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Daily Countdown: TV Shows #20

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#20

The Big Bang Theory

As we enter the Top 20 remaining in our Daily Countdown, we come to a sitcom that ran for 12 seasons on CBS.

Bazinga!

The Big Bang Theory was the story of a group of four geeks, all incredibly smart scientists, engineers and physicists, who love geek culture, playing D & D, and comic books. We follow these four men, Leonard Hofstadter, Howard Wolowitz, Raj Koothrappali and Sheldon Cooper, through their lives, loves and shenanigans.

There are people I know who hate The Big Bang Theory because of their portrayal of the main characters as geeks. They say it is insulting to the geek community. While they are welcome to that opinion, I disagree. It is a sitcom and the characters are exaggerated. It’s like saying that detectives should be mad about Monk or that doctors should be offended by Doogie Howser.

The center relationship of the show is Leonard and Sheldon, who are roommates. Sheldon is, let’s say, difficult to deal with, yet Leonard continued to put up with his craziness. When Penny (no last name) moves in next door, Leonard fall for her hard. Other love interests were introduced into the show as regulars: Bernadette Rostenkowski, who would wind up marrying Howard, and Dr. Amy Farrah Fowler, whose relationship with Sheldon would be a major focus of the last half of the show’s run.

The relationship with Howard and Bernadette, for me, really saved the character of Howard, who I disliked for much of the early seasons. He was so creepy so often that I just did not understand why the others wanted him around. Still, Howard had his moments and became one of my favorites as he became a husband and father.

The show had a regular set that was a comic book shop, which I always find awesome. The comic book shop owner, Stuart, eventually became a regular, and is reportedly part of a spin off of the show coming sometime over the next year or two.

The cast included Jim Parsons, Johnny Galecki, Kaley Cuoco, Simon Helberg, Kunal Nayyar, Mayim Bialik, Melissa Rauch, and Kevin Sussman. Recurring actors to appear on the show included such stars as Kathy Bates, Bob Newhart, Sara Gilbert, Sean Astin, Wil Wheaton, Jerry O’Connell, Teller, and Stephen Hawking. There were also a bunch of cameos of people as themselves including Stan Lee, Leonard Nemoy, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye, Levar Burton, Kareen Abdul-Jabbar, James Earl Jones, Kevin Smith, Nathan Fillion, and many more.

The Delivery Guy

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By Care Rot 

The Delivery Guy

Hi my name is Millie. I am a tall blonde with blue eyes. I am 13 years old and 5’7. My favorite thing in the whole world is my sheep named Daisy. She is a hairsheep and is black and white. Daisy is like a dog. She follows me everywhere. Daisy also follows me while I do chores, but sometimes she finds the daisies that I have planted and sometimes eats them but it is ok because I can always get more. 

One Saturday morning I woke up and Daisy was sleeping in her usual spot, right next to me. I went downstairs and Daisy followed me. But it was kind of strange because Daisy was not acting normal. I didn’t really think anything of it so we just went on with our day. I made myself a bowl of  Cap’n Crunch. After I got done eating I got Daisy a bowl of sweet feed and some hay. While Daisy was eating I got a really strange phone call. I looked at my phone and it said an unknown caller so I answered.

“Hello” I said. 

The unknown caller silently said “Grrrrr”

I was really scared so I decided to hang up. When Daisy got done eating we went out to do some chores around the farm. We first fed the chickens. Daisy stood outside the cage while I went in and fed them. I also had to gather the eggs and water them. The next chore on the farm that I had was to feed and water all of my sheep. Besides Daisy because I already fed her and she always has access to water. I got a bucket of sweet feed and dragged the hose down to the water tank. I dumped the feed in and put hay in the hay feeder. After I fed them I went up to the spicket and turned on the water. I didn’t have to wait very long because the water was pretty full. 

I got done with all of my chores around 12 pm. After we got done with the chores we went inside. I was pretty hungry so I decided to order pizza from Dominos. I didn’t know the phone number to call so I had to look it up on google. It said the number was 563-556-2300 so I dialed it on my phone and called them.

“Hello this is Dominos pizza what can I get started for you” 

“Can I get a medium hawaiian pizza”

“Yes, will that be all?” 

“Yes I think so” 

“Okay your total is 9.99.”

“Okay sounds good”

“Ma’am what is your address”

“My address is 7461 167th street Maquoketa Iowa”

“Okay your pizza will be there in about 30 minutes. What is a good name for that order?”

“Millie is a good name and sounds good thank you!”

Thirty minutes passed by and my pizza just arrived. The delivery guy was standing at my door so I grabbed my money and opened the door. 

“Hi, is this Millie?”

“Yes it is!”

“Okay your total is $9.99”

I handed him a ten dollar bill and he handed me the pizza. Daisy smelled the pizza and ran over to the door. 

The pizza delivery guy said “Aww you sheep is so cute. May I take a picture of it?”

I was kind of confused so I replied with “Sure?”

The pizza guy took the picture and left. Later did I know that picture was gonna haunt me for the rest of my life.

The next morning I had to run a few errands in town. I had to get some more chicken feed from Maquoketa Feed and I also had to run to Theisens to get a pitchfork since I broke my other one. The sad thing is though that I had to leave Daisy at home. I knew she wouldn’t run away so I decided to let her graze on the grass in my front yard. I got in my  Ford F-150 and went off to town.  I live 10 minutes away from Theisens and 15 minutes away from Maquoketa feed so I went to Theisens first.

When I got to Theisens I tried to find the pitchfork but I couldn’t find it so I asked an employee. 

“Hi where are your pitchforks at?” 

“Oh yes they are in aisle 6.”  

“Okay thank you!” 

I went to aisle 6 and there they were. There were 4 different colors, red, blue, pink, and neon green. My favorite color is pink so that is the one I went with.  I went to the cash register and I got another strange call. I answered and it said unknown caller. I thought this was another trick but it wasn’t .  I picked up the phone and started talking.

“Hello?”

This person replied with “Baaa”

The “baaa” didn’t sound like any kind of  “baaa” it sounded like my sheep Daisy. I was kind of scared but I knew it couldn’t be her so I finished checking out and headed out to Maquoketa Feeds. When I got there I told him that I needed chicken feed and went inside to pay. I got four bags of chicken feed to last me 2 weeks. After I got the chicken feed I headed home. 

When I got home I walked inside and noticed something strange, nothing came running to the door and the house was silent. I’ve then remembered that I let her outside to graze on grass so I went and checked outside. I looked at my whole property and nothing was there. I even contacted my neighbors but they haven’t seen her. I knew someone who had to have taken her. But no one has been at my house since yesterday when I ordered my pizza so I knew it was either the Domino’s pizza delivery guy or the unknown caller. 

I called Domino’s Pizza and asked if the guy was there. They said he hasn’t been to work since yesterday afternoon. So then I went back to my phone and called the unknown caller. When I call them collar he answered. 

He said “WHAT DO YOU WANT” 

“What did you do with my sheep” 

“What do you mean?” 

  “I know you took her. You are probably the Domino’s delivery pizza guy”

 “How did you know?” 

“I find it kind of obvious when you ask to take a picture of my sheep and then you call and start making sheep sounds.”

“ I don’t have Daisy so I don’t know what you are talking about.” 

I knew that he had her so I just hung up. I needed to figure out a way to find where she put her and get him in trouble with the cops. I just didn’t know where to start. I thought of some ideas. I could maybe put up posters around the town where Dominos is or maybe even go to Dominos and ask where he lives. I couldn’t decide on which one to do, so I did both.

 I opened my computer and went on to Canva. I found a blank template and started describing her. I also put a picture of her on the poster. After I got done describing her I added my phone number and put missing in all caps and bolded. I was really hoping that someone would find her. My next step was to print off the posters. I didn’t know how many to print so I just printed 100 because I can always have extra. I got them all printed off and headed for town. I went to every single telephone pole and every bulletin board that I could find. After I hung up the posters I went to Domino’s pizza to ask about the delivery guy. 

I walked in and talked to the front desk lady and she said that he got fired. She was explaining to me that  got a lot of complaints about him so they fired him. I asked her if she could tell me where he lived but she said she couldn’t share that information. But I wasn’t going to stop looking for his house there. I went to the police station and explained my situation to them. They said they can check his house but they wouldn’t be able to just let me go there.  The policeman and I went to his house and I stayed in the back of the car. His house looked very sketchy. It had broken windows and the paint was peeling off of the house. He also had a garage in the door that had holes in it.

 It was now time to go in with the policeman. He came back out and said he couldn’t find anything, but Daisy was in there. I walked a couple steps and said she has to be in here somewhere. All of the sudden I heard Daisy saying “Baaa”. I KNEW SHE WAS HERE I screamed.  I heard it from the room right in front of me so I opened the door. There Daisy was tied up on the pole. I quickly ran over and untied her. After I got her untied I hugged her tightly. I thought I was never going to find her.  The delivery guy was sitting in the  corner of that room and the policeman handcuffed him. The delivery guy got arrested for life since he stole my sheep. I went home and Daisy and I lived happily ever after.

EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week

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August 14

Oh, it’s late, but this was a busy day. I saw three movies this afternoon, Nobody 2, Sketch and RiffTrax Live: Time Cop at Cinemark. Before that, I went to In This Issue for the Thursday books and spent several hours in the lobby of Cinemark reading those.

I then had to drive home and write the two movie reviews before I got around to the covers. However, it is still Thursday night (for about another hour) so I have time to keep this on Thursdays.

Two variants in the top three this week.

Also-Rans: Superman: The Kryptonite Spectrum #1, Bug Wars #6, Past Time #5, Slasher’s Apprentice #4, and Eddie Brock: Carnage #7.

Bronze Medalist

Space Ghost #1

Variant cover E

Cover art by Alex Ross

Last year’s champion comes out swinging with a great new cover for Space Ghost. I have to say there were about three or four others that almost took this one away from the medal round, but I just liked this image of Space Ghost too much.

Silver Medalist

X-Men #20

Cover art by Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia

I live the storytelling of this cover, with Cyclops in a jail cell along with Lundqvist. The little bit of blood trickling from Scott’s nose makes you wonder what is going on and this stands out as we try and figure out how this cover came to be. Scott drooping across the bars of the cell give some more hints of the great issue.

Gold Medalist

Batman: Dark Patterns #9

Variant Cover B

Cover art by Ashley Wood

This variant cover of Batman: Dark Patterns just jumped off the shelf for me today. It is such a beautiful piece of art that gives a real insight to the story that the book tells. The brownish/tan cover implies age and it is stunning.

Murderbot S1 E3, E4, E5

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Spoilers

“Risk Assessment”

“Escape Velocity Protocol”

“Rogue War Tracker Infinite”

Okay, I love this show.

Five episodes in and I am fully in.

Sec Unit, played by Alexander Skarsgård, gives me Dexter feels. As he is narrating the show with his inner monologue, it gave me distinct “Dark Passenger” ideas as many of the internal dialogue revealed the true thoughts of the rogue unit.

I am glad that the fact that Sec Unit was rogue was revealed and did not continue to be a cover up. He revealed it in a heroic manner by trying to kill itself before he was taken over by the implant that was inserted into his head by another Sec Unit. Having the crew help remove the implant was a cool trick and surprised Sec Unit.

I hope they give Sec Unit another name soon, because I don’t like typing “Sec Unit” all the time.

It was hilarious when Ratthi tested Sec Bot’s knowledge of Sanctuary Moon to see if Sec Unit had been using the show to transmit secret messages as Gurathin believed. It was a very geeky solution.

The arrival of Leebeebee (Anna Konkle) is someone whom I absolutely do not trust. There are just too many side-eyes given by this character for me to believe that she was just o the “laundry” of the other survey team. There is more to this character than we know yet.

These episodes, at least four and five, have been ending with a great cliffhanger that make me want to continue on in the binge. I am trying to keep from watching the final five episodes of the first season, as I have some of the other shows that I want to get in too.

I am loving Murderbot so far. I think Alexander Skarsgård has been sensational so far and I do love the relationship between the Sec Bot and Ayda Mensah. Mensah is one of my favorite characters on the show so far. She is such a great person and a leader who will not just choose the easy choice, even if Sec Bot thinks it is a mistake.

This has been awesome so far and I can’t wait to see Murderbot continue.

Murderbot S1 E1, E2

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Spoilers

“FreeCommerce”

“Eye Contact”

The third new series for me to watch was also on Apple TV +. It is a sci-fi/action/comedy based on a book series called Murderbot Diaries by Martha Wells, specifically the first book of that series called All Systems Red.

After the first two episodes, I love this series.

What a great concept. Alexander Skarsgård played our title character, Murderbot. It was a construct designed from cloned human tissue and mechanical parts, and it was controlled by humans. However, this robot was able to gain his own thoughts and went “rogue.” It gave itself the name Murderbot.

Murderbot was purchased by a crew from the Preservation Alliance as a Sec Bot for their science mission to another planet. The company insisted that the crew had a Sec Bot, despite the crew not feeling the need for one. Team leader,  Ayda Mensah, was very much nervous around any kind of “killing machine” as she put it.

The story is told through the POV of the Sec Bot as an internal monologue tells us what he thinks about the humans… which was never anything positive. His snarky inner voice was one of the funnier parts of the show.

I am a fan of David Dastmalchian, who is a member of the crew, and the one most suspicious about the behavior being displayed by the Sec Bot (aka Murderbot).

Murderbot has a favorite TV show too, which is a sci-fi (Star Trek type) show that we get glimpses of called The Rise and Fall of Sanctuary Moon. This was an absolute blast as we see John Cho playing one of the characters on the show within a show. Clark Gregg was also there as was Jack McBrayer and DeWanda Wise. This felt very much like GalaxyQuest with this TV show that Murderbot enjoyed watching.

There is a neat mystery involving the planet that they are on as well and I am finding this to be a fantastic start to the series.

As I did not read the book series this was based upon, I am very engaged with the show and I am not sure what way it will go. I feel very nervous with the uncertainty of the Murderbot’s inner thoughts. “Stupid humans.”

Poker Face S2 E12

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Spoilers

“The End of the Road”

Last week, after watching Poker Face S2 E11, things just did not make sense. The whole storyline with the Iguana setting up Charlie to lead him to Beatrix Hasp in witness protection seemed so full of coincidences and impossibilities that it was tarring what I had been enjoying. I had hoped, I even think I wrote it in the post, that the writers would have something in the finale to make it all work.

Boy howdy, did they.

They then tossed in the twist of all twists for this show. A twist that they had been setting up for several episodes now. See, last episode when we saw the Iguana killing that guy to go to the wedding and making his prosthetics, it wasn’t the Iguana. This was another hitman….

The Iguana was Charlie’s friend, Alex.

Patti Harrison played Alex, and we thought she had been set up by the real Iguana as a patsy in the murder of Beatrix Hasp’s adopted son in episode 11, but, in truth, this was the Iguana. The Iguana had grown tired of the assassin game, because it lacked any sort of challenge. Then, when someone was trying to hire her to kill Beatrix, the name of Charlie Cale was brought up. A woman who was like a human lie detector and who was infallible presented the challenge for the Iguana. Could she lie to the lie detector?

When she was explaining everything to Charlie, we got flashbacks to the last few episodes, placing everything into context, showing that it all would fit. There are some awesome details that were dropped and we see Alex and her ability to lie to Charlie. Alex told her that every time she had to focus on every little thing to prevent Charlie from discovering the truth. She said it was thrilling.

Poor Rhea Perlman. She had to come back for this episode just to play a dead body with a bullet in her skull. Charlie was able to figure out things, but just too late. I wondered why the show chose to focus on the “Big Red” gum Alex had given to Charlie. It was weird product placement, I thought. But it triggered a memory of a lie Alex had told Charlie a few episodes ago and it put Charlie on to the truth.

The chase scene was fun but let’s talk about the “To Be Continued” that flashed up on the screen as Alex seemingly drove Charlie’s car off a cliff into the Grand Canyon Canyon in Indiana, Thelma and Louise style. The screen froze with the car in the air, about to fall to their doom. I literally screamed out in shock. I wonder if anyone immediately shut off their TV in frustration at that point? I had just stared in shock at the unbelievable cliffhanger when everything started to rewind. The car went backwards and we see the POV of Charlie, as she jumped from the car and held on to a branch, dangling over the cliff as the car flew into the canyon and crashed in a fiery explosion.

What a moment that “To Be Continued” was. It felt both awesome and cruel at the same time. Somehow, Alex’s body was not in the car afterwards. Not sure how she escaped but the show is setting Alex up as Moriarty to Charlie’s Sherlock Holmes. The show gave Charlie an arch nemesis and I liked that, even if I had to suspend disbelief that Alex was not dead. However, after questioning the story last episode, I have learned that Rian Johnson has planned things out so when Alex inevitably returns, it will make sense then.

Sadly, Charlie is on the run once again, now from the FBI. Simon Helberg’s Agent Luca Clark giving Charlie a head start, telling her that the next time they met, he’d have to arrest her. I waited for Charlie to say “bullshit” but she did not, so I guess he is telling the truth. I like how this relationship with Charlie and Luca is progressing. Luca clearly is amazed with her and her intelligence and I hope there will be more with these two moving forward.

I know Poker Face has not yet been renewed, but this show has set up plenty of story for a third season so I hope Peacock knows what they have in this show or if they let it go, maybe another streamer like Netflix or Amazon would give it a go.

Natasha Lyonne directed this episode and she did a great job with several creative and original shots and images. Lyonne is also one of the most interesting characters on TV right now and I really want more of her.

Season two was very strong and ended with a big time splash.

June Swoon 4: Two A Day!

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We are under a month until our fourth annual June Swoon… except, there will be a twist this year.

There have been a lot of movies that I have missed so far in 2025 that are showing up on the streaming services. I was looking for a way to do a big couple of day watch… much like the Friday Fun Festival I did late last year, but the timing just was not working out.

The list was getting longer when I came up with the idea. I knew the June Swoon 4 was starting on June 1 (I can announce that September 5 is the first film of the June Swoon this year), and I thought… what if I did a movie from this year every day as well.

Typically, the June Swoon is a DailyView, where I watch a movie that I missed from 2024, once a day from June 1st to June 30th. That will still be in place. Joining the movie from 2024 will be a movie from 2025, giving us two movies a day, every day for the month of June!

I love this as a new challenge. EYG has done the June Swoon for three previous years and this new wrinkle will spruce up the event even more. It will be a busy month as I would like to finish the X-Files this summer, there is the Sunday Morning Sidewalk continuing, and any continuing series are still on the docket.

I would guess that the new releases on the weekend during June will count as movies from 2025 for this challenge.

I am excited about the new June Swoon! Starting on June 1st…

June Swoon 4: Two A Day Movie List

It’s Then Now: 2024 movie

It’s Now: 2025 Movie

June 1

It’s Then Now: September 5

It’s Now: Black Bag

June 2

It’s Then Now: Hundreds of Beavers

It’s Now: Into the Deep

June 3

It’s Then Now: Wallace & Gromit: Vengeance Most Fowl

It’s Now: The Luckiest Man in America

June 4

It’s Then Now: Flow

It’s Now: Screamboat

June 5

It’s Then Now: Memoir of a Snail

It’s Now: A Working Man

June 6

It’s Then Now: The Only Girl in the Orchestra

It’s Now: Wick is Pain

June 7

It’s Then Now: Ghostlight

It’s Now: Wrestlemania IX: Becoming A Spectacle

June 8

It’s Then Now: Sing Sing

It’s Now: The Ballad of Wallis Island

June 9

It’s Then Now: Love Lies Bleeding

It’s Now: Death of a Unicorn

June 10

It’s Then Now: Y2K

It’s Now: Becoming Led Zeppelin

June 11

It’s Then Now: My Dead Friend Zoe

It’s Now: Warfare

June 12

It’s Then Now: Caddo Lake

It’s Now: Karen

June 13

It’s Then Now: Small Things Like These

It’s Now: Fear Street: Prom Queen

June 14

It’s Then Now: Queer

It’s Now: The Rule of Jenny Pen

June 15

It’s Then Now: The Brutalist

It’s Now: Finger Food

June 16

It’s Then Now: The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim

It’s Now: Magazine Dreams

June 17

It’s Then Now: Ultraman: Rising

It’s Now: Rust

June 18

It’s Then Now: The Last Showgirl

It’s Now: Mountainhead

June 19

It’s Then Now: Black Barbie: A Documentary

It’s Now: Titan: The OceanGate Disaster

June 20

It’s Then Now: In a Violent Nature

It’s Now: The Surrender

June 21

It’s Then Now: I’m Still Here

It’s Now: The Friend

June 22

It’s Then Now: The Fire Inside

It’s Now: Another Simple Challenge

June 23

It’s Then Now: Nickel Boys

It’s Now: Nonnas

June 24

It’s Then Now: Tuesday

It’s Now: Revelations

June 25

It’s Then Now: Chicken for Linda

It’s Now: Art Spiegelman: Disaster is My Muse

June 26

It’s Then Now: Your Monster

It’s Now: Until Dawn

June 27

It’s Then Now: Hitpig

It’s Now: Star Trek: Section 31

June 28

It’s Then Now: Babygirl

It’s Now: K-Pop Demon Hunters

June 29

It’s Then Now: The Order

It’s Now: G20

June 30

It’s Then Now: Absolution

It’s Now: Deep Cover

Sunday Morning Sidewalk #14

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Spoilers

“Chapter Four: A Hope in Hell”

This morning, we take a stroll down the Sunday Morning Sidewalk onto the path to Hell.

And the path to Hell is lined with more than just good intentions. It is lined with tension, anxiety and suspense.

What a great episode this was.

At first, as Morpheus and Matthew traveled into Hell to regain his helm, I was more engaged with the second part of the story, John Dee being picked up by a woman named Rosemary. That conversation inside Rosemary’s car was scary and I dreaded what was going to happen to Rosemary, who was just trying to be a good person.

However, then Morpheus wound up in a fight with Lucifer Morningstar and the narrative of the episode switched. The ‘fight” between these two was amazing… and unlike anything I expected. It was truly sensational and brilliantly constructed. It could have easily just slipped into the big power fight that we see so often, but this was deeper, more intense.

The fight turned on the word of the raven, Matthew, giving Morpheus that last bit of motivation to overcome the ruler of the Underworld.

It also seemed as if Rosemary was able to survive the episode, and I was sure she was a goner. Sarah Niles played Rosemary so exceptionally that I immediately connected with the character and wished for her safety. John gave her the amulet of protection at the end of the episode after she had decided to wait for him instead of escaping to freedom. It was a sweet ending that I still was anxious about. I really wanted Rosemary, a good person, to not be killed off in this warped story. When it was clear that she was going to make it, I did breath a sigh of relief.

Nicely paired episode with two stories (which nearly crossed at the end) that I was very engaged in. This is my favorite episode so far of the season and it does seem as if the show is only getting better each week.

Yellowjackets S3 E8

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Spoilers

“A Normal, Boring Life”

Um… Shauna… WTF?

Shauna was always my favorite of the adult Yellowjackets, but… is she the most unhinged? I had difficulties seeing teen Shauna do these insane things but have adult Shauna seem to be sane.

Well that ship has sailed.

Shauna has been taking a trip down to insanity this second half of the season as it seemed as if someone was trying to kill her… or at very least… mess with her. Yet, when she, with her teeth, took a chunk of skin out of the shoulder of Hillary Swank, Shauna was the most unhinged that I think we have seen her as of yet.

Turned out that Hillary Swank was playing Melissa, whom everyone believed was dead. Shauna assumed that Melissa was the one behind everything, but I have to say that I believed Melissa’s story, and it made more sense than Shauna’s conspiracy theory.

The scenes between adult Shauna and adult Melissa are easily the best scenes of the episode and I found myself wanting to get back to them every time we were somewhere else. So while there were some important things going down (Tai confirmed to be under control of her other self, the capture of Kodi, Shauna, Lottie and Tai refusing to leave the wilderness, Jeff confronting the Joels about the dinner Shauna ruined) none of that matched the intensity of the scenes between Shauna and Melissa.

Could the entire season just be Shauna seeing things that were not really there in order to “blow her life up?” Shauna does make the salient point that Melissa is living a lie, married to the daughter of Hannah (who apparently will die at the Yellowjackets’ hands) and pretending to be named Kelly. However, a convoluted revenge plot by Melissa does not make much sense either. She would be throwing a wrench into her entire life by doing it.

Melissa told Shauna that she did send her the tape, but she explained everything in the note… a note that Shauna did not find.

It is very possible that there is another person involved here that is stalking Shauna and taking advantage of this situation to do it. I am not sure and that is a great thing.

Two more episodes of season three remain.

Yellowjackets S3 E7

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Spoilers

“Yellowjackets: Croak”

Joel McHale.

I did not expect to see him as one of the outsiders that came upon the Yellowjackets last week, but there he was, sporting a crossbow and everything.

I don’t know, if I were Joel McHale, who played Kodiak, who was a guide for the frog scientists, Edwin and Hannah, I would not have run from the girls. I had a crossbow. Even after Lottie killed Edwin with an axe, I think I might have tried to take a stand against them. He was clearly bigger and stronger than the girls.

In the end, both Kodiak and Hannah were captured by the Yellowjackets and, if what he hear about in the present day, it does not sound as if either of them make it out of the wilderness. At least, if they do, they are missing.

Then, the mystery of who killed Lottie continues to be crazy as it could, literally, be just about anyone. Taissa has been under the control of her other half for who knows how long. Something confirmed by Van when she was hallucinating at the hospital. She was throwing up blood as Shauna, Tai and Misty joined her on the way to confront the daughter of Hannah, who they believe had sent them that tape. Of course, it could also be Shauna, who had her DNA under Lottie’s fingernails.

Shauna ditched her, well, I was going to say friends, but that is not right) former team mates at the hospital and went to the daughter’s house and Shauna had purchased a big old knife. What is her plan? Or is she just still as psychotic as she seemed in the wilderness? Callie seems to be wondering if her mother is a bad person.

This episode flew by for me and I was not ready for it to end. I can’t wait for next week’s new installment… along with the rumored appearance of Hillary Swank.

The White Lotus S2 E4, E5

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Spoilers

“In the Sandbox”

“That’s Amore”

It was two interesting episodes that seemingly flipped my opinions on some of the characters from the first three shows of season two.

This was the first time that I was interested in the two prostitutes who had been hanging around the White Lotus, Mia and Lucia, had been a distraction for much of the first three episodes, but, for some reason, I started to enjoy their presence in these two. Mia’s relationship with Albie felt sweet. I was a little uncertain because it felt like she might be taking advantage of him. Then Lucia’s accidental poisoning of the piano player led to her to gt a chance to play the piano.

Tanya, whom I already like, was able to get out of her depression over Greg’s leaving when she came across a group of gay men who invited her into their circle. I’m still not sure about the overall positiveness of this though. The end of episode five made me wonder. Still, it was nice to see Tanya apparently happy for a bit at least.

I was rooting for Portia, but her hooking up with Jack felt beneath her, and I was not sure I liked that storyline piece.

This was also the first time that I got into the story with Dominic and his father Bert. There was a scene between the two of them at dinner that brought this troubled relationship to light, making me understand these two way more than discussions of The Godfather ever did.

Aubrey Plaza’s Harper, who had been my favorite character up until these episodes, found a condom wrapper in the apartment and became extremely unhappy with Ethan. This entire arc has done nothing but make me dislike Harper and make me feel sorry for Ethan. It feels at this point that Ethan is way better than any of the people he is with, whether it be Harper or his best friend, Cameron, who is just a creep.

I do think that the show has begun to hint at who the bodies are going to be and we had a couple of characters go out to the water in moments of melancholy and close their eyes. It was both Dominic and Harper at different points during these episodes. I do not know if this is meant to be red herrings, but these two are easily the most depressed characters on the canvas right now, even lower than Tanya.

Two more episodes to go before I start season three.

The White Lotus S1 E4, E5, E6

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Spoilers

“Recentering”

“The Lotus-Eaters”

“Departures”

I finished off the first season of The White Lotus with some mixed feelings. The show is amazing, beautifully shot with gorgeous imagery of the Hawaiian Islands. However, the characters, while intriguing and deep as well as wonderfully acted, are just the worst people around.

Even those characters that I think we were meant to connect with as an audience are just the worst examples of people.

Armond is the perfect example. I am both sorry for and disgusted by Armond. He took so much grief and unnecessary strife, particularly from Shane, but he made so many choices that led to his own downfall. The scene of him pooping in Shane’s luggage was gruesome, shocking, and downright disturbing (albeit really funny). Of course, this “feud” with Shane sure seemed as if Shane came out on top and I am not sure how I felt about that. Shane was one of the biggest jerks on the show. Just losing his wife did not seem to be enough Karma for him.

Another character that we were meant to support was Paula, but she was every bit as bad as Olivia. She totally corrupted Kai which led his his arrest. That arc was anything but satisfying as that character was sacrificed to the show. I kind of expected Kai to have given the jewels he stole back, maybe anonymously, because he was better than that and had felt the regret of his actions. I guess not as Armond just said he was caught and that was all we got from him.

If there was one character who was worth rooting for, it was Belinda, who got royally screwed over by Tanya. The whole storyline with Tanya and Greg did not work much for me. He just blew in, had sex with Tanya, and told her he was sick. This was so out of nowhere, it felt out of place. Plus, it led to Tanya turning away from Belinda, whose heartbreak over the rejection of her business plan, a plan that Tanya encouraged in the first place, was crushing. Actor Natasha Rothwell did some wonderful acting in the final episode, keeping much of her own disappointment and ache inside and expressing it through her eyes and face.

There are seven episodes of season two also on MAX and I expect that I will be jumping into them soon. This first season was really well done and acted, creating some definitive feelings for these people. They just may not have been a happy feeling.

Girl in the Picture (2022)

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January 31

January 31st is here and the 2025 Genre-ary comes to a close with a Netflix documentary called Girl in the Picture, which was based on the books A Beautiful Child and Finding Sharon by Matt Birkbeck.

According to IMDB, “A young mother’s mysterious death and her son’s subsequent kidnapping blow open a decades-long mystery about the woman’s true identity and the murderous federal fugitive at the center of it all.“

This was an excellent documentary covering the tragic story of a young girl named Sharon Marshall. Or at least, it was a young girl who was known as Sharon Johnson. She had been abducted as a child and then raised as the daughter of Franklin Delano Floyd, a kidnapper, murderer and sexual abuser.

Sharon suffered years of abuse at the hands of her “father.” He would use her to make money by making her strip and offering her for sex to other men.

The story also included a boy named Michael, who had been kidnapped by Floyd as well. The boy disappeared and the question about what had happened to Michael was part of the film.

One of the best things about this doc is that all of the mysteries surrounding these people are solved. A lot of times these docs do not have a sense of closure because mysteries are left unsolved. Here though, thankfully, everything is revealed.

It is such an emotional story of pain and loss, but it also gives a great story about how people can help by doing whatever you can.

Girl in the Picture is available on Netflix.

And with this, the 2025 Genre-ary comes to a close.

There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane (2011)

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January 28

Today’ documentary for the Genre-ary was a doc from HBO MAX called There’s Something Wrong with Aunt Diane.

According to IMDB, this documentary looked at… “The accident made national headlines: a suburban mother drove the wrong way on the Taconic State Parkway in New York and crashed head-on into an SUV, killing herself and seven others. In the aftermath, Diane Schuler was portrayed as a reckless drunk and a mother who cracked. But was she the monster the public made her out to be…or the perfect wife and mother that many say she was? Investigating the case six months after the accident, this documentary searches for answers to a mysterious and senseless tragedy.”

This was an interesting documentary. The story of Diane Schuler was an odd one. It looked as if she had just been drunk and high and wound up in a tragic accident that killed eight people. Moat of the doc featured Diane’s husband, family and friends and their POV of the situation. They were all certain that there was no way that Diane could be a drunk who drove her car into another vehicle. They were all very determined that this was not possible.

The problem was that all of the evidence of the case pointed to Diane Schuler was drunk and high at the time of the accident. The family of Diane did not provide any possible evidence outside of their denials.

Through the entire documentary, it felt as if some piece of information was missing. The motivation of Diane is questionable. I do not understand why she may have been drinking vodka and smoking marijuana. There was a point of contention about a possible tooth that abscessed, but that did not feel like the overall answer.

There is also another weird event involving an investigator hired by the family who had Diane’s specimens retested, but never got back in touch with the family. This was a truly bizarre aspect of the story. Near the end, Diane’s sister spoke with the investigator who said that he had sent the results and that they were the same as the original one. This was strange.

Some of the images of the accident was just tough to watch. There was a warning at the beginning of the film, but they still caught me off guard.

There seems to be something missing in this story, and sadly, we will never know what it was. Such a tragedy that cost the lives of several humans, including four children.

Misha and the Wolves (2021)

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January 26

My favorite type of documentary is the ones that have a story that it tells you that is totally unbelievable, but it is true. Previous docs that I loved in this manner included Tickled, The Imposter, Three Identical Strangers, and The Jinx. There is a new doc that shocks you with its twists and turns among this harrowing story of a young girl surviving the Holocaust by living with the wolves.

According to IMDB, “Misha and the Wolves is the dramatic tale of a woman whose holocaust memoir took the world by storm, but a fallout with her publisher – who turned detective – revealed an audacious deception created to hide a darker truth.“

I don’t want to spoil much of this tale, so all I will say is that the story told by Misha in her memoir, which became a huge selling book, is compelling enough, and what happened following its release is even more so.

This doc is well told, with some excellent editing and design. It grabs you with the story immediately and then expertly weaves through what remains for the run time.

There are some questions left at the end which made me want to know more, but the doc is truly surprising.

Misha and the Wolves is available to stream on Netflix.