This episode saw the final dismantling of Hydra… offscreen. Amazing that an organization that had such a huge impact on the MCU and this series was dealt with finally as Coulson watched on screens.
We get the debut of Holden Radcliffe, who would become more of a important character in the next season dealing with LMDs. Radcliffe is quite the snake as he is willing to switch sides without blinking an eye.
Fitz and Simmons have sex at the end of the episode, finally consummating a relationship that has been “cursed” from day one, seemingly.
“Failed Experiments”
The Kree appear in this episode as Hive lured them to earth in order to get their blood. Hive’s plan to turn the human race into Inhumans means he had to recreate the original experiment where he had been turned into an Inhuman.
Mac and Daisy faced off and she beat him silly. Mac kept saying that he wasn’t going to fight her. Mac is able to survive because Daisy does not really want to kill him. Mac ruins the experiment with the Kree too.
Daisy offers her own blood to continue the experiement.
“Emancipation”
The Sovokia Accords show their rotten faces in this episode as Talbot comes to Shield headquarters looking for answers. Talbot wants the Inhumans in Shield to be registered, but Coulson said that this is not what they need, they need to keep them secret.
Lincoln has been contacted by Daisy. It’s so funny how Daisy just pushes a few keys and she is throughout the Shield HQ. Daisy wants to help Lincoln to escape and come join her and Hive. Lincoln agrees, but it is part of the plan. Daisy manually brings in a Quinjet, that she believed had Lincoln inside. Instead, it was Lash.
Lash used his power to cure Daisy of the control of Hive, but ends up getting killed by James. Daisy returned to Shield with the Quinjet and the dead body of Lash.
“Absolution”
Daisy is struggling. Like she is addicted to Hive, she is having trouble dealing with things that she had done.
The team launched an assault on Hive, and they end up capturing him. They brought him aboard the Zephyr One, but it turned out that is exactly what Hive wanted. Hive had a bomb that had a virus connected to it and he needed a way to get high enough in the atmosphere to spread it across the earth, changing humans into Inhumans.
Daisy confronted Hive at the end of the episode and begged him to take her back. I was not a fan of this, because it made Daisy look pretty weak.
“Ascension”
The Hive storyline came to a satisfying conclusion as Coulson came up with a new plan, to load the bomb onto a Quinjet and send it into space. When the explosion went off, the virus would be in space and would not cause any trouble for the earth.
Of course, there are all kinds of trouble with the execution of this. Yo Yo gets shot trying to protect Mac. Lincoln gets injured by James. Hive is still running around causing trouble.
Daisy, who had had visions of the future where a Shield agent died, wanted to sacrifice herself in the Quinjet to make sure the bomb is safe for the planet. However, Lincoln beats her to it and he and Hive are trapped in the Quinjet as it leaves earth’s atmosphere.
I was never a big fan of Lincoln, but I appreciated his sacrifice and his last few moments with Hive in the Quinjet, knowing that their deaths were imminent, was very strong.
I did feel bad for Daisy, who sure went through it this season. Her grief over Lincoln’s death was tough.
The end of the episode restarted things for the next season, with Life Model Decoys, a vigilante Quake and Coulson no longer director being major hints dropped.
I love this issue. We get a couple of major face offs and sets our two main protagonists on a course for each other.
Astrid video called into the board meeting, revealing that she was very much alive. The confrontation with Mr. Wenuka was like the worst Zoom call ever. Astrid sure showed that even on a mountain top, she had everything under control. I loved how she dealt with Todd, who was the assassin who attempted to kill her on the mountain. She treated him way better than I expected.
Meanwhile, inside the Clean Room, Chloe embraced her ability to control the Clean Room and to show Spark his past… something Spark did not want to see. There were some horrible scenes with Spark possessing a little girl and the tragedy around it. Chloe seemed to be in control as much as Astrid was during the video conference. Killian was shocked since she only knew of one person, Astrid, who could activate the Clean Room.
Both of the assassins, Todd and Duncan, were shown to have been hypnotized and the people around them forgave them quickly. I like that very much. It also seems as if Spark may have taken a step back from the evil that it had looked to reclaim last issue.
Astrid’s brother’s baby was discovered by Astrid’s people. They told her the baby was normal. Of course, Astrid is able to see things differently as the last shot shows the baby with the monstrous head.
Every issue has a twist that I did not see coming. I love how this series feels like a roller coaster that is just flying without me knowing where it was going.
So, what I wrote about last issue is a touch different now.
It appeared that Spark is not dead. The electricity that was sent through him last issue did not turn him into a pile of ashes. That is what I thought happened, but we see Spark this issue, still alive, still in the Clean Room and being tortured for information. The panel where Spark spoke for Chloe Clim Clam, begging for her to help him, made me worry that Spark is going to resent her for leaving him.
In fact, Chloe knows Spark is alive and I wonder why she left him in the first place. We see her investigating Mueller holdings, and she called Astrid all kinds of nasty names, but why did she leave in the first place?
We return to the scene several days later and Astrid has left the Clean Room and gone to a mountain retreat. Killian sent Capone to retrieve Astrid, but Astrid does not seem to be planning on coming back. Suddenly, there is some feeling for Astrid, a character who I called cold and sent straight t team bad guy last issue. I had some pity for her as she dealt with the idea that her brother shot her through the heart. I am such a manipulated mark.
We also have a new pair of horrendous individuals to fill that villain role. Wenuka and Pete are Jesus-loving corporate businessmen who are looking for a takeover of Astrid Mueller’s followers. We met them earlier, but this issue, we discover that they are darker than we imagined. They had their own “Dark Room,” which made me think it was similar to the Clean Room, and they seem to be ready to torture a poor couple. Weirdos.
I was sure of how I felt about these characters after issue #9 and then #10 flipped it over again. I love that this series is able to play with my emotions. I just hope Spark does not turn angry after his suffering, blaming Chloe.
Clean Room #2 is the next book in the Daily Read and it added to the wonders of the first issue dramatically. Gail Simone’s imagination is truly expansive and provided some dark moments of terror. I wonder how much books like this helped us into the current time of comics where we get a ton of horror books from Ice Cream Man to Hello Darkness.
The second issue started off with another cold open that I did not expect. It was a rough one with a man bent into a pretzel. I did not tie it together until I started looking at this post, but the man who had been killed in the first couple of pages of issue #2 was the same man, Mikey, that Chloe found in the alleyway and who tried to convince her to not pursue the Clean Room. He was afraid of Astrid Mueller and he desperately tried to talk Chloe into just leaving it be. Chloe couldn’t do it and went ahead to meet Mueller.
Did this lead directly to the death of this man? When did that happen? Mikey said that he had been in the Clean Room and he described it, in no uncertain ways, as being horrific. He compared Mueller to Satan and prayed for Chloe as she left him to move forward.
The meeting between Chloe and Astrid Mueller was odd. Mueller seemed to be trying to push it aside and leave. However, when Chloe tossed out some questions about the Clean Room, everything took a turn.
Makes one think that this was what Mueller wanted in the first place.
The whole Dwight stuff was weird and somewhat disturbing. It confused me for a bit since it seemed as if he wound up getting his comeuppance, but was that meant to be what Mueller wanted?
After two issues, I am extremely intrigued with what happens next.
These Jenny Frison covers remind me of the variant covers for Hello Darkness.
Does Dr. Robby have a sneaky, behind-the-typical-treatment treatment for every emergency situation? He sure feels like he has a folksy solution to all kinds of situations, from shoulder dislocations to baby urination. It feels that our new Dr. Al-Hashimi isn’t as impressed as I am.
Dr. Whitaker’s main focus of the day was trying to comfort a Alzheimer’s patient whose husband had died that day. It was heartbreaking seeing him, for the second time, tell her that her husband had died. He took her to see the body and even that did not seem to work as she just thought he was resting. Alzheimer’s Disease is truly a tragic thing.
A man who was choking on broccoli delivered the line of the episode. After they had removed the broccoli, he told about his wife making him count calories in an attempt to lose weight and he said “I never choked on an sausage egg McMuffin.” LOL.
Dr. King got knocked to the ground and struck her head. She spent most of the time worrying over her part in a malpractice case that she would be testifying in later today so I hope that head blow does not come back in a bad way.
Maybe I am getting used to this show as I was cringing and saying out loud “What is going to be in there?” as they started to cut off the cast from the arm of the man who was brought in last week with a horrendous odor. The made sure he showered last week and disposed of his clothes this week. Anyway, back to the cast, I knew something would be coming out of that thing and, sure enough, we has a whole bunch of maggots. Ugh!
We also have evidence that an 8-hour erection is not a good thing. Not sure I needed the dick-shot in the scene. I could have used my imagination.
Another solid episode that was spent more with the characters than anything major in the emergency room. The show blends the cases and the doctors/nurses brilliantly and this is why it is one of the best shows on TV.
Adrian Monk, the defective detective, slips into the number six slot in our top 10. Monk ran for eight seasons on the USA Network and helped garner star Tony Shalhoub three Emmy Awards for Best Actor in a Comedy Series.
Adrian Monk was a homicide detective who had a series of OCD and other fears. However, when he met his future wife, Trudy, those traits calmed down. Adrian Monk was brilliant, seeing things at crime scenes that no one else could. Tragedy struck when a car bomb exploded, killing Trudy and sending Adrian into a spiral of neurosis and depression.
Adrioan Monk slowly got back to doing what he did best, though the police force understandably doubted his ability to rejoin the force. So Monk would work as a consultant on the cases that no oen could solve.
Monk was both a comedy and a drama, doubling down on the problems Monk faced. He was afraid of heights, crowds, enclosed spaces, as well as milk, bees, germs, needles, mushrooms, lightning and MANY more The show listed 312 phobias that Monk suffered from during the show.
He was also very compulsive, with everything needing to be just right. Everything had its order and Monk spent time vaccuuming and cleaning to make sure everything was as it had to be. Adrian Monk knew how ridiculous he was, but he just could not get past these compulsions.
The best episodes though were the ones where Adrian Monk, despite his massive list of fears and eccentricities, was able to overcome and still be brillaint. Monk showed his own personal determination, even through some of the most harrowing moments for the defective detective.
Tony Shalhoub led the cast which included Bitty Schram, Ted Levine, Traylor Howard, Jason Gray-Stanford, Stanley Kamel, Emmy Clarke and Héctor Elizondo.
It was a normal day when I saw a yokai. I was walking home from a long day at school. It was a new school in Kyoto. My family moved to Japan for my Dads job. I moved a lot because of my dads job. This time he said that this would be the last move, I hoped it would. I had always wanted to live in Japan. I was thinking about my first day at school when something moved in the trees next to me. When I turned to see what it was I saw a humanoid shape but it was moving too fast to see it fully, “Maybe it was a deer.” I said to myself.
When I got home my mom was in the living room. “How was school today, Honey.” she asked me, looking up from her japanese language app. “It was fine.” I told her. My mom knows the moves are hard so she doesn’t pry and goes back to her app. I go to my room and on the bed is a box. There’s a note on the box from my dad that says “I know the moves are hard and you handle them so well, since this is it, here’s a present for putting up with it.” Filled with curiosity, I opened the box. It’s a katana and there’s another note, not from Dad, from the manufacturer, “大正時代以前に魔を祓うために使われていた希少な日輪刀を手に入れました。この刀を誇りを持って振るい、成功をお祈りします。 – 田中慎介。” I grab my phone and go to my translator app which tells me what it says, “You have acquired a rare Sun Sword, originally used to exorcise demons and yokai in the taisho era and earlier. Wield this sword with pride and I pray for success. – Shinsuke Tanaka.” The note was cool but mostly looked at the user manual to figure out how to not break this thing or ruin it.
After reading the user manual, I unsheathed the sword. The blade looked liquid, with a mix of blue, white, and green. The hilt was metal squares that made a spiral pattern with circle gems inlaid between them. The sheath itself was black, the handle green and black. It was light in my hand when I swung the sword, almost like it was made for me. “Will, come down here.” I hear my mom yell. “Coming.” I yell back. I put the sword back in the sheath,laid it on my bed, and went to my mom. She was at the door, with a girl from my school, Emi Watanabe. Why was she here? “Hi, what brings you here?” I asked her, and she replied, in perfect English, “Hi, I was walking home from school, and I wondered if you were invited to the festival or knew when it was.” “No, I didn’t know there was a festival. When is it?” I replied. “It’s in three weeks on Thursday.” she said “thanks.” I say, then she left.
After Emi left, I went for a walk around town. I needed to think, and a walk in Kyoto was just what I needed. After 30 minutes of walking I was at the spot where I saw that humanoid shape in the forest when I was walking home from school. I don’t know why but I brought my katana along. When I recalled what happened after school with the humanoid thing, I saw a path to a small temple or shrine. I decided to check it out. When I got there something seemed off about this place, then I saw a hand, a severed hand. There was blood trailing away from the hand to the back of the temple. Grabbing my sword’s hilt, I followed the trail of blood.
When I got to the back I saw who’s hand it was. I saw Emi Watanabe’s cold body, her blood everywhere. She was the only person in class who helped me with problems in Japanese, she was even nice enough to wonder if I knew when the festival was or if anyone told me about it. Now she was dead, brutally murdered. I almost threw up from the sight of it, but I stopped myself and looked around to find any clues of where the murderer went. Bloody footprints led to the back door to the temple, I followed them. I unsheathed my sword, and went into the temple. Nothing was in here, or at least I couldn’t see them, but they were here. “Show yourself!” I called out into the dark. “Have you come to join her?” Someone replied in the dark. “Well, I am still hungry. You will be very filling.” The voice said. I was disgusted by what they just said, they killed Emi and then ate her. “Why did you do it? Why did you kill her, she did nothing to you.” I called back, my anger filling the room. “Show yourself.” Then something moved in the dark, the killer. He was a little shorter than me, he was lean, but something wasn’t right. There was a flashlight on a shelf next to me, I grabbed it and shined the light at the murderer. I wish I hadn’t. His face was deformed with veins popping out of his forehead that looked like they were covering his skin. His teeth looked like shark’s teeth. “Are you scared?” He said barring his teeth. “No.” I spat out the lie. Finding my last bit of courage I jumped at the murderer. Unsheathing my sword I went for his head, but he blocked it with his arm. The sword went right through it like hot butter. I kept up with the attacks, driving him toward the main door. When I got him to the wall, I went for his head again, this time my sword met its mark. When I did he went up in flames, screaming and cursing.
After he was just a pile of ash, went back outside where someone seemed to be waiting for me. He was my age, maybe a little older, and he also had a sword. Eyeing my sword he asked “Do I know you?” Confused, I replied “No, are you from Horikawa High School?” “No, I am not,” He replied “But how did you kill that thing?” He had seen me fight the murderer. Grabbing my sword’s hilt, I asked him, “What do you mean?” “I know you fought the yokai that killed that girl. How did you do it? Killing a yokai is impossible without a Sun sword, so how did you do it?” He replied. I was confused so I told him what had happened.
…….Later…….
I learned the kids name was Kengo Takemoto, and he was a Yokai Hunter, which are people who protect others from yokai. They are a special agency that is unidentified by the government. Kengo invited me to join, I accepted his offer, I wanted to protect others from the same fate as Emi. “There is a selection test to join in a week.” Kengo told me and he gave me a training regiment to get ready for it.
The training was hard, I had to go up to the top of a mountain, then I had to do 100 push-ups, 200 sit-ups, 200 jumping squats, and 100 pull-ups. The thin air made it harder to do, but pushed through. After the work-out I had to run down the mountain, through the woods ducking trees and rocks. It was tiring, but I was doing this to help people and to avenge Emi’s death.
The day of the selection test arrived. There were at least 30 people there, most were around high school age, but a few looked to be in middle school and a few were adults. Everyone was wearing traditional kimonos, which was how the officials knew that you were participating in the test, not running it. The test was held on a mountain with walls surrounding it, so yokai couldn’t escape. “Welcome to the Yokai Hunter Selection Test.” boomed a voice from a microphone. “My name is Shinsuke Tanaka, and I am the president of the Yokai Hunter Corp. Today you will be taking part in the test to join this corp, and protect humanity from the yokai.”
President Tanaka told us the rules of the test, you had to make it to the other side of the mountain, which is infested with yokai, by sunrise. You could forfeit if you wanted to by shooting a flare up and some hunters would take you to the start. The test would start at sunset, which was in twenty minutes, and I was getting nervous. “You got this.” I said to myself, as some reassurance. I looked at my sword and remembered the first time I held it, I remembered when Emi came to ask me about the festival, I remembered her death, and I remembered Kengo, who took his time to make a training regiment for me. These memories eased my nerves and helped me focus. “Now,” boomed the President’s voice, “let the test begin.”
I didn’t see a yokai until an hour into the test, which I killed when it pounced at me. After a little while, I heard someone cry out in pain, instinctively I ran to help where I saw a giant yokai lunge at a kid who looked like he was in middle school. I ran to help, and severed the yokai’s outstretched arm, “Run.” I told the kid, who followed my order. The yokai seemed to be calculating his newly severed arm and then, faster than I could see his arm was back. But I didn’t hesitate and decapitated the yokai. It seemed to take an eternity before I saw anyone else. When I did see someone they were running away from me, and then I saw why the finish line was right there so I sprinted toward it. Then out of nowhere a yokai pounced on me, I had no time to react and was thrown into a tree, unsheathing my sword I went on the attack. This yokai had four arms which made it harder to lay a hit on it, but I had a plan. I went for his legs, knocking it over, creating an opening for a decapitating move, which I took. After the yokai was ashes I ran to the finish line, passing the test.
When the sunrise came and the search party combed the forest on the mountain for any participants who had died taking the test, it was time for the selection ceremony. Only seven of the participants passed out of the thirty. “Congratulations on passing the test.” The president said, “You seven are the next generation, stand proud, and may your blades serve you well in your new life as a Yokai Hunter.”
It was a normal day as I (Sam Brenner) was going to a house to install a Playstation 4 and a new TV. I knocked on the door and was unexpectedly met with a 12-year old kid instead of the parent I expected. I asked the kid where his parents were and he said his mom was upstairs and told me how his parents had a divorce.
His mom then walked downstairs and said, “You don’t need to tell the installation man our whole life story.”
“Alright I’ll hook up this TV and PS4 up,” said Sam Brenner.
“Yeah you do that,” said his mom.
“Yeah, she’s struggling with the divorce and all that stuff,” said Matty.
“Yeah, that must’ve been tough,” said Sam Brenner.
As I finished setting up, I went to get the release form and money for the TV and Playstation. As I knocked on her door, I heard her crying in the closet, and I said I was coming in. As I walked in I asked what the matter was. She said it was the divorce stuff so I was helping her with it and thought we were having a moment. I tried to kiss her and she got mad.
“I thought we were having a moment,” I said.
“Yeah a moment,” she replied.
“I didnt take you for the snobby type,” I said.
She got mad at me. I then got a call from my friend, the president. He told me he needed me over there ASAP! I told him I was coming and rushed to the car.
As I started driving I stopped at the red light and the snobby girl was following me and she told her to stop trying to apologize and she said she was just going somewhere important. And then the light turned green and she kept following me and as I pulled into the white house she pulled in and they let her in as a lieutenant. As she walked I went in and happened to go into the same entrance as her. She got to the president’s door and they told her to go into the situation room and then told me the president was waiting for me. I then said ohhh somebody’s more important. As the door shut I asked the president what was going on?
The president then told me that an airbase in Guam was attacked. I asked who attacked it. The president said that’s why I called you. I was then like me? He just told me to come here. I sat down and I saw this:
Wait, is that galaga, like the arcade game? said Sam Brenner.
Yeah they need me in the situation room but I want you to keep looking at this and let me know anything you find. said The President.
Ok can i sit in your chair? Sam Brenner asked.
No! said The President.
Ah gimme a break im sitting in the chair. said Sam Brenner.
Just after looking at it for a while I realized it was not exactly like galaga. It was like if galaga was a horror game and not an arcade game, instead of looking cute and like a fun or chill game to play, they looked
, deformed!
Just as i realized this i heard what sounded like noises from galaga but louder than a tornado siren, they came flying through the president’s window. I ducked down and grabbed a Darpa light cannon and shot the alien. I then ran into the situation room and said, galaga is here! Right as the general started yelling at me, more galagas started coming into the room and I started shooting them. I then asked if they believed me and they all nodded. I then said everyone follow me. I then started sprinting through the hall while shooting the galagas.
Where are we going brenner!? said The President.
You’ll see, it will be worth it! said Sam Brenner.
It better be! Said The President.
Alright everyone grab a light cannon! said Sam Brenner.
Uhm how do we even use these? said The Army Man.
Just figure it out for god’s sake! said Sam Brenner.
It couldn’t possibly be that difficult if i figured it out! said Sam Brenner.
All the tvs then turned back and a weird man said that round one was over and that they had won, and that there are only 3 rounds in total. Well this is the endgame i was thinking.
Ok we need to figure out a plan to stop whatever round two may be. said Sam Brenner.
Ok well do we know what’s coming next? said The President.
Well the second game we played was centipede so i think we can safely assume that it will be the next game to take over. said Sam Brenner.
Ok well lets get training then! said Mr.President.
Ok first rule of centipede, is to only shoot the centipede’s head otherwise it will split in half and make more centipedes. said Sam Brenner.
it will make more? Asked the soldier.
Yeah unfortunately you have to be very accurate or else there will be hundreds of centipedes in just seconds. said Sam Brenner.
Ok get gaming! said Sam Brenner.
Ok remember the patterns, memorize them, that’s how you win! said Sam Brenner.
Ok everyone we need to be prepared at all times, you never know when it could happen. said Sam Brenner.
Just as i said this all the tvs turned off and then back on showing the second location being in London and saying sometime tomorrow night. I realized we needed to get on a flight ASAP if we planned on being there in time.
Ok we need to get on a plane or a private jet and get to London so we don’t miss this fight and lose our planet! said Sam Brenner.
Ok well we better there then. Said The Mom.
London (2015)
As the helicopters landed, we all got out and started preparing for the invasion of the centipedes while the president was in the London prime minister office.
Okay violet how is it out there? Asked The President.
It’s eerily quiet. said Violet.
Wow violet is your real name. said Sam Brenner.
Mr president there coming down now. said Violet.
It is centipede. said Sam Brenner.
Okay everyone DON’T split them in half or they will duplicate! Screamed Sam Brenner.
As they started shooting it looked good at first. But as you thought that, one centipede in half another 2 in half. Then I watched as half our team died so I knew it was up to me. I stole a light cannon and shot through a centipede that was rushing at me. One down just 3 more to go! I started breaking the mushroom things to get a better view. One started rushing me downwards so I shot through that one too. I killed the second to last one by shooting in from the back to the face. Just as I did that I noticed one of them running away. So I chased it onto the road and into a hotel where it trapped itself so now there were zero centipedes left.
Way to go brenner! Screamed The President.
No problem, what’s next? Sam Brenner Asked.
Well what’d you play next in the competition? The President Asked.
Pacman. said Sam Brenner.
Well dont you need ghosts for pacman? Asked the President.
So we need some little ghosts. Said Sam Brenner.
Here follow me to nyc. said Violet.
ok where are we going in nyc? Sam Brenner Asked.
Showing you the ghost. Said violet.
It’s a car? Sam Brenner Asked.
A super charged pacman killing car. Said violet.
Let’s go! Said Sam Brenner.
As i got in the car i saw giant 30 foot tall pacman turn around the corner
Ok well its now or never i thought to myself.
Ok brenner you got this just stay calm. Said the president.
Right as he said I slammed on the pedal and started zooming towards pac-man but he’s always been faster so i made a right turn to hopefully counteract pac-man and get one life down. As I turned the next corner I smashed right into pac-man and now he only has two lives left. Ok I got this thought. I kept going and pacman spawned on the other side of nyc. I started heading over there going 100 miles per hour and I didn’t notice he was leading me into a power pellet. As he flew into the power pellet I started reversing. As I spun around I started flooring it and turning around every corner possible in order to escape. As the ten seconds were up I slammed on the brakes and pac-man ran straight into me and now there was one more life left. As pacman respawned i floored it for pacman not knowing again he was going straight to a power pellet again. As he rammed into it he started rolling at me as fast as possible. I started reversing into a parking garage and going up floor after floor as he chased me up them. He was getting way too close to me. As I got to the top floor I jumped off the roof heading towards the building, but as pacman was about to eat me the power pellet weared off and we won! After winning I became a world hero, didn’t have to pay taxes and became a billionaire!
This episode started out with a flashback showing how Chris wound up with the Quantum Unfolding Storage Area. Chris, his brother and father were out hunting (for what is not clear) and they find an alien (not a Xenomorph, that is Tuesdays).
We get more info with the rest of the ensemble as well. Economos is desperately trying to balance his friendship with Chris against his job with ARGUS. He was able to stop St Wild from killing Eagly by hitting him from behind as he was lining up his shot. He told St Wild that another eagle attacked him instead. St Wild decided that because of that, Eagly is the leader of all eagles, the Primal Eagle, and thus became his ultimate prize kill.
Listen…. you better not kill that eagle. Do you hear me, show?
Rick Flag Sr. approached Harcourt with the news she had been blackballed by Waller. However, Flag Sr. wants her to help capture Chris, so he offers to bring her back in. Not the happiest thing as Harcourt texted Chris and they set up a meeting. A meeting where Flag Sr. and his crew would be waiting. This is where the episode left off.
This felt like an insubstantial episode after last week. Sure there were some good moments, such as Chris vs. Judomaster, but it felt lesser. It felt like this was Economos’s episode.
I do like that Chris called Adebayo for help to escape from the ARGUS (which Economos tipped him off was coming). He told her everything and she tried to speak sense to him. Chris is really taken with that alternate universe and he is not thinking clearly. He truly is considering taking himself over to the other universe so he could have his dad and brother, as well as a potential relationship with Harcourt.
The whole Michael Rooker dance around a fire bit was as bizarre of a scene as you could expect. I am not sure this arc works well and Rooker feels like a character that has been thrown in to get Rooker a role.
Harcourt’s betrayal of Chris is going to really be a tough one to swallow, if that indeed is where the show goes. Next week’s episode could be an extremely powerful and difficult episode to watch. While this one was okay, it does provide a ton of excitement for the next episode.
My creative writing class had to do a 300 word short story in the genre of crime/heist. Here is my story.
What am I doing?
The day was a blur. How did Reggie talk me into this? I constantly let him talk me into things that I know are stupid ideas? There was that time we jumped off the cliff together. We snitched his father’s car and went for a midnight joy ride. Oh, and that day we messed with that rattlesnake. However, none of those days compared to this.
“Shut up! Do what I say! Gimme the money!
All Reggie asked me to do was keep watch. I didn’t know what he meant, but he’s my best friend, and I always do what he asks. Fool. I had no idea he intended to rob Friedrickson’s Deli in the middle of the lunch rush.
Worse yet, Reggie was waving around a handgun.
I should’ve seen this coming. Reggie has been more defiant since his father ran off. I knew it was just a matter of time before he exploded.
WHAM
The resounding pistol-whip blow to the head of Friedrickson sent him spiraling toward the ground. Reggie stood above him displaying a testosterone-fueled rage I have never seen. I was never more scared of Reggie.
Distantly, the sound of sirens could be heard; the flash of the red and blue filled my eyes. Reggie knew the situation before I could even get the words out of my mouth.
“The cops!” he shouted, kicking Friedrickson’s ribs. “What did you do?’
His tone smacked of a strange blend of desperation and acceptance.
“They’re not taking us alive!”
Us? Reggie screamed with a sense of unity that I didn’t share. Reggie shoved me toward the door, brandishing his handgun like a wildman. Everything seemed to be moving in slow motion; the explosion of Reggie’s bullets rang through the sky. Oh….no…the police.
I saw one of the biggest surprises of the year today when I went to the family-friendly comedy/adventure/fantasy film, Sketch. When I saw that the movie company Angel Studios was behind it, I had a sinking feeling that this would not be my cup of tea.
Was I wrong about that.
I absolutely loved this movie. It was thrilling, exciting, had tremendously deep characters and strong performances. It had humor as well as wonderful themes and concepts.
It was very creative too, which I love.
We meet young Amber (Bianca Belle) as she was drawing pictures that concerned her teachers. Bringing in her father Taylor (Tony Hale) for meetings, they showed him the bloody, violent art that Amber had been drawing.
Taylor’s wife, Ally (Allie McCulloch), had died recently, and Amber was dealing with her grief and loss through her art. Her father was not dealing with it at all, as he simple never talked about Ally and took all the pictures of her out of their house. This led to Amber being upset and Amber’s brother Jack (Kue Lawrence) over correcting in an attempt to fix things.
When Jack discovered a magical pond that seemed to be able to fix things, he decides to try something rash. Instead, Amber’s drawing wound up falling into the water which brings the monsters that she had drawn to life, terrorizing the town and her family. The chaos surrounding everything forced the different characters to face their grief in order to get together to stop the monsters.
This was so great. I thought both Bianca Belle and Kue Lawrence did an amazing job as brother/sister. I believed everything these two were going through and they did it in, at times, a very subtle way. When you toss in a third child actor playing the obnoxious Bowman Lynch (Kalon Cox), the three kids truly brought out some of the best scenes from each other. Kalon Cox was hilarious with his b-hole kid.
Tony Dale is always great and he brought a lot to this role. He was worried about his kids, but he also had to deal with the grief of losing his wife and the knowledge that his own repressive actions led directly to the chaos that was going on.
The monsters were really cool looking and the way they would be stopped was such a fun way, with colors everywhere.
There are moments of true horror as well, including some jump scares tossed in for the heck of it. The tension would build through the whole film and you were never quite sure if or how Amber was going to deal with her own feelings. I loved Jack and his efforts to help his sister as a way to deal with his own loss.
The writing of this is tremendous as the kids are allowed to deal with their deep seeded emotions while still trying to deal with each other and with the dangers of the world around them. The emotion is not restricted to the adult characters here as Amber and Jack handle some strong feelings.
I did not know what to expect when I went to this as a way to kill time between Nobody 2 and the RiffTrax Live: Time Cop that I was going to. Where I expected just to pass time, I was thoroughly engaged and entertained by this fun, emotional, colorful, well-acted jewel of a film. I think it is one of my favorite movies of the year and that was quite the surprise.
The world of Middle Earth can hold many stories, both before and after the well known Hobbit and Lord of the Rings trilogy. The world of animation seems to fit perfectly among the setting. Unfortunately, The Lord of the Rings: The War of the Rohirrim does not take advantage of the medium to the point that it could’ve.
According to IMDB, “Set 183 years before the events chronicled in the original trilogy of films, it tells the fate of the House of Helm Hammerhand, the legendary King of Rohan. A sudden attack by Wulf, a clever and ruthless lord of Rohan, with dubious ancestry, having many ties to Dunland, he seeks vengeance for the death of his father, forces Helm and his people to make a daring last stand in the ancient stronghold of the Hornburg-a mighty fortress that will later come to be known as Helm’s Deep. Finding herself in an increasingly desperate situation, Héra, the daughter of Helm, must summon the will to lead the resistance against a deadly enemy intent on their total destruction.”
This movie is okay, but it could have been so much more. The story of Héra is one that we have seen dozens of times. Filled with cliches, there are no really good character moments or story bits. The battles are the best part of the film, but they do not hold the same oomph that they could have because these characters are not deep and do not make you invested in their story.
The animation is, at best, average. Some background scenes look good, but much of the actual character animation looked choppy and, at times, cheap. They tried to cover some animation with snow and other imagery, but it did not work.
The relationship between Héra and Wulf was touched upon, but it was not developed to an extent that I believed the eventual response. Perhaps I can see Wulf’s anger toward Helm Hammerhand, but his all-consuming hatred is unexplained. He comes off as just a one-dimensional villain.
The film is way too long too. At two hour and fourteen minutes, it way exceeds what an animated film, even an animated epic as this intended to be, should be. Still, this is not the worst film I’ve seen. It just could have been so much better.
I am typically negative on these live action remakes of classic animation. There have been some good ones, but there have been so many more that just does not hit the mark.
How to Train Your Dragon knocked it out of the park.
I loved this live action adaptation. My one criticism is that it is basically a shot-for-shot remake with little if anything new to add. However, I don’t care about that when the adaptation is this epic.
I knew the story. I knew the beats. I was still getting chills and I still had tears running down my face in the final act. This was so well done and affecting to me.
Mason Thames was perfectly cast as Hiccup. You had to get this casting correct if you wanted this movie to be successful, and Thames was masterful. He connected to the audience, he expressed the emotions of his conflict beautifully, and his hero’s journey was just spot on. Toothless was impeccable with the CGI. This felt like a real dragon on screen and you could sense the chemistry between Hiccup and Toothless.
Gerard Butler reprised the role that he voiced in the animated movie with Hiccup’s father Stoick. Butler played this over-the-top role to perfection. His feelings for Hiccup are so obvious, even when he was disappointed b his son’s choices.
Nico Parker was a standout as Astrid. She had a star quality every moment she was on the screen. I was really impressed with her in the role that I was not as fond of in the animated movie. The film also featured Nick Frost, Julian Dennison, Gabriel Howell, Bronwyn James, Harry Trevaldwyn, and the incomparable Peter Serafinowicz.
The cinematography of this movie was just outstanding, especially the flying sequences. I constantly sat in the theater in awe over some of the shots I saw on the screen. It was a beautifully designed and laid out with such care.
Yes, this is basically an exact remake of the animated movie and I know there are some who will crap on the film because of that. I will not be one of those. This is my favorite movie of the year so far.
With John having the dream ruby, he stops off at a diner for some coffee and truth-telling, bringing along everyone with the misfortune to come inside the diner.
This did not feature much Sandman. Outside of a shot of him still unconscious with Matthew trying to wake him, we do not see Morpheus until the final act of the episode. What we get is a tour de force from David Thewlis as John, just sitting back and observing the scenario he put into place about truth telling. There was something funny about John Dee watching everything unfold as he dug into a big container of ice cream.
The show provides a powerful theme about truth and lies, showing, I believe, the fact that we cannot survive by being honest all the time about everything. It reveals the darker side of human nature and destroys the idea that “honesty is the best policy.” At least in part.
The unfortunate people in the diner have to face their unhappy existences because John Dee has created a situation where they are going to tell the truth about everything. Even for one of the sweetest characters that we have seen so far, waitress Bette Munroe (Emma Duncan), who seemed to be engaging and friendly to everyone.
The show does a strong job of introducing these secondary characters quickly and providing enough details that make us intrigued, if not interested, in their lives and their eventual downfall.
There was a lot of darkness in this episode, and Morpheus is anything but a hero. He is just finally here to retrieve the power of the ruby, which he does in the final showdown. I was unaware that John Dee was the kid of the man who had captured and imprisoned Morpheus in episode one, and that made the story all the more interesting. John Dee seems to have found his own fate at the end of the show.
Is it just me or is Matthew the raven a better person than anyone else on the show?
There are six more weeks of The Sandman in the Sunday Morning Sidewalk.
I have found most of the “live-action” Disney remakes to fall into the “meh/it’s okay” category. There have been a couple of good ones, some bad ones, but mostly average to below average. Snow White had been receiving a lot of bad word of mouth and online hate, so my expectations were extremely low.
I did not think it was as bad of a film from what I had heard. It’s not a great movie, and it might be pushing it to call it good as well, but I did not see the reason for all of the hatred this film has received.
The classic story is retold as Snow White was shown as a youngster with wonderful parents, the king and queen. Tragedy struck leaving the king alone. Gal Gadot arrived and married the king. When he went to war, the king did not return and Gadot became the Queen, aka the Evil Queen.
Snow White tried to help her people, but the Evil Queen sent the Huntsman out with her to kill Snow White. He could not do it and let her escape into the woods where she discovered the Dwarves.
Rachel Zegler was good as Snow White. I would go as far as to say that she was the best part of the film. The film had some heart and it told the story well. I thought most of the music was catchy or nice to listen to, even though I doubt I would remember them tomorrow and none of them are songs that I would buy on Apple Music.
The Dwarves were not one of my favorite parts. I thought they looked terrible, creepy as all get out as they were all CGI. The animals looked better, but the Dwarves just had that weird look on their faces all the time.
I did not think Gal Gadot made a good Evil Queen. This is the type of role that she would not handle well. She looked amazing, though.
The overall look of the film was not great. It felt fake and much of the CGI was disappointing. The background was not as beautiful and elegant as it should have been and I am not sure where they spent the reported 250 million dollar budget.
So while this was nowhere near as bad as the internet wants you to believe, I would still place it firmly in that Disney Live Action “meh” category I talked about earlier. I am not sure that there was a real reason (outside of making money) for this film to have been remade.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 