“Did you know diarrhea is hereditary? It runs in your genes.”
I did not expect some laughs in The Last of Us. The show, while being brilliant so far, has been less than a happy romp. It has been painfully emotional with death and loss and an intense mood with dangers around every corner.
And yet, with one book of puns read through by Ellie, The Last of Us brought laughter and snickering at some of the worst puns around.
The show was never going to be a stand-up routine though and there were some tough problems. This episode the dangers did not come from the monsters or the infected. It came from the humans.
This was an episode that was meant to highlight the relationship between Joel and Ellie. Joel has not, to this point, connected with the little girl. He was with her now because of Tess. We saw the humanizing of Joel and the beginning of a real relationship with Ellie that he had avoided up until this point.
After several very emotional episodes in a row, this one stepped back a bit and gave a more laid back episode (to a point) and I dug it.
I had a chance to watch the fifth episode of Peacock’s new series, Poker Face yesterday, starring Natasha Lyonne. I had started to be concerned about the show. The last episode was my least favorite of the series so far and the formula had started to wear a little thin. I was hoping that it would right itself because I have really enjoyed the character of Charlie Cale and Lyonne’s portrayal of her.
I am happy to announce that I found episode five to be highly entertaining (though very unlikely) and that the series took the formula that it had been using and piqued it a bit, making it feel so much fresher than it had become.
Then, when you add a talented actor such as Judith Light to the cast as a guest star, things are destined to improve.
As in past episodes, we start off with the murder. This time, it was the wheelchair-bound Judith Light playing Irene, and S. Epatha Merkerson as Joyce, who were collaborating to murder a man at the old-age complex called Mossy Oaks. The manner in which they pulled off the murder was the part of the show that really required the viewer to suspend disbelief.
Getting past the actual murder itself, the format changed a little bit. The show did go back in time to show that Charlie was still there, but unlike previous episodes, Charlie did not befriend the eventual victim, she became friends with Joyce and Irene, the soon-to-be killers.
Turned out that Irene and Joyce were not just some cool old broads, but were domestic terrorists from the 1960s who used bombs to send their messages and had intended on targeting a group of high school students at a Model UN conference. They were stopped by a man they had been intimate with,named Gabriel and they wound up spending years in jail.
Of course, Gabriel, under his witness protection, was placed at Mossy Oaks, triggering the revenge-minded pair.
Charlie’s lie-detecting skills helped her uncover Gabriel’s “fake nephew” who was his FBI handler, played by Howard Wolowitz himself, Simon Helberg.
Charlie wound up in some dangerous situations as the two women were anything but push overs and the fight scene between them was a real hoot. Judith Light is an outstanding actor and she had several moments of excellence in this episode.
I enjoyed this episode a great deal and I am pleased that episode 4 seemed to be the exception for me.
I will say that this has been my least favorite episode of Poker Face so far.
Same format. We see the murder and then we see how Charlie was already there and connected to the victim. I hope that format gets mixed around some because it is starting to get a bit dull.
The whole metal rock thing was not something I could connect with. A band who killed their new drummer in order to steal a song that he wrote was not he best story I have ever heard. I did like how they wound up getting caught. The people who were ready to sign the band presented the fact that the song had stolen the music from the theme of the sitcom Benson. That seemed to be the biggest sin to these record execs. Only after this did they reveal that the group had been revealed as the killers of their drummer.
Chloë Sevigny guest starred as Ruby Ruin, the lead singer of the group Doxxxology, who had one major hit early in their career that had been written by their drummer at the time and they received zero royalties for it. This sets up the story of the episode.
The only hope was that Benjamin Bratt returned this episode and brought the story of the pilot with him.
Natasha Lyonne continues to be excellent as Charlie Cale, the human lie detector. She was the best part of this episode and some of the highlights coming from the future look great. I hope this was just a bump in the season.
The Last of Us has been a fantastic show so far. I never played the video game that the show was based upon so I have been coming at this fresh and it has been so great. Coming into Sunday night, I enjoyed the show’s format and the emotional power.
Sunday night’s episode started off differently. There was no flashback to kick off the show. Instead, we found our way to Joel and Ellie right away. Little did I know that the flashback was still coming and that it would be the major chunk of the show.
Not only was it still coming, but it was involving two characters that we had not met or had any connection to. It was a strange decision to me, but it paid off big time.
We spent most of this episode with the love story/relationship of Bill (Nick Offerman) and Frank (Murray Bartlett). It was weird at first, but it did not take long to be engaged with the drama.
I have heard some people claiming this was one of the greatest hours of TV ever. I may not go quite that far, but it was clearly a brilliant episode that was not afraid to spend most of the episode diving into the relationship of two characters that we did not know. As I said, those early doubts washed away quickly.
The connection between the two actors was amazing. You believed everything that they did and said to each other. As their relationship grew, each obstacle presented a new challenge or conflict, but they faced each one together.
We saw Joel and Tess make an appearance in the flashback, helping Bill and Frank out with some chain fence tips and friendship. That would set up the final scenes with Joel and Ellie arriving at Bill’s house at the end of the show.
Before that happened, we got some of the most touching and painful moments between the two men. The love between these two unlikely lovers was on display here and how much they completed the other. As Frank was suffering through some kind of unspecified problem, he made a decision that he would take control of fate and have one more day before ending his life. He and Bill had a wonderful day together, including a marriage and a perfect dinner. It was ended with a drug laced wine that was intended to end his life. Bill had a surprise for Frank, saying that he was his reason for living, his purpose. Bill would join Frank in death.
Sad, yet remarkably romantic.
This was an outstanding episode that, apparently, was not included in the actual game. They were able to add details to the character of Bill from the game and we learned about the relationship between the two men. It shows that The Last of Us is nto afraid to exceed the content and to improve it.
The third episode of Poker Face on Peacock was another fun episode, with Charlie finding her way into another murder mystery, this time thanks to a MAGA dog.
Picking up a barking, little dog that only stopped barking when the radio was on a far right radio podcast, Charlie got a job with a BBQ joint in Texas. Taffy Boyle (Lil Rel Howery) had his own podcast, which led to his plan to off his brother, George (Larry Brown).
Once again, Poker Face showed Charlie and her lie detecting skill in a very positive light. She is smart and the show absolutely gives examples of this.
I will say that I was not a big fan of the little dog. Its constant yipping was annoying, but the use of it as a plot device was a tad sad.
Benjamin Bratt does not make an appearance in this episode, for the first time in the series.
This is, yet, another episode that used the basic formula of showing the murder and then showing that Charlie had arrived already and had some kind of connection. So far the formula has been fine, but I am hoping that this does not make the show become repetitive. It looks as if things may be changing up soon, and I do hope it will to keep things fresh.
The second episode of Poker Face was another good episode. I really enjoyed how this murder had been set up and how Charlie went about to solve the case.
A winning scratch off ticket led to a murder of a young man, shoved off a roof and then bludgeoned to death with a crowbar. The killer made it look as if a truck driver had killed him.
Unfortunately for the killer, Charlie had met the trucker that night and the story of what happened did not ring true to her. The truck driver was an intriguing character, as if she were right out of Nomadland.
Cliff Claven himself, John Ratzenberger appeared as a local mechanic who fixed Charlie’s car.
I really do enjoy this series. Although there have been several of these “murders-of-the-week series, Poker Face has a different feel to it. I’m curious if the next several episodes are going to follow the same basic formula. That may be a problem heading forward. For now, the show feels very original and different from the other types of shows like this. I hope they can find a way to maintain such success.
I have found another series that I want to watch. It was on Peacock, of all places. I have Peacock mainly because of the WWE, but they do have several movies and original series on the streamer as well. I just have never been interested in any of their shows before. I saw the premise for Poker Face and the high Rotten Tomatoes score for the series and I wanted to give it a chance. After the first episode, I was in.
Television has had plenty of examples of these kind of “mysteries-of-the-week” shows. Mysteries where we know who the guilty person is, but the fascinating part is how our protagonist is going to figure it out. It worked for Columbo, The Rockford Files, Monk. If the lead character grabs the attention of the audience, they will follow along as the character discovers the truth.
Unlike the other shows I mentioned, Poker Face’s main character is not a cop or a detective. She is not Columbo. She is not Adrian Monk. She is not James Rockwell.
Created from the mind of Rian Johnson, Poker Face tells the story of Charlie Cale (Natasha Lyonne), a woman who can tell if someone is lying. Natasha Lyonne was a regular on Orange is the New Black as well as several other projects. Part of the success of this episode was the charisma and skills of Natasha Lyonne.
The show kicked off at a casino where one of Charlie’s friends, Natalie (Dascha Polanco), a casino maid, found incriminating evidence on a laptop as she was cleaning a room and she took it to her boss, the casino manager Sterling Frost Jr. (Adrien Brody). Unfortunately, Frost was involved and wanted that information hidden. He sent his security head Cliff (Benjamin Bratt) to take Natalie out. Since she had an abusive husband, he made it look like a murder-suicide.
This first episode was written and directed by Rian Johnson and he brought his best to the series. I enjoyed this first episode very much. The shocking suicide of Adrien Brody’s character was a huge event in the episode and set up Charlie to go on the run to avoid Frost Sr.’s vengeful plan. It was kind of like David Banner on the old Incredible Hulk TV show.
I have three more episodes after the pilot that have been released already available on Peacock. There will be new episodes every Thursday.
Another powerful episode. The Last of Us on HBO Max is just in its second week, but it has already become a must watch show.
Joel and Tess start their trip to take Elle to the people they were supposed to but they discovered that their path was more chaotic than they had hoped it would be.
This episode truly ramped up the suspense with some close fighting with the Clickers, which looked sensational, by the way.
Tess met her fate here. I have never played the game, but I suspected that Tess would not be long for the world, since I knew that the game was focused on two characters. While we do not see Tess get bitten, we do see her sacrifice herself to help give Joel and Elle a chance to get away from the horde. And the “kiss” between Tess and the Stalker was creepy as heck.
The episode began with another flashback, this time in Indonesia. They showed the first known case of infection and how the doctor realized that things were forever changed. When the doctor said the only thing that they could do was to “bomb” was a potent moment.
The Last of Us has so much tension as we see these characters that we have bonded with so quickly going through the horrors Tess’s death was tough to watch and you feel for Joel as he loses yet another person. Elle showed her character with every snarky remark she made.
The visuals of this show are off the charts. The scenes look so great. It must be a green screen, but you would never guess with what they show. The infected look amazing. Everything is going great on this show.
So this is gonna be one of those kind of shows, huh?
HBO’s new original series, The Last of Us, which is based on a popular video game, debuted its first episode on the streamer service Sunday night to some powerful shocks and some emotional moments.
I suppose those people who are more familiar with the actual game may have been more prepared for what the show brought, but, since I had no knowledge of anything going in, the start of this episode ripped my heart out. It starts by introducing us to Joel, as played by Pedro Pascal, and his daughter Sarah, played by Nico Parker. It is Joel’s birthday and his daughter wants to spend time with him, but he has to work. After her school, she gets his watch fixed as a gift and waits for him to get home.
Meanwhile, all Hell breaks loose and the military is cracking down. Sarah tried to return her neighbor’s runaway dog to them only to find them being devoured by the old lady that lived there.
Her father and his brother Tommy (Gabriel Luna) returned then and they went on the run. With cars crashing and planes falling out of the sky, it was clear that people had started becoming sick and were turning into these monstrous bloodthirsty creatures. During their flight, they ran into an army man who received orders to shoot them. Tommy go the drop on the soldier but not before he had shot Sarah and she died in Joel’s arms.
I was crushed.
I had really liked Sarah. In the short time that we had seen her, I could see her as the lead protagonist of this series. She was such a lovely young lady and there is no doubt that Nico Parker is a star in the making. She had a definite charisma about her. Then, she was dead and the show was flashing forward 20 years. I had the same feeling when Avengers: Endgame flashed ahead 5 years after Thor killed Thanos. I didn’t know what was next in the show.
I did have some trouble getting back into the story after the time jump, but the show gave us another horrible image of a little boy arriving and being told that he was ‘safe.’ The next thing we see is a little boy’s hooded body being dumped in a fire pit with other dead, presumably infected, people.
Joel was still here, clearly going through the motions, still haunted by that horrific night. We are then introduced to a bunch of new characters, but these were much more difficult to connect with because they were now in a dystopian future with a military presence in the streets and a rebellion alive and well. The setting made it more challenging to connect with these new characters who were hardened from their exposure to this world.
We meet another young girl, named Elle, played by Bella Ramsey, who has some significance. We find out that she registers as infected, but seemingly does not exhibit the same symptoms as others who are infected. She and Joel wind up together on a mission to drop her off and for Joel to find his missing brother.
As I had said, I really loved the beginning of this show, and then felt like I was kicked in the gut. Sarah’s death was totally unexpected for me and was a serious blow. The stuff set in 2023 was more difficult to engage with, but it was still intriguing. Pedro Pascal is awesome and it is nice to be able to see his face all the time (unlike his role on The Mandalorian). Elle is an engaging character and mysterious with her showing to be infected. I expect to connect with her more as the series progresses.
This episode was really great and it looks like HBO has another excellent series.
As a youth, I loved watching the cartoon Scooby-Doo and anything involving him. I did prefer the shows that included everyone though, which included Fred, Daphne and Velma. So I knew that I would be checking out the new HBO Max series Velma. I have now seen the first two episodes and I am unsure if I will be watching any more of them. I did not like these episodes much at all.
Let me make this clear. I did not dislike this show because of what the haters on the Internet may say. I’ve said how much I hate the term ‘woke’ before and anything that might be connected to those arguments are not he reason I found this show lacking.
I did not find the tone of the show funny. I did not like the new takes on the characters. It felt like some kind of amalgam of TV’s Riverdale and Netflix’s Big Mouth. That just did not work for me.
There were a couple of giggle worthy moments, but. outside of that, it felt like the humor did not fit with these characters. I did kind of find the mystery surrounding Velma’s mother to be interesting and the development of the relationship between Velma and Daphne was intriguing (though it felt very rushed). There were also some decent meta-jokes that were okay. They did not elevate the show above the disappointment, but it is there which means that it perhaps could improve.
Mindy Kaling is the voice of Velma. The voice acting of the show has been decent so far. The look of the show and the animation has been fine too. It just does not fit together at this point yet. It feels as if HBO Max thought that they had such a success with the adult animated Harley Quinn that they could do the same with another IP. This feels like the wrong IP to use.
I may try to stick it out until the character voiced by “Weird Al” Yankovic makes his appearance. According to Wikipedia, Al is playing a character named Dandruff Tuba and I do not remember seeing this character as of yet.
After the first two episodes, Velma has a ton of work to do if it intends to keep me as a viewer. Apparently, the series broke HBO Max’s record for the biggest premiere day of an original animated show. I am intrigued to find out if it will be a show to maintain that viewership because the reviews have not been positive and the online vitriol is active.
I had not been interested in watching Wednesday, the new Netflix series based on the characters from The Addams Family. I had always enjoyed the Addams Family, but the most recent versions of the show have been lacking. However, I had time on Sunday without having much of anything to watch so I decided to give a few episodes a chance. Later that night, I finished the eighth episode as I binged right through the show. I loved it and I was totally in on the entire show.
I found the central mystery of what was happening on Wednesday to be engaging. The other Addams Family characters outside of Wednesday were used very well, fitting into the storyline beautifully. Using Thing as a regular character was brilliant and I loved how the secondary characters all seemed to bond with the living hand. Uncle Fester (Fred Armisen) was done perfectly and in just the right amount.
Wednesday Addams, played by Jenna Ortega, is our main protagonist despite the fact that she is dark and brutally cruel. He scene where she tosses the piranha into the swimming pool to attack the bullies who had stuffed Pugsley into a locker was rough. The show did not just dismiss the action as a joke either. It told us that Wednesday might have faced attempted murder charges, which is not something that the sitcom would touch.
Wednesday was shown to be pretty unlikable and withdrawn from people who seemed to want to reach out to her. Some of the early episodes had moments that showed her in a bad light and the show used this as a plot point. Wednesday reminded me as a dark version of Sheldon Cooper from the Big Bang Theory. She did things that were mean-spirited, but she did not necessarily understand how she was being cruel.
Watching her slowly realize that she needed more help from people than she wanted was great and seeing the character develop, even slightly, was thrilling.
I did not think taking Wednesday and placing her in a school where she could blend in with the werewolves, sirens, gorgons etc. was a good idea, but she still stood out as being an outsider. Plus, there were normal humans around too, but they were accustomed to the “outcasts.” The show struck a perfect balance between the bizarre and the normal.
I enjoyed all of the secondary characters, from Enid Sinclair (Emma Myers) to Sheriff Donovan Galpin (Jamie McShane). I found just about every other student at Nevermore school to be interesting. They all had their arcs through the season as well.
I am a huge fan of Edgar Allan Poe, so I enjoyed the references to the writer. The similarities and differences between Nevermore and the city of Jericho were wonderfully designed. Both had their secrets and their dark histories.
The show does a great job of making every character seem to be the monster that was killing people in the woods. There was some real tense moments and I did not want to see Eugene Otinger (Moosa Mostafa) killed by the monster. Some of the characters became important to me.
Everything was not perfect. I was not in love with the finale. It was fine, but there was just something about it that did not work as well as most of the rest of the series. I think part of it was the turn to evil by Tyler (Hunter Doohan), the sheriff’s son who turned out to be the monster, a Hyde. I think I wanted him to be manipulated instead of lying about his statis.
There also seemed to be a lot that was forced in that final episode, including the return of Joseph Crackstone (William Houston). Maybe because it felt like it came out of nowhere.
Despite the finale not quite being up to snuff when compared to the rest of the show, I loved Wednesday, and I would be excited to see another season.
Tim Burton directed several of these episodes and was an executive producer as well.
The show feels like a combination of some of my favorite shows. There is some LOST here. Some Twin Peaks. Some Harry Potter. Some Marvel. It was a lot of fun.
The second special presentation from Marvel Studios dropped on Disney + this morning, following in the paw prints of Werewolf By Night. This is a Christmas special featuring the cast of teh Guardians of the Galaxy, written and directed by James Gunn.
With Peter Quill (Chris Pratt) feeling down, Mantis (Pom Klementieff) came up with a plan to boost their friend’s spirit. She and Drax (Dave Bautista) went to earth in search of the legendary hero, Kevin Bacon (Kevin Bacon) to bring him as a Christmas gift for Peter.
The Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is in the vein of the Hallmark Christmas specials, much like Werewolf by Night was an homage to the 1930/40s Universal monster movies. A lot of the cheesy humor from those types of specials were in play on Disney + and it was great.
There were two songs included in the special, one co-written by James Gunn himself and they were wonderful. The first song from the beginning of the special was really funny and Peter’s reactions were perfect.
Drax and Mantis in Hollywood brought some funny moments, showing such a great chemistry between the pair of Guardians. When they arrived at Kevin Bacon’s home, things picked up even more.
There were actually a couple important pieces of information that was revealed in the special that will most likely play into the upcoming Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 in May, which proved that this was not just a throwaway piece of content. This is important moving forward and, to be honest, it makes me worry even more about Vol. 3 and its potential for emotional pain.
The special was a sweet and charming episode that started and ended with a bit of animation in a flashback. All the Guardians get a moment though clearly Mantis and Drax (along with Kevin Bacon) are the standouts and carry the story. It even ends with a heart warming moment.
Guardians of the Galaxy Holiday Special is much better than the Star Wars Holiday Special. This is a fun and enjoyable interlude with our favorite Guardians (and a furry new one) that worked beautifully during this time of the year.
So I have decided to dedicate some time to watch the new anthology series on Netflix from Guillermo del Toro, Cabinet of Curiosities. Dedicating time to a new series can be a daunting task because of the time issue, especially with Netflix because the series are usually all dropped at once in the binge format. I am going to try to watch this on a regular basis and not binge it. Maybe every few days I will hit another episode, trying to stretch this out over a few weeks.
This could work well considering the show is an anthology show and every episode is a different story and not a continuation.
The first episode featured the wonderful Tim Blake Nelson and one of my former favorites from General Hospital, Sebastian Roché. Tim Blake Nelson played an ex-vet who buys storage lockers to try and make money from the salvage to pay off some debts. He comes across a certain unexpected object in the storage locker that brought him much more than he thought.
This was a fun start to the series. It takes some weird twists in the storyline that I did not expect during the first act. I guess I should have anticipated that with Guillermo del Toro in the directors seat. He has always been one to work with the creepy end of the spectrum and this is no different.
I will say that the ending to the episode kind of came too quickly. As it was building up during the show, it took a weird switch and then was done. It did feel rushed at the end.
I did like a lot of this show and I am looking forward to continuing watching this anthology series.
The finale for She-Hulk: Attorney at Law was one of the most original and, frankly, gutsy finales I have ever seen. It stepped up and claimed the show that they wanted this to be in the most satisfying way imaginable.
Kicking off the show with a parody of the 70s TV program The Incredible Hulk’s opening was brilliant. Having Jen step in for Bill Bixby and seeing her transform into the “Savage She-Hulk” just like Lou Ferrigno used to do was such a stroke of genius that it started this episode off which such a wonderful burst of energy and nostalgia. “You wouldn’t like me when I’m angry”- the iconic line from that show is used so well, including Mark Ruffalo’s subtle head turn (which was really funny).
We then discover that Jen has been arrested by Damage Control after she flipped out after the Intelligencia played the sex tape of her and Josh. A deal is struck for her to wear and inhibitor and not to be allowed to be She-Hulk again. In an unbelievably unfair series of events, Jen loses her job, her apartment and has to move back in with her parents.
Can we pause a moment to mention how awesome Mark Lynn Baker was as Jenn’s father? He was so supportive of his daughter (so much more so than her mother… what a horrible woman she was). With every comment like “People go to jail every day” or that “I have water pressure for days,” Baker showed to be a rare thing, a supportive father in the MCU… which is a joke dropped later in the episode.
Another pair of side characters that we really could have used more of this season was Nikki and Pug. They returned in episode 9 to infiltrate the secret meeting of the Intelligencia. Watching Pug trying to be a douchebag is one of the most charming parts of the episode. Nikki’s constant banter in Pug’s earpiece was very funny.
This was also where we found out that, in the worst kept secret of the season, Todd Phelps was behind the Intelligencia and that he was Hulk King. This revelation was not that earth shaking for anyone who has been following the MCU over the last 14 years. Even Nikki knew this made sense. When Pug realized that Todd was Hulk King, Nikki reacted at first with shock and then said, “Oh that tracks.” LOL. Still, just because it was not the biggest surprise in the world does not mean that it is not the right move.
This was when the show started to begin the big “Marvel finale episode smash fest” that has been a criticism of so many other Marvel Disney + shows. People have complained about the finales of plenty of other Marvel shows, from WandaVision to Moon Knight, that the finale just devolved into a gigantic fight. So Abomination is there. Titania is there. Bruce’s Hulk is there and everyone is fighting.
By the way, I loved that Emil (Abomination) was not evil here. He was just speaking to the crowd like he does all the time. He was spouting his platitudes to the assembled Intelligencia without any real knowledge of what they stood for and he was being very broad in his words. It was nothing more than a paycheck and, actually, when the fighting started, Abomination helped Jen.
During this whole fight scene, Jen was breaking the fourth wall, complaining that none of these storylines made any sense and wondering why this was happening. She said that this can’t be where the season was heading.
It was then that the biggest risk ever from the MCU happened. For a second, I thought that something had gone wrong with Disney + because suddenly, there was the Disney + Marvel page… and She-Hulk was smashing through… obliterating the fourth wall.
She-Hulk moved through the Disney + menu and found herself in the “real” world. She-Hulk went to the writer’s room and went to see Kevin. It was not Kevin Feige as we expected, but instead K.E.V.I.N, an AI running the MCU, appeared in a little black hat.
The the show went ahead and satirized itself unmercifully with shots at the MCU movies all ending the same way, with Marvel Studios use of the non-disclosure agreement (NDA), the lack of sex in the MCU, the persona of Kevin Feige and how he is looked upon in a worshipping fashion, Marvel daddy issues, the cost of the special effects… along with plenty of other jokes. Marvel was not afraid to poke fun at itself, using all of the criticisms from the internet and its audience from over the years. It was META beyond all meta. And the reference Jen made to KEVIN about “When are we getting X-Men” with a cheeky smile and a thumbs up to the camera was just everything!
One of the best facts about She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is that there is not really a “Big Bad” like most series. The villain of the show was the Internet trolls that complain about everything to give a voice to their misogamy. Todd was the face of the organization, but the Intelligencia could be the real internet. It is like Marvel knew how this series would be seen by a section of the populace and they poked fun at it all along. It is also epic that the “Todd uses blood to turn into a Hulk” plot point was discarded so easily because the show was not about that. t was about Jennifer Walters accepting who she is… coming to grip with both the Jen side of her personality, but also the She-Hulk side, and that when she finally started to bring those together, he entire world gets yanked away. The show is saying that they did not need a gamma-irradiated Todd. Jen said it best. The Hulk powers were not the villain, Todd was.
Oh, and Daredevil showed up again, per Jen’s request. Then, Matt Murdock joined Jen at a “Fast and the Furious” style cook out at the end where Matt is grilled by Jen’s parents and the Hulk returned from Sakar and casually introduced his son Skaar! Such a major moment in MCU history and it was dropped so nonchalantly by Bruce that it really wotked within the concept of the show. One wonders where Skaar is heading next.
I know there are people out there who do not like She-Hulk: Attorney at Law for reasonable, fair reasons, but there is also a section of the internet who hate this because of the female led property that was parodied in this show. For me, this was a lot of fun from the first episode and that it took risks that no other Disney + show (with the exception of WandaVision) would dare to try. Tatiana Maslany was exceptional as Jennifer Walters all season long and the side characters, though underused, were characters that I would love spending time with. Tim Roth reemerged as Emil Blonsky, who went back to prison for parole violation, and is now hanging out with Wong at Kamar-Taj after escaping form his prison cell thanks a portal. I saw that post credit scene coming when I spotted Benedict Wong’s name in the credits along with Mark Ruffalo and Tim Roth and I knew we had not seen the Sorcerer Supreme in episode 9 yet.
She-Hulk is unapologetic for what it is and it bravely carved out a place inside (and outside) of the Marvel Cinematic Universe. It was funny, full of comedic characters and still managed to move the MCU forward into the future. I enjoyed the series quite a bit.
The one-hour special presentation of Werewolf by Night on Disney + was a surprise to many. There had been rumors about a Halloween special coming from Marvel Studios and that it would be featuring Jack Russell, the Werewolf by Night. It was a long time before it was confirmed that it was coming, with a fantastic trailer at D23.
Making his directorial debut with this short was composer Michael Giacchino, a real risky choice. Giacchino does an incredible job with some outstanding shots and a perfect tone, based on the Universal Monster movies from the 1930s and 1940s. Shot in black and white, Werewolf by Night is remarkably stylish and beautiful.
Longtime monster hunter Ulysses Bloodstone had died and this triggered a ceremonial hunt by some of the greatest and most mysterious monster hunters in the world to learn who would gain control of the Bloodstone, the powerful artifact that Ulysses used to help kill the monsters he fought.
Organized by his widow Verussa (Harriet Sansom Harris), the monster hunters congregated at Bloodstone’s home for the opportunity to gain control of the Bloodstone. Ulysses’s daughter Elsa Bloodstone (Laura Donnelly), who had been estranged from her father for years, was among them, intending on claiming the Bloodstone as her birth right.
Another one of the hunters arriving was Jack Russell (Gael Garcia Bernal), who arrived with a dark secret that he kept hidden from the other hunters.
Verussa announced that there was a monster on the premises, and the first monster hunter to find and kill the monster would earn the right to carry the Bloodstone.
Laura Donnelly and Gael Garcia Bernal were spectacular in this show. They brought so much humanity to these characters. Both of these actors do wonderful work and fit these Marvel characters brilliantly.
As we saw in the trailers, we get our MCU debut of Man-Thing in Werewolf by Night. Man-Thing, which is named Ted, is performed by Carey Jones. The design on the character of Ted is awesome. There are specific details to Man-Thing that make this monster extra special. I do not want to go into any more specific about this character outside of the fact that Man-Thing is one of the most outstanding aspects of this special.
Of course, Giacchino not only directed the movie, but he also scored it and the music of Werewolf by Night was so great. It started off right at the beginning with the Marvel banner, the score of which Giacchino originally made and has been playing over the banner since Dr. Strange.
Werewolf by Night is one of the most original and creative entries into the MCU in years. It was unlike most anything that Marvel has ever done. It was tremendously violent and gory, with the black and white helping cover up the blood, of which there was plenty. The horror parts of the show really worked well and the film truly felt like one of those old Universal Monster movies. Giacchino knocked this out of the park and I hope he gets a chance to direct again. Werewolf by Night felt like a stand alone film that truly did not have much of a connection to the MCU, but yet opened another realm of possibilities for the franchise.
