Category Archives: Prime

Man from Atlantis S1 E10

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“Shoot-Out at Land’s End”

Man from Atlantis meets the Old West.

According to IMDB, “While investigating an underwater volcano, Mark is stricken with sudden pain in the shoulder. This is not the first time he’s felt pain for no reason, and his instincts lead him to a deserted beach and, inexplicably, to a frontier town of the old west called Land’s End. There he meets his identical twin, Billy, another water-breather who washed up on a beach with no knowledge of his true identity. Billy takes Mark’s place aboard the Cetacean, leaving the Man from Atlantis to face the villains of Land’s End.”

Mark in a fish-out-of-water story that sees much of the science fiction elements replaced by those of a Western. Science fiction shows like Star Trek have done this type of episode many times, traveling to a different land, specifically a Western motif.

The twin aspect of the show was intriguing. It truly speaks to the mysterious past of Mark Harris. Billy did not have the strength of Mark, nor did Billy have the webbed-fingers. I am not sure why there were the differences. When we first met Billy, I wondered about the webbed-fingers and why people didn’t wonder about them, but the show made a point to show that Billy did not have them. Still, he was a water-breather and got strength from getting wet. I am not sure if the show has an idea of the overall story or if this is just a fun idea that they had, connecting it to a mysterious past that they never intended to flesh out.

Pernell Roberts from Bonanza appeared as the villainous Clint Hollister, the man who hired Billy as a hired gun.

It did seem that Billy made a turn from the bad guy to the heroic character quickly, but there was only a limited amount of time in the episode. This would have been a better story with a two-parter or if this were like one of the TV movies that started the show.

The show did a decent j0b of shooting the two Patrick Duffys during the scenes that Billy and Mark were together. Most of the shots looked really good, but there was one at the sheriff station that was not as strong.

They never even tried to figure out how Mark wound up in the Old West. I can only assume it was the same type of manner in which happened in “Giant.”

Fallout S1 E1

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“The End”

I think the TV shows that are based on video games have been doing great recently. There was The Last of Us, and now we have a new video game series on Amazon Prime called Fallout.

I have not played the Fallout video game so I have no predetermined expectations for the corresponding show.

However I do have a love for the actor Kyle MacLachlan, who was Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks. I know that Michael Emerson, who played Ben on LOST, is coming next episode. Love these actors and it gives me an inspiration to watch the show.

The opening scene of the bombs being dropped on LA was devastating and kind of difficult to watch. It reminded me of the dark beginning of The Last of Us, which saw the death of Joel’s daughter Sarah.

We focus in on two main characters for most of the episode: Lucy and Maximus. Then, we end the episode meeting The Ghoul.

Lucy is played by Ella Purnell. Lucy is Kyle MacLachlan’s Hank’s daughter. Maximus is played by Aaron Clifton Moten. The Ghoul is played by the exquisite Walter Goggins.

Hank is taken from the bomb shelter by people from the surface world. This sends Lucy after him. I would expect her to come into contact with our other protagonists. Her story, for me, was more compelling than Maximus’s so the show does have some work to do for me to engage with his character. The Ghoul is just a cool cowboy and I want more from him.

All eight episodes have dropped on Amazon Prime and I will be working to watch the rest of these over the next few weeks. I do not expect a binge as the episodes are all around (or surpassing) the hour runtime.

Man from Atlantis S1 E9

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“Man O’ War”

Mister Schubert returned.

After a refreshing change of villain, Victor Buono returned to Man from Atlantis as Mister Schubert, the megalomaniacal villain who has appeared in most of the regular episodes so far.

I have stated that he may be a bit overused, but I did like his use in this episode.

There was a giant jellyfish that Schubert unleashed on the coast in an attempt to blackmail money from the government. Schubert is lacking money and it is causing serious problems for him. I do like this arc for Schubert.

There were definitely signs that this was a 1970s show. The special effects on the jellyfish were pretty lacking. The second thing was the Indian dialect for one of the secondary characters that was on the show. It was the stereotypical Indian accent and would not be used in today’s world. The third example was the cameo of Gary Owens and his distinct voice. It made me think of the old cartoon, The Superfriends.

Why did they not just arrest Schubert when they started looking for the jellyfish? Did Schubert not commit a bunch of crimes in previous episodes?

Man from Atlantis S1 E8

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“Giant”

This was a really fun episode of Man from Atlantis. I had been hoping for a break from Mr. Schubert, as played by Victor Buono, for awhile now. He had been in all of the run of the series, since the end of the TV movies. This was the episode that finally gave us a break from Schubert. And in his place, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar!

The former Lakers star appeared as a giant named Thark. Water from the ocean was being drained through a vortex into another world where Thark was mining gold. Another person named Muldoon was trying to steal the giant’s gold.

This was a weird episode, but I did like it quite a bit. At first, it looked as if Kareem’s giant character was monstrous, but he turned out to be friendly and helped Mark stop the flow of water. When Thark learned that the water, which was invisible in this world, was a danger to Mark’s world, he immediately went to help him.

I really like how Mark deals with his conflicts. Many action heroes would head into a confrontation with the giant using physical threats, but, even after getting thrown around by Thark, Mark just spoke to him and used his words to convince him that he meant him no harm.

There was an ironic lesson to be learned for Muldoon too as he wound up stranded in this odd location with Thark. Muldoon had come back after deserting Mark to help them close the vortex, but the show still had him pay for his greed. I felt bad for Muldoon.

This was a step up from last episode’s offering. I thought Kareem did a good job in his role, which was admittedly fairly simple. The sci-fi concept of the ocean containing portals to different dimensions is an intriguing idea. I wonder if they were going to use this idea eventually to deal with the origin of Mark Harris and where he came from had the series continued.

Man from Atlantis S1 E7

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“Hawk of Mu”

This episode was probably my least favorite one so far, certainly of the regular weekly series if you discount the TV movies.

Schubert is back again and, although I love Victor Buono here. I would really like a new villain to step forward. They added a daughter for Schubert who has taken a liking to Mark.

According to IMDB, “Schubert’s tracking of a mysterious power source causes a blackout, at the center of which, Mark discovers an ancient statue of a hawk. When he rescues Schubert’s daughter Juliette from drowning, the villain learns of the hawk and steals it to discover the secret of its power.“

I thought the conclusion of this episode was fairly lacking, though I did like the scene where Mark tricked the local law enforcement to spray him with a hose as he was trapped inside their cell. He had been dehydrating and Mark knew he needed the water.

Other than that, I found this episode to be a step down from the last couple. It is not terrible by any stretch, but just nothing major.

Man from Atlantis S1 E6

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“The Mudworm”

The second episode of the series Man from Atlantis continued an early trend of including the same bad guy. Victor Buono returned as Mr. Schubert, the mad genius with delusions of power.

This episode, Schubert had sent one of his machines, the Mudworm, to the ocean floor to mine out an extremely rare element that would give him control over satellites as well as no concern for money ever again.

I liked this episode too, because the ending was unlike most shows of this genre. The show resolved the conflict with Mark going to the Mudworm and talking it into helping out.

I have enjoyed Victor Buono on the show, but I would like to see someone different for a few episodes instead of it always being Schubert.

Admittedly, the plot was a little thin, but I did enjoy the unconventional manner in which it was resolved.

Man from Atlantis S1 E5

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“Melt Down”

This is the first episode of the weekly series. Prior to this, Man from Atlantis was a series of TV movies, each around 90 minutes long (give or take). This started season of 13-episode season.

For the first time, we get an opening theme, which I liked quite a bit.

Episode 5, “Melt Down” saw the return of Mr. Schubert, the villain from the first TV movie performed by Victor Buono. Buono makes a fantastic villain.

A couple of big, welcome changes seem to have been made. Mark Harris has gained some superpowers besides being able to just breathe underwater. He had some extra super strength as he showed by kicking the ass of Schubert’s goons and crashing through some doors and a sonar of some kind he used to destroy some technology. The extra powers make a lot of sense and I was very pleased to see Mark crashing through the wooden door.

The show even threw in some A-Team throws, with the goons being thrown by Mark out of the pool he was in and flying across the room.

The characters of Elizabeth and C.W. were still here in episode 5, but Miller Simon was not here. I do not know if he returns as the series progresses, but I’m not sure he was needed.

Mark had more of a personality as well, confident and strong. He always felt so detached and icy, and, though he still had some of that, he seemed more human than he was before.

The sci-fi aspect of the show continued to be good, and the underwater scenes are still just fantastic. I would have loved to know how they filmed these scenes and how much of it was actually Patrick Duffy.

This episode dealt with the villainous Schubert causing water tides to rise across the planet, threatening worldwide flooding. It was like a climate change story on fast forward.

This was a really good episode and I feel like it put together some of the things that the TVV movies had been lacking. We’ll see if it can maintain this level of sci-fi goodness.

Man from Atlantis S1 E4

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“The Disappearances”

This is the fourth and final TV movie of the series, which was actually entitled “Man from Atlantis IV: The Disappearances.”

It is interesting that I remember this being one of my favorite TV shows when it was on back in the 1970s, but after watching the first four TV movies, I do not remember anything about them.

I enjoyed this fourth movie of Man from Atlantis quite a bit. In fact, it might be my favorite of the four.

According to IMDB, “Elizabeth is kidnapped, one of dozens of scientists held prisoner on the island of Felicitos, controlled by special mineral springs that render their victims completely happy and compliant. Dr. Smith is using them to build a rocket to take her away from our troubled planet in search of some better world, and Mark must find a way to counter the brain-washing and free the captives“

I really do like this show. There are problems, of course. The acting is not what I would call great, but for the 1970s TV, it is acceptable. They have the most conveniently placed cameras around the sub and areas where people can watch what is happening on monitors. That is just a weird bit that doesn’t really affect anything. In a show about a man with webbed fingers who can breathe underwater, having cameras in places that make no sense should not be the biggest drawback.

I did like the Dr. Smith villain of this episode. She was quite brutal and cruel, yet I could understand why she was doing what she was doing. It could be an episode that features a debate on climate change, even before it became a real thing.

Mark was a real hero in this episode. He came up with solutions for everything from the torpedo to the mind-control. I thought the look of Mark when he was trapped in the shed without water was great for the special effects of the time. His underwater scenes were excellent as they always are for this show. Those scenes underwater were well done and looked great. I am not a huge fan of the manner in which Mark always swam, but that would be the way a real person would swim. Today, he would be more CGI and could look like he was swimming faster. Still, I liked the realism of the shots.

Moving ahead, the show starts its regular series run of 13 episodes, which was all the show would get. This is actually a pretty decent sci-fi series and, despite some flaws, has been a fun watch so far.

Man from Atlantis S1 E3

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“Killer Spores”

This TV movie was actually titled Man from Atlantis III: Killer Spores. It is the third of four TV movie prior to the debut of the short-lived TV series.

For the second TV movie in a row, Mark, Elizabeth and Miller have to deal with something extraterrestrial as they were assigned to recover a space probe from the military. Mark can hear a horrible screeching sound that the others could not. When he arrived at the site of the space probe, Mark discovered  strange, blue, intelligent spores covering it. They started spreading across the city, causing panic and problems.

This is a pretty good sci-fi episode. The spores are able to take over people’s minds and make them do what they want. The spores use the people to learn. Meanwhile, Mark is conflicted by his desire to not destroy the spores and trying to save his friends.

The best science fiction leads to moral quandaries and “Killer Spores” seemed to have that very conundrum.

This episode was better than the previous one, though the conclusion with the spores hopping a ride on a launching rocket back to space was iffy. There were a whole bunch of these spores, but it seemed as if Mark only transported a couple to the rocket. I got a feel of a hive-type group from the spores. It made me think about the Borg from Star Trek: A New Generation.

Man from Atlantis S1 E2

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“Death Scouts”

The second of the Man from Atlantis television movies was actually entitled “Man from Atlantis II: Death Scouts.”

According to Wikipedia, “Mark investigates the disappearance of three scuba divers, two of whom are ‘replaced’ by waterborne aliens (Tiffany Bolling as Lioa / Dilly and Burr DeBenning as Xos / Chazz). The aliens assignment is to scout Earth and check its defense capabilities. They also give the impression that Mark may also be one of them, specially bred for Earth infiltration.“

I was not wild about this story. While I appreciate them trying to tie Lioa and Xos to Mark’s background, it all felt kind of muddied. It seemed to indicate that they were lying about Mark when they informed him that he was from their planet, but at the end, it sounded as if Lioa had confirmed that he was from earth.

It was a messy story. If Mark did not have a connection to these two, why did they both have the webbed fingers? The symbol on Mark’s trunks, was I to understand that it is not the same as he saw in the spaceship?

I hope that this was a lie because I feel as if making Mark an alien from another planet is just lazy writing. I do not know if they will ever go into further details on his past in the short season one, but I’m sure it could be handled more deftly.

There were just too many plot holes for this tv movie. There were some decent sci-fi shots, several of which actually reminded me of The Land of the Lost, but the writing of the story felt off.

However, the shots of Patrick Duffy underwater continue to just amaze me. I am curious how they shot these, especially those that seem to have Mark in a tank of water for extended periods of time while on screen. How much did Patrick Duffy do on his own? I would love to know the specifics of these shots because they are the best underwater shots I think I have seen and this was 1977.

Man From Atlantis S1 E1

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“Pilot”

I recently purchased the entire run of comics of a short-lived series from the late 1970s called Man from Atlantis on eBay. I remembered being a fan of the series when it was on TV back in the 70s. Honestly, the comic was not great, but I was happy to have it in my collection.

As I was writing about it today in the EYG Comic Cavalcade #87, I mused about what I might think about the show if I could see it today. That sent me to Google to see if it was streaming anywhere I might be able to watch it. Amazingly, I found that the entire series was available for purchase on Amazon Prime.

The series included four television movies to start in 1977 and then a weekly show ran 13 more episodes. The show was canceled after the 13 episodes because of a dwindling viewership and high cost.

The series starred Patrick Duffy as Mark Harris, a mysterious man who had gills, webbed fingers and feet, but who could not remember anything about where he was from. Duffy would go from this series to his iconic role as Bobby Ewing on CBS’ Dallas.

The first of the movies, entitled “Pilot” featured the discovery of the mysterious man washed up on the beach, entangled in a fishing net. He was gasping and having terrible difficulties breathing. No matter what was done, no one seemed to be able to help him.

When Dr. Elizabeth Merrill was called in, she discovered his gills and took him to the ocean, where she had him placed face down in the water. This did the trick and he was taken back to the  Foundation for Oceanic Research. Elizabeth named him ‘Mark Harris’ and the military became very intrigued by the possibilities of the water-breathing man.

I was very impressed by the swimming/underwater scenes. I am not sure how these were filmed because Patrick Duffy spent what seemed to be plenty of time under water. These scenes looked really well done.

Victor Buono, who was known as Batman villain King Tut in the 1960’s series, played the villain of the pilot, Mr. Schubert, who was set up as a reoccurring antagonist for the future of the series. Buono was a solid villain, with his line delivery.

I liked the pilot enough. I was worried that I wouldn’t enjoy the pilot and that I would not be happy doing this watch/rewatch (I know I used to watch the show, but I can’t say that I saw every episode), but I think things will be okay.

Hazbin Hotel

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I binged the Amazon Prime adult animated musical series last night and this morning. It was a real easy binge as the episodes are all around 25 minutes.

I started off with the pilot on YouTube. It was posted four years ago and has been very popular on YouTube. That pilot led to A24 and Prime and a big budget. Eight episodes of the series arrived on Prime.

Charlie Morningstar, daughter of Lucifer and princess of Hell, is hopeful and loving (and very musical) and organizing a hotel where she wants to help demons find redemption and go to Heaven, a way to prevent the overcrowding of Hell.

This is such a awesome series. It is absolutely not for kids. There are curse words, sexual situations and innuendo, and adult situations.

The characters are amazing. Charlie is the main protagonist and brings the heart to the show. She is vital to making this a real series. I think of her like Luffy from One Piece who is the center of the show and provides the heart. Charlie’s friend/love Vaggie has a secret background that may destroy their relationship. Angel Dust is the first resident of the hotel who is a porn actor. Alastor the “Radio Demon” was an overlord who comes to watch the events unwind at the hotel. Sir Pentious is a former villain whose pathetic life led him to the hotel. Husk is the straight shooting bartender. These characters are way deeper than I ever expected to be. I really love how these characters grow and their arcs are truly strong.

The music is so epic. Not only catchy and fun, but are used to inform the characters. These songs are way more engaging and fun than they have any right to be.

The animation is spectacular and remarkably unique. The colors and the character designs are exceptional.

Plus, the story of Hell and Heaven is brilliantly developed and you can not guess where things are going. The angels are just as horrible, if not more so, than the demon characters. And there is a definite question about what going to Heaven or going to Hell means.

The finale is just so masterful, and I sure hope there are plans to continue to season two. This was a real treat.

Gen V S1 E8

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“The Guardians of Godolkin”

Man, the Gen V finale was brutal.

It was also tough because of the connection to the school shootings that have been a stain on our country over the last couple decades plus. However, the use of superpowers instead of guns did help make it less horrific.

Still very brutal, however.

Cate and Sam lead an assault on the Godolkin campus, killing a ton of people and using her mind control ability to make other super powered students aid them in the slaughter as well as those super powered kids from The Woods that Cate and Sam freed.

This all led to a massive showdown between Cate and Marie, where Marie exploded the blood from her arm as she reached to control Jordan. Then, a shocker…

Homelander!

And not only was there Homelander, but he blasted Marie. The news ended up treating Cate and Sam as the new Guardians of the Godolkin and that Marie, Andre, Emma and Jordan were the ones who were doing the attacks. They end up in a room with no doors and captured. There is no way to know what is planned for these characters who are now seen as the terrorists that have attacked Godolkin.

Then, in a mid-credit scene… Billy Butcher!

This is clearly heading into the next season of The Boys. I am curious to see how this group of characters from Gen V fit into the next season.

Gen V S1 E7

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“Sick”

Episode 7 of Gen V made some massive shifts in the story that I did not see coming.

We found out last week that Dean Indira Shetty had been ordering Doctor Edison Cardosa of the Woods to create this virus that kills supes and she wanted it to be contagious. They revealed this episode (or at I think it was this episode. I don’t remember this before..) that Shetty’s husband and daughter in the plane crash that Homelander caused.

However, the virus storyline took a twist when Cate got involved. The show made us think that Shetty was manipulating Cate once again, but when the others arrived at Shetty’s house, she forced Shetty to tell the truth and then slit her own throat. Cate prevented Marie from saving her.

Earlier, Marie had gone to see Victoria Neuman, making a cameo from The Boys, and she revealed everything about the virus. Neuman told Marie that she would handle it. That meant that she contacted Cardosa, had him bring the virus, and then exploded his head as she did to many others on The Boys.

I do not know if that virus storyline will be picked up again in The Boys since Victoria left with it, but it feels as if it is over on Gen V.

This is the penultimate episode of the season with next week’s finale coming. But with the virus seemingly done, Shetty dead… what is left? Is it a showdown with Cate? Maybe it is the increasingly agitated Sam, who is started to embrace the philosophy of Homelander.

This has been a solid first season and a great addition to the universe of The Boys.

Gen V s1 e6

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“Jumanji”

Gen V sixth episode was a really great one.

Fallout from last week involving Kate and her mental manipulation of her friends was the main storyline of the show. We got to see a lot of the hidden back stories of Kate as well as the others who wound up inside Kate’s mind.

We saw more involving Golden Boy, including a disturbing realization that Andre and Kate had been having an affair before Golden Boy died.

We saw how Jordan had become Professor Brink’s assistant as she helped stop Golden Boy.

We saw more about Marie and her sister moments after she had accidentally killed her parents.

We saw more about Kate’s background and how she came to be with Dean Shetty.

Oh, and there was a Soldier boy cameo.

But the story of Kate was not the only thing we got tonight. We got Emma and Sam back together and making love.

And we find out that Dean Shetty’s plans were to develop a virus that could kill supes and she wants it contagious.

Whoa.

Gen V has been very compelling and getting better every week. Even week four, which felt like an initial back step for the show, turned out to be better in retrospect.

And with the potential deadly virus being created in the Woods, this could have major impact in the Boys world.