Category Archives: Prime

The Boys S5 E7

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“The Frenchman, the Female, and the Man Called Mother’s Milk”

Penultimate episode. Heart crushing end.

I really hoped that Frenchie and Kimiko would end up together at the end. I should have realized that when Frenchie told Kimiko he wanted to settle down and have the three kids she wanted, someone was doomed. Frenchie was the heart of this season and with him gone, I am not sure what levels the show will go to.

Frenchie sacrificing himself to Homelander to save Kimiko and Sage was so beautiful and so tragic. Kimiko’s screams crushed me. I never saw his demise coming. Once he closed Kimiko and Sage in that zinc place, I knew he was going to die.

Even still, when Frenchie actually died, I was so sad. I have never cried while watching the Boys… but this one got me.

There are a lot of things this episode that were incredible. Some examples:

  • The Deep backing away from helping someone who was drowning because he was afraid to go into the water. Samuel L. Jackson voiced a hammerhead shark.
  • Mother’s Milk gave a speech that was amazing.
  • Starlight and MM saved a focus group from being assassinated.
  • Ashley’s mental powers let her read the president’s mind- leading to Homelander killing him.
  • Butcher and Hughie have a great scene with a mind controller.
  • Homelander choked Soldier Boy out when Soldier Boy tried to leave him. I doubt he killed him, but Homelander wants him to stay.
  • Jeffrey Dean Morgan returned for a fabulous scene.
  • Jesus made a cameo.

But Frenchie is easily the most emotional and haunting moment of the show.

One more episode in the series.

The Boys S5 E6

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“Though the Heaven’s Fall”

The new episode of The Boys continued the march to the show’s finale with major moments. I have to say, there were some moments that also felt really dumb and out of place.

The bad:

  • The talking fish that dies with Deep. Too much of a cartoon for this tone.
  • The bleeding out of his ass in the background was iffy.
  • Not sure how I felt about the swinging ball sack…

The Great:

  • Paul Reiser. He is fabulous. His scene with Homelander was sensational.
  • Sister Sage’s arrogance right up to the point where Soldier Boy gave the V1 to Homelander. Sister Sage trying to help the Boys was a shock.
  • Homelander got the V1 and injected it in his veins.
  • The showdown with Hughie and Starlight against Oh Father. Hughie should play poker with his bluffing skills.
  • The Deep murdering the new Black Noir after Noir confessed that he broke the pipeline killing a bunch of the fish.

The theme of living forever is throughout this episode. Golden Geisha brought it up and we find out that Kimiko and Annie had discussed the problems brought about by immortality.

I think Mother’s Milk is starting to regain his mental capabilities after some real anger issues.

Soldier Boy and Bombsight fight was rough, but, in the end, it was words that stopped the violence and led to Soldier Boy handing the V1 to Homelander. By the way, the dialogue they give Soldier Boy is so funny and Jensen Ackles delivers the words so perfectly.

Two mor episodes to go and a potentially immortal Homelander may have made the virus irrelevant.

The Boys S5 E5

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“One-Shots”

What seemed like it started out as another filler episode turned out to be one of the most significant episodes of the year.

The episode is split into sections featuring different characters including Firecracker, Sister Sage, Black Noir, Soldier Boy, and… Terror, Butcher’s dog?

Each of these sections focus in on these characters, seeing their real thoughts and their struggles.

And what a bloodbath…

We lose Adam Bourke to eels going up his butt while sitting on the toilet.

We lose Malchemical, Mr. Marathon are killed by Soldier Boy. The Supernatural reunion of these characters did not last long.

Then we lose Seth Rogan, Kumail Ali Nanjiani, Will Forte, Christopher Mintz-Plasse… all brutally killed as Mr. Marathon runs through them all… set up by Soldier Boy.

And… most shocking… Firecracker, as Homelander stabs her head with the eagle statue’s wing.

This was way better than it should have been. The different POV’s of the episode were truly amazing. It went from unbelievably hilarious moments to horrendous dramatic moments.

We get Sister Sage’s master plan. We get further trouble between Black Noir and The Deep. We get Stan Edgar broken, thanks to a threat to his granddaughter. Terror ate some chocolate and dreams of humping Homelander.

The show is rushing toward the finale. No one is safe.

The Boys S5 E4

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“King of Hell”

You wouldn’t think that they would need to have a filler episode in their final season. Yet, that is exactly what it felt like when watching “King of Hell.”

That is not saying that it was not a great episode. It just did not feel very significant to the overall story that has only a few more episodes to go.

I did like the reunion between Annie and her absentee father, and the family that he had now built. This was some good character work and was the best part of the episode.

With Butcher, Frenchie, Hughie, MM and Kimiko in search of the original V1 formula, they head to Fort Harmony, which was anything but harmonious. There were spores in the building that made everyone become raging assholes (I mean… even more so, in Butcher’s case) which would lead the Boys to try and kill each other.

They also dropped a bunch of angry lines and comments that were cutting with their honesty. While this was entertaining, it felt like a side quest that did not truly mean much of anything with the exception of Frenchie and Kimiko apparently breaking up (maybe?).

Oh, and Homelander has decided that he is the savior… that he is God. And he told Firecracker that she was in charge of making everyone believe it.

Homelander is simply off his rocker completely. His patheticness is reaching new levels of disgusting behavior. There is just so much mental illness in Homelander right now that I have no idea what is going to happen next.

It is fun to know that “The Walking Dead” and “The Last of Us” are canon in the Boys universe.

Invincible S4 E8

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“Don’t Leave Me Hanging Here”

I have to say, I found this finale for season 4 to be very interesting. There were no major massive blood fest battles. No one is ripping the literal guts out of Mark. No huge planetwide destruction. Chicago doesn’t get trashed again.

Instead, Mark returned from the war with loads of PTSD and guilt over things he did or did not do.

Eve admits to having an abortion, which was a shocking revelation for me. I was scared that Mark would react in a negative way toward Eve, but instead, he turned those feeling inward to the core of his being. He took the stance that he was not here for her, that he left her alone. It just added one more psychological trauma to the young man’s psyche.

The hallucinations that Mark continued to have all episode, seeing Thragg brutally murdering the people he loved, was weighing on his mind drastically. It was sending Mark into a deep depression, filled with anticipation of what he was not going to be able to prevent.

We discover that Debbie had broken off her relationship with Paul. When she found out that Oliver was injured and was left on Talescria, Debbie decided that she was going to be with Oliver. This seems to be the way Debbie and Nolan are going to get back together, even if he should not be allowed to do so. I am not sure I want to see them back together.

Mark is out for a flight to clear his head, when he come across Thragg. However, Thragg is not in a mood to fight. He has an offer. The remaining 37 Viltrumites are going to live on earth and try to reestablish their race by mating with humans. In return for being left alone, Thragg promised Mark that they would never do anything to hurt the earth or anyone again.

It was a deal that Mark did not want to accept, but the realization that, if he did not accept it, the earth would be the center of the war, most likely killing billions of people, if not devastating the planet.

Mark agreed to the deal. Thragg tells Mark that he saved everyone on the planet.

Quite a different finale than what we have been used to from Invincible. I liked the change of pace and the characterization of Mark is really strong. Of course, things are not finalized here because Alan received a message from “beyond the grave” by Thaedus that sent Alan to find the ultimate weapon, the virus that kills Viltrumites and gave him instructions to use it, even if it killed the whole human race.

Oh… not good.

That was a twist that reconceptualized the whole series and the allies. Things look as if they only going to get worse.

Invincible S4 E7

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“Don’t Do Anything Rash”

We got a massive battle in space between the Viltrumites and Mark, Nolan and the rest. I mean… brutal and bloody.

Grand Regent Thragg seems to be unstoppable. He crashed through Mark, Nolan, Oliver… and decapitated Thaedus.

However, the biggest and most vicious maneuver of the whole thing was when Mark, Nolan and Thaedus flew through the planet of Viltrum, completely destroying it. Seriously, that was a horrific choice, even though the planet did not have much of a population remaining (and most of them are flying around space and fighting Alan and the others).

Thragg and the remaining Viltrumites disappeared after Thragg left Nolan, Mark and Oliver floating in space desperately imjured.

I really thought Nolan was dead from this. Why were the other Viltrumites seemingly easier to kill than Mark and Nolan? Is it just because they were the “red shirts?”

Apparently, it looks like Thragg and the Viltrumites are on their way to earth.

That’s not good.

Amazing episode this week.

The Boys S5 E3

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“Every One of You Sons of Bitches”

The Boys final season has been really brutal and all of the lies are coming back to haunt people.

Maverick was the son of Translucent and he joined up with Butcher’s gang as he believed that Homelander was the one who killed his father. Butcher’s group let him believe this even though they knew that Hughie was the one who killed Translucent.

We find out why Soldier Boy did not die from the virus. The first generation of V1 was in Soldier Boy’s blood. The compound was highly dangerous, only working five times.

This leads to Homelander to search for V1 so he could be immortal like his father.

Ryan returned with anger of his own. Homelander beat the crap out of him at the end of the episode. Butcher had tried to convince Ryan to throw the virus in Homelander’s face, killing him. Of course, it would also kill Ryan. Thankfully, Butcher’s insane plan was broken when Dr. Sameer Shah discovered another truth that Butcher killed Victoria instead of Homelander. Shah destroyed the virus that had been made.

Who knew that Mork & Mindy was a Netflix Documentary?

And a cool invisible fight with Maverick taking on the very visible Hughie. Poor Maverick gets killed.

The Boys are struggling through the season so far. Homelander is getting crazier by the episode. Soldier Boy and Firecracker had sex. Annie took off after Hughie nearly died.

Lots of big things happen as the show has five remaining episodes.

Invincible S4 E6

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“You Look Horrible”

After Mark got his guts ripped out of him last episode by Conquest, he has to take some time to heal. Two months? Sure, why not. Mark is unconscious for two months and Nolan and Oliver are left to pour liquid protein into his mouth.

The episode served as a series of bonding moments for Nolan and Oliver as they get past their personal issues and spent time training, hunting and eating some really gross looking food (that apparently Oliver loved!).

Nolan buried Conquest out of respect. In one of the post credits scenes, the show went back to the grave and lingered on it with dramatic music and I waited for the fight to come out of the grave. However, the music went silent and there was no reveal of anything. I really do not want Conquest to come back and so I am not sure if this was meant to foreshadow his return or to show that he is not coming back. Please let it be the latter.

The Viltrumites brought the war to Talescria where the Coalition was based. Things were looking bad until Mark, Nolan and Oliver arrived to switch the momentum. The war at the end of the episode was amazing.

Alan was the MVP of this episode as he was all over the episode.

The Boys S5 E1, E2

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“Fifteen Inches of Sheer Dynamite”

“Teenage Kix”

The Boys are back on Amazon Prime for their final season, and all the crap is hitting the fan.

Homelander is in charge of everything. He is the top boss, the ultimate ruler. He’s ordering the president around, making him get drinks.

Yet, Homelander is not happy. Everyone is leaving him (in his own, warped mind).

Butcher is every bit as horrible of a person as Homelander. He has been pursuing the virus full scale and has gotten to a point where he had a usable version.

Kimiko (who talks now), Butcher, Starlight entered one of Vaught’s concentration camps to rescue Hughie, Frenchie and Mother’s Milk, despite knowing it was Homelander’s trap. The prison camp break was shocking. MM strangled the living penis man with his own penis. Who would ever guess that I would write that sentence.

The first episode brought a major tragedy. Homelander broke the neck of A-Train. A-Train showed up to help Starlight and the others escape by distracting Homelander. I hated A-Train for the longest time, but just when I really started to like the guy, he gets murdered.

Homelander unfreezes Soldier Boy and talks him into helping. He sent Soldier Boy after Butcher, and the confrontation led to Soldier Boy being exposed to the virus and apparently dying. Of course, at the end of episode two, Soldier Boy, in a body bag, sat up, indicating that the virus did not kill him. It sure looked like it did.

There is so much going on in the first two episodes (Ashley is vice-president and has a second head growing out of her head, giving her psychic powers, among other things). Starlight and Hughie are suffering from depression over the past year. Butcher is just off the deep end. Frenchie and Kimiko are hot and heavy. And Homelander… he is completely crazed… barely dealing with the world around him. He is obviously a metaphor for some of the current world events going on, and it is not even subtle at this point.

I have no idea where this season is heading, but I have to believe that Homelander is finally going to get his. How that is going to happen is anyone’s guess. The Boys is one of the best superhero shows on TV and literally anything could happen.

Jury Duty: Company Retreat E6, E7, E8

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When I started watching this season of Jury Duty: Company Retreat, I was unsure how I felt about it. By the end, I found myself absolutely lovoing it.

The last two episodes continued the storyline of the purchase of Rockin’ Grandma’s by the Triukas group and the reveal that they had a sinister motive behind the deal, giving Anthony a chance to come in at the end as a hero to stop the deal.

The Talent Show section of the show was absolutely amazing, and bringing in Sia as a guest star in the talent show was such a ridiculous, over-the-top moment, but worked so well.

Anthony Norman was such a wonderful man, and the perfect piece for the heart of the show. He was willing to take on all sorts of craziness from the collection of characters around him and he did it with such leadership and empathy. I did not think this show could top Ronald Gladden from season one of Jury Duty, but I think maybe Anthony was able to do it.

The final episode of Jury Duty has been when they go behind the scenes after the final reveal to the non-actor and it has always been one of my favorite episodes of the season because you get to see how intricate things have to be and to what lengths they take things to make this show work. Being able to see Anthony with his eyes finally open to what was going on around him is so much fun.

It also truly showed how much of a bond he had made with the actors, how connected he was with these fictional characters in real life and how much of an effect he had on them is so sweet and heart-warming. It gives you the message that if you are respectful and kind to people, good things will happen. I would be curious to see what would happen if they guy they bring in to the series would just freak out or not go to the extremes that they required him to do.

I am sure they spent all kinds of time researching their non-actor, making sure they would find the strongest possible candidate. They truly succeeded in that aspect this year.

I was iffy on the show at first, but it quickly turned into one of my favorite shows. It was easy to watch, always funny and entertaining and had a fabulous message. Jury Duty ahs had two stellar seasons of TV on Amazon Prime so far. Here’s hoping for a season three down the line.

Invincible S4 E5

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“Give Us A Moment”

Holy crap.

Okay, that was as gruesome and as brutal as anything I have ever seen. I was shocked and disturbed by the imagery of Conquest ripping Mark’s intestines out of his body while Mark choked him to death.

I mean… clearly Invincible is not dead, but I have no idea how he survived that ending of this episode.

I sure hope Conquest is finally dead. The show made it appear that he is done, but I know super hero shows bring dead people back.

This episode seemed to be a slower episode as Mark and Oliver prepare to leave earth with Omni Man and they dealt with a bunch of the moments on the planet. The face off with Debbie and Nolan was amazing. Debbie was brutal as she listened to Nolan’s excuses but responded with so much vitriol.

There was a nice meeting with Nolan and Art, and Art’s reaction to Nolan’s departure was great and very understandable. When Art told Nolan that he had closed his account because he only does costumes for heroes was rough.

It seemed like everything else was just a pre-fight episode… and then all hell broke loose.

The battle between Mark and Conquest was absolutely insane. I was actually screaming at the TV when Conquest shoved his hand through Mark’s gut. I can’t believe how devastating this fight was and how vicious the struggle was. Mark, refusing to break his grip from around Conquest’s neck no matter what happened, was amazing.

I know Mark does not die… or at least, he is still alive in the comics. I don’t know if there is some kind of death but resurrection coming. Mark sure was left in a horrendous state.

Invincible S4 E4

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“Hurm”

How was the episode with Satan the funniest of the season?

The dialogue of this episode, especially between Mark and Damien Darkblood, is just tremendous.

How was the trip to Hell what helped spur Mark to begin his recovery from his season long funk?

Starting off the episode with Art being the person Mark could talk to was a nice idea. Above all else, to get Invincible out of that rotten blue and black costume and back into his old one, which is soooo much better. I love seeing Mark flying through the air with the blue and yellow.

I saw an article online that episode four is divisive of an episode and has been the lowest rated episode of the season. I was surprised by this, because this is my absolute favorite episode of the season so far. They claimed this was a “filler” episode, but I couldn’t care less about that. Filler or not, quality is quality.

It could be divisive because of the fact that Mark is in Hell and that the show has a specific comment to make about Heaven. That makes more sense to me.

With Omni Man and Allen arriving at the end of the episode, just before Eve can tell Mark that she is pregnant, is some solid writing. The moment had the proper amount of gravitas as Nolan and Allen floated above the skyline.

I loved this episode. I found it to be such a breath of fresh air and gave me the hope that maudlin Mark wasn’t going to last forever. And it was extremely funny with the dialogue… especially how the demon was more positive than Mark. That juxtaposition was wonderful.

Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat E3, E4, E5

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I was surprised as I was binging a few episodes of Jury Duty Presents Company Retreat. As the fifth episode ended, the Prime account I had switched to a different show. I come to find out that this was not dropped all at once, as I had thought, but instead episode six was being released on April 2nd.

I felt disappointed, because I had reached a sort of rhythm with the show and I was into it. So I was ready to watch maybe even the rest of the series tonight. Now I can’t do that. It’s okay.

The show had picked up steam for me. The whole Grandma with the moving arm bit was absolutely hilarious. Unbelievably raunchy and an amazing visual.

The speaker who climb Mount Everest and had his testicles get frostbite… as painful as that sounded, I could not stop laughing.

I am amazed that Anthony has not started wondering about the entire situation. These speakers were so over the top that he had to be thinking, at the very least, what the heck kind of retreat is this.

The sexual harassment seminar that they had to attend gave us a running joke: porcupine. I will never think of that word the same way again.

If Anthony really does not know what is going on, then he has to be a saint for the way he treats these insane people around him. He is really going to the next level as a temp employee.

I felt badly for Dougie as he revealed that Taco Bell sauce was a main ingredient in his new product sauce.

I have picked up momentum with Jury Duty 2 and I am looking forward to the next episode.

Invincible S4 E2, E3

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“I’ll Give You the Grand Tour”

This episode went into space to see Nolan and Allen in their attempt to find ways to avert the upcoming war against the Viltrumites.

The episode took us into the past of the Viltrumites, showing how the race dealt with a killer virus and how Nolan came to be the way he was.

The first half of this episode was not as interesting to me. When the show switched to Nolan and Allen, my interest level increased. These were some fun moments between the two as their developing friendship was highlighted.

Plus, a little parody of Star Trek is brought to the story.

JK Simmons and Seth Rogen carried the episode with their voice work with these two unlikely friends teaming up with each other to prepare for what is coming. Nolan is on his way back to earth to Mark.

“I Gotta Get Some Air”

Hey, Mark and Oliver bleed from their nose in the exact same way.

As Mark deals with his decision to punch through the head of a man to stop the Sequids, Atom Eve has to deal with her own problems as her powers are going wonky. Turned out that she is pregnant and that is what is causing the issues.

There was so much going on in this episode.

  • Titan getting revenge on Mr. Liu for attacking his family; He called Invincible Inc. and Oliver responded.
  • The Flaxans returned in an attempt to take over the earth. They were taking human prisoners.
  • Monster Girl and Robot got stuck in the other dimension after going through the portal to destroy the antenna that keeps the Flaxans alive on earth.
  • Invincible and Oliver fight the dragon.
  • Both Titan and Mr. Liu were suckered to rejoin the Order

Invincible S4 E1

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“Making the World A Better Place”

I have had a interesting relationship with the show Invincible. Where as a lot of people love the show and swear that it is one of the best shows on television, I am not as enamored with it. While I have enjoyed most of the seasons, I have found that the blood becomes excessive and is unnecessary in many cases. There are too many scenes where the blood feels like it is just there to say that it is there. It feels like professional wrestling in a lot of cases. When blood is used sparingly, it can create a compelling piece of the story, but when it is overused, it loses a lot of its impact.

After watching the first episode of season four of Invincible, I did not think they over did the blood and that it was fairly well used as a whole.

I was unaware that Invincible had already debuted on Amazon Prime last week with a three episode drop. Episode four was also released before I knew it so I am officially a bit behind. However, I do have a long list of shows currently on the watchlist, so I will be spreading out the next three episodes over the next several days to a week.

I did find the character work in this episode to be very solid. I enjoyed Mark’s progression from the end of last season to now where he is fighting himself over his use of deadly force. Of course, the end of the episode placed Mark in a situation where he had to kill a person. It was very much a Man of Steel- Superman snapping the neck of Zod moment.

I like how the show with as much violence as it has is not afraid to make that internal struggle with its main character.

With Eve’s powers glitching badly, we get another, albeit well used, superhero trope to deal with. I do think Eve’s father needs a punch in the face.

The Guardians… their timing can’t be any worse. They showed up right at the end of the fight with the dinosaur guy and seemed to be standing behind Mark as he is struggling to decide if he needed to kill the guy to save the world from the Sequids. Get there sooner guys.

I hope the woman who attacked the power plant’s story is not just over. It sounded as if there was a reason behind her trying to steal the energy and I expect that story to get picked up somewhere down the line.

Then, Cecil’s stupidest decision at the end of the third season, keeping Conquest alive and buried in an underground vault. There was no way that wasn’t coming back to haunt him. I wonder if he will tell Mark now that Conquest has escaped and left butt-naked into space. Or will this be just another secret that Cecil will hide?

Good start to the season. I hope it continues to value story over spectacle, especially when it comes to blood.