizzo’s Watch Out for the Big Grrrls” (Amazon Prime Video)  

“Nailed It!” (Netflix)  

“RuPaul’s Drag Race” (VH1)  

“Top Chef” (Bravo)  

“The Voice” (NBC)  

Television Movie

Chip ‘n’Dale: Rescue Rangers (Disney+)

Ray Donovan: The Movie (Showtime)

Reno 911!: The Hunt For QAnon (Paramount+)

The Survivor (HBO/HBO Max)

Zoey’s Extraordinary Christmas (The Roku Channel)

Supporting Actress in a Drama Series

Patricia Arquette (Severance)

Julia Garner (Ozark)

Jung Ho-yeon (Squid Game)

Christina Ricci (Yellowjackets)

Rhea Seehorn (Better Call Saul)

J. Smith-Cameron (Succession)

Sarah Snook (Succession)

Sydney Sweeney (Euphoria)

Supporting Actor in a Drama Series

Nicholas Braun (Succession)

Billy Crudup (The Morning Show)

Kieran Culkin (Succession)

Park Hae-soo (Squid Game)

Matthew Macfadyen (Succession)

John Turturro (Severance)

Christopher Walken (Severance)

Oh Yeong-su (Squid Game)

Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series

Alex Borstein (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Hannah Einbinder (Hacks)

Janelle James (Abbott Elementary)

Kate McKinnon (Saturday Night Live)

Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso)

Sheryl Lee Ralph (Abbott Elementary)

Juno Temple (Ted Lasso)

Hannah Waddingham (Ted Lasso)

Supporting Actor in a Comedy Series

Anthony Carrigan (Barry)

Brett Goldstein (Ted Lasso)

Toheeb Jimoh (Ted Lasso)

Nick Mohammed (Ted Lasso)

Tony Shalhoub (The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel)

Tyler James Williams (Abbott Elementary)

Henry Winkler (Barry)

Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live)

Source for the list: https://variety.com/2022/tv/awards/emmys-nominations-list-2022-1235313788/

Only Murders in the Building S2 E4

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“Here’s Looking at You”

What a wonderful episode.

The fourth episode of the second season of Only Murders in the Building was so good, it was over before I realized. It just flew by and I loved everything about it.

Lucy, the daughter of the woman Charles was involved with prior to the show, showed up on his doorstep at the Arconia. It had been eight years and Charles and her mother had a bad breakup and she had told Charles “no contact.” Lucy was the reason he would still wake up and make an omelet every day.

At the end of the last episode, Charles bravely decided to text her and she did respond. Little did he know that she was already involved in the new case.

More evidence showed up in Charles’s apartment, this time the murder weapon. The whole murder weapon bit, with it getting stuck in the ceiling, was hilarious, and Lucy provided an important clue as she showed Charles the secret entrance to a hidden pathway that went within the walls of the Arconia, probably used for Prohibition.

We also learn that Lucy was in the building on the night of Bunny’s murder and that she was in the passageways, hearing the murder and seeing a masked man, who sneezed (that’ll be important), retreat into the passageways. She was able to avoid being seen.

I enjoyed the character of Lucy quite a bit. She was played Zoe Colletti. She had a very easy chemistry with all of the three leads, but especially Steve Martin. I really believed that Colletti was an important person to Charles and that they had a strong relationship.

But some of the doubt within Charles is just funny as can be. He says he does not understand what she is saying because she is too young and uses words like “Manhatty”. Charles drops the quote, “It’s like I’m watching Squid game without the subtitles.” The generation gap plays very well already in the series with Charles and Oliver and Mabel, and now Lucy just adds another level.

There were a couple of other major occurrences in this episode. Nina Lynn was basically scratched off the suspect list as she went into labor, had to be comforted by Charles and told him that she wanted him to find whoever killed Bunny.

And even more intriguing was the return of Nathan Lane’s Teddy, who was back in the Arconia awaiting trial. He had a unbelievably tense and hilarious scene with Oliver in the elevator where Teddy let his purpose be clear… he was going to get Oliver (though that was not quite the word he used). Nathan lane’s return was great and adds even more issues for the threesome this season.

Another excellent week of mystery, comedy and characters that I have grown to love. This series streams on Hulu.

The Boys S3 E8

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SPOILERS

“The Instant White-Hot Wild”

Good lord, what a finale. It was amazing because during the huge showdown at Vought Tower, I wasn’t sure who I was rooting for, and that shows just how compelling this group of characters are.

The Boys season 3 has just been amazing from the beginning with Termite crawling into that penis until this final battle with Highlander, Butcher, Soldier Boy, Starlight, Maeve and the Boys.

When Homelander started the finale by going and retrieving his son Ryan, I knew things were heading for a bad end.

Then, apparently Soldier Boy had told the entire crew that he was Homelander’s father. They seemed to think this was still going to be fine.

Hughie was knocked out by Butcher and he gets picked up by Annie. Hughie still only sees the best in Butcher. He is the only one.

We see Maeve being moved out of Vought and she escapes.

The first twenty minutes or so dealt with a lot of interpersonal issues. Way more than I thought it was going to do.

And then Homelander killed Black Noir.

Did not expect that and the arrival of “Irving’s” cartoon friends after was the perfect way to bid adieu to one of my favorite characters among the Seven. Black Noir was always a mystery and, I guess, when he ceased to be mysterious was when he ceased to be valuable.

Antony Starr was brilliant yet again as the emotionally unbalanced Homelander. He killed Black Noir because he kept the truth of Soldier Boy from him, but you could see how it was tearing Homelander up figuratively as he was literally tearing up Black Noir. Antony Starr deserves an Emmy for this season.

Queen Maeve played a big part here, though her own obsession made things a tad uncertain for me as whom I should be cheering for in this battle. I have to say, Homelander was just looking for a family and his emotional moments were making me forget about the constant atrocities that he had committed this season. How he seemed to legitimately love Ryan and how the kid seemed to love him back made me think that Homelander was not a total monster. He reminded me as he was sticking his thumb in Maeve’s eye.

Hughie came through, big time. Instead of using the Temp V that could have killed him, he barricaded himself in the control room and brought the stage lights up to full power, juicing Starlight up to maximum power standard. This is the first time we see Starlight fly (which she does in the comics)

The battle at Vought was quite a powerful scene and it switched allegiances several times as many of the characters were conflicted with what they were trying to do. It appeared that both Maeve and Soldier Boy had been killed in one of his explosions after Maeve crashed them both out the window, but both of them survived… Maeve powerless and injured, off to have a relationship on a farm, and Soldier Boy in cryogenic chamber at the hands of the CIA.

The wrap up gave us a ton of things too:

  • Annie joined the Boys, throwing away her Starlight outfit.
  • Butcher found out that he was dying from the Temp V and had 12-18 months to live.
  • Homelander introduced Ryan to his fans. Then he blew the head off of a protester that threw something that hit Ryan. The crowd cheered. Very much like Trump saying he could shoot someone and still get votes.
  • MM explained his baggage to his daughter and she forgave him.
  • Victoria Neuman became the running mate for Robert Singer’s presidential campaign when the VP he wanted was found floating in the pool. We know the drowning victim was not accidental as it was The Deep following Homelander’s orders paying Victoria back for her providing Ryan’s whereabouts to him.

I really thought this was the season where Homelander would be brought down, but it sure seems as if he is only stronger. He has The Deep, A-Train and Ashley totally intimidated and he has the rabble rousers behind him.

The Boys Season 3 has been the best season of this show and I am totally ready for season 4.

Ms. Marvel S1 E5

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“Time and Again”

Ms. Marvel’s fifth episode was one of the more different Marvel Disney + episodes than we have gotten before, and Marvel Studio took the opportunity to teach us something about history that we did not know.

The episode kicked off with a video that looked like an old time news reel detailing the history of India around the time of its independence from Great Britain. Then, we spent a good chunk of the time of the episode centered around Aisha (Kamala’s mysterious great-grandmother) and how she met Hasan (Kamala’s great grandfather). We saw the baby who would become Kamali’s grandmother Noni and their family’s attempt to flee along with all of the other people during the Partition.

This first 20 minutes or so really punctuated what we would eventually see at the train station, setting up the emotional stakes for this family, and continued to show how long Najma has been trying to return to her dimension and how Aisha had tethered herself to this dimension through her daughter Sana.

Then, the whole recreation of the Khan family story about the disappearance of Aisha at the train station and how Sana was saved from being lost by a “trail of stars” which turned out to be Kamala herself and her noor power.

This section was very emotional and powerful, although, with all time travel stories, it makes it difficult if you try to think about it.

When Kamala returned back to her own time, the episode goes into fast forward, it seemed. The whole veil storyline with Najma wrapped up quickly as the veil was closed, Najma and the other ClanDestines were killed and her powers were sent to Kamran. The thing is that the whole ClanDestine storyline is a background plot. Najma is not the “big bad” of the series. She is an obstacle.

The story of Ms. Marvel is Kamala finding her way to be the hero she is within her family and the interactions of Kamala with her family. In that way, this is unlike other Marvel shows on Disney + because the superhero action is not the primary focus.

Because of this, the best scenes of this episode feature the family. When Muneeba discovered that Kamala was that “Light girl” and the connection between the three generations, it was one of the most beautiful moment of the show.

The end of the episode came really suddenly with Bruno and Kamran and the drones of Damage Control exploding the store. This part of the show could have been expanded a touch. This was the shortest episode of the series so far and could have benefitted overall from another 10 minutes or so.

Next week is the season finale for Ms. Marvel. I can not believe that we won’t see Captain Marvel in a post credit scene. Plus, we should get Kamala’s final costume that she has been building up over the last five episodes.

Only Murders in the Building S2 E3

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“The Last Day of Bunny Folger”

Episode three of Only Murders in the Building did something this week that I did not expect.

They made Bunny Folger likeable.

The episode followed the character of Bunny Folger, the unlikeable woman at the head of the Arconia board who was found murdered to kick off this new story arc for season two, and the show took this one note character and created something more and I suddenly was upset that she was murdered.

Amazing how a little switch in perspective can do wonders for a character.

Using the newest podcast episode to feature the last day of Bunny was a clever storytelling method for this episode. Having our main characters narrate the story and then discuss the clues we discover and seeing how the three of them interacted with Bunny on that fateful day was fascinating.

And the fact that Bunny, on the day of her death, had come to Charles’s apartment to give them champagne and she was hoping to wrangle an invite to come in and hang with Charles, Oliver and Mabel because she was feeling so alone. Then, when they did not invite her in, Bunny went back to her apartment and was attacked.

The line near the end of the episode was haunting: “We, at Only Murders, did not kill Bunny Folger, but there is a chance that we could have saved her life with a simple act of kindness.”

“Because she’s an actual witch, that’s how“

A laugh out loud line from Martin Short.

Now we have a mystery to solve that is important…

Only Murders in the Building S2 E1 & 2

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“Persons of Interest” & “Framed”

The first two episodes of the second season of Only Murders in the Building are available on Hulu and episodes of season two will continue to drop late night on Mondays. This series featuring Steve Martin/Martin Short/Selena Gomez was such a great show episode one that I just binged and I was excited to continue watching the new season.

However, I would be lying to say that I did not have a touch of anxiety when it came to a second season. Yes, the show did a great job of setting up the second season with the death of Bunny (hell, in the first scene of the first episode), but the fact that they would be doing a second murder in the same building with the same characters makes it a bit suspect.

Then I watched the first two episodes and all anxiety washed away and the show proved to be able to develop another brilliant mystery that tied to our main players effortlessly. The way this new murder has been linked to Charles’ past and his father has been remarkably compelling and has allowed Steve Martin some seriously strong contemplative acting chances.

The show has set up so many quality questions around this mystery that it can go in any number of ways. Who would have thought that a character that was basically comic relief in Bunny would become such a vital cog in season two?

And, much like season one, the cameos have been major in this show. Shirley MacLaine as Leonora Folger. Amy Schumer as herself (in the Sting apartment no less). Michael Rapaport as Detective Kreps. Season one star Da’Vine Joy Randolph, returning from her run on Peacemaker, as Detective Williams. Cara Delevingne as Alice. Surely more are coming as the season progresses.

I love how there has been dueling podcasts over the same murder with our own heroes taking the boom mic back up trying to clear their name from Tina Fey’s “Only Murderers in the Building” podcast which looks to accuse them. I hope there is more coming with these two podcasts going head to head.

Taking a cue from Twin Peaks, we have a talking bird who may hold a key to the mystery. Hopefully poor Mrs. Gambolini, the parrot, has a better fate than Twin Peaks’ Waldo.

Things are looking great at the Arconia moving into episode three.