Tag Archives: fiction

Sweet Tooth S3 E6, E7, E8

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“Here, There Be Monsters”

“The Road Ends Here”

“This is a Story”

Okay, so about halfway through the Sweet Tooth finale, I was afraid that it was going to end with an unsatisfying conclusion. I did not like the way it appeared that the story was going, and I was about to be extremely unhappy in the finale after an incredible build up with excitement and tension.

Then, everything changed.

The finale of the story brought so many things to a head and I was very pleased with the fates of Dr. Singh and of Zhang. They needed comeuppance and the show provided it. Singh getting his ultimate redemption by saving Gus instead of killing him and Zhang, who survived, saw everyone turn their back on her and left her outside the collapsed cave to try and survive on her own.

The end of the human race was also a rough way to end the series, but it seemed very much the way the story was heading, and having them not die of the Sick and just die out naturally felt very satisfying.

The show also made the death of Jepp aka Big Man almost lacking. Gus telling the story and pretending that Big Man survived and made it back with Gus, but I think it is clear that he wound up dying from his injuries in Alaska.

I also was right about the narrator of the story turned out to be an older Gus. I had thought that was the case. Of course, I did not expect older Gus to be James Brolin. I did not recognize his voice so the reveal was a shock.

Sweet Tooth wrapped up with a really strong and exciting three episodes and I was pleased with the conclusion. I would have liked to have Big Man’s death to have been less pretend.

The X-Files S5 E6, E7

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“Christmas Carol”

“Emily”

The two part story dives into Scully’s desire to be a parent, something that had apparently been taken from her when she was abducted.

The first episode was Scully-centric, with only one quick cameo appearance by Mulder. Scully gets a mysterious phone call when she had returned to her family for Christmas and Scully believed that the voice on the phone was that of her deceased sister, Melissa.

The call led Scully to a house where a woman had seemingly committed suicide. However, there was more to it than that.

What was at the center of this was the woman’s daughter, Emily. Turned out that Emily was an adopted daughter and, as we find out at the very end of the episode, that Scully was her mother.

This dated back to the time frame when Scully had been abducted and had her eggs removed.

Gillian Anderson did some fine work cycling through all the emotions in these two episodes. The final scene where she laid on the bed beside Emily in the hospital was painful and beautiful at the same time.

Oh, but I have to say, Scully’s brother is still a jerk.

Strangely, I do not remember this two part episode. I can’t imagine that I missed it when it first was broadcast, but I did not recognize any of the scenes. The only child I remember for Scully was later on in the series run.

Bates Motel S1 E1

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“First You Dream, Then You Die”

Whoa. I had forgotten how much I loved this series.

I needed a new series to rewatch and I came across Bates Motel on Amazon Prime. I used to love this show when it was on A & E, but rewatching this first episode reminded me how amazing this show was.

Norma Bates and her son Norman leave Arizona to get a new start six months after her husband died. They wind up at an iconic house and motel from the movie, Psycho.

The idea of having a show that took place as a prequel to Alfred Hitchcock’s classic Psycho was a great idea and the execution was even better.

Freddie Highmore and Vera Farmiga are absolutely brilliant as son and mother in this remarkable series. They both totally embody these characters and you just ache for them, especially knowing their ultimate fates.

The first episode pulled no punches either as there is a brutal scene where Norma is raped by the motel’s disgruntled former owner and an equally brutal scene where Norma stabbed said rapist to death with a butcher’s knife.

You can’t help but root for these people as Highmore and Farmiga are absolutely exceptional. You can see the mental illness that takes root inside Norman. Just a glance in his eyes tells so much about his lack of stability.

I loved the inclusion of Richard of LOST, Nestor Carbonell as Sheriff Alex Romero. He is an excellent actor and he brings Alex alive. He creates a totally different character than Richard of LOST and that is a tough thing to do. Admittedly, he does not appear to be that quick in the opener as he takes a pee beside the shower where the dead body of the rapist was hidden. That’s okay. Just prevents Norma from having to kill a couple of more.

This was a fantastic show and I am really looking forward to rewatching the entire run over the next few months.

The Jinx Part Two s2 E5

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“Mostly the Truth”

It’s Bob’s turn to testify.

He had to testify because they had stipulated the fact that Bob had written the cadaver note and Bob had to explain that for the jury. Because he had to explain that fact that he wound up admitted to, Bob was able to be cross-examined by the prosecutor John Lewin.

Lewin planned on showing the jury that Bob was a liar… perhaps even pathological. Lewin picked his testimony apart. Bob had told a story of how he would play Uno and throw the frisbee with his mom, brother and father. Lewin pointed out that Uno was created in 1971 and frisbees were created in 1958 and Bob’s mom died in 1950. This showed clearly that those ‘memories’ were not true.

Nine days of cross-examination. Whoa.

Lewin got Bob to admit that he had lied about some things during his testimony and that if he had killed Susan, he would lie about it.

Those words are shocking.

The trial started really strong for Bob and it took a major downswing.

When they played the “Killed them all, of course” clip from the first Jinx show, it was an amazing moment. Bob said that he had said that he muttered the words “They will all think that I” ahead of those five words. However, they did not let that stand.

Another amazing moment was when Bob, who was saying things that he would lie about, said that he would lie about where Kathie was buried. The prosecutor jumped on that phrasing immediately and it sounded terrible.

The verdict came in: Guilty. Durst was not there at the time because he had been exposed to Covid.

Shockingly, since Bob was not there, someone had to tell him that he had been convicted. But none of his own lawyers did it. They left town imediately.

It was Bob’s current wife, Debbie’s lawyer who told him.

And that feels like the next piece of the story.

Them: The Scare S2 E5, E6

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“Luke 8:17”

“Would You Like to Play a Game?”

Whoa. Some huge revelations dropped in these two episodes that made it a little clearer about what was going on… however, there are still some strange things going on.

I always thought Raggedy Andy was creepy.

Part of the intended confusion early in the show, the stuff that made me think that Edmond was only a copycat killer, was that he seemed like he had not killed before. I actually thought for a brief second last episode that these two stories going on we in different timelines, but I dismissed the idea quickly. Turns out, what we were seeing of Edmond was two years before the stuff with Dawn. Boom, mind blown.

Things go down hill quickly for Dawn Reeve. Edmond is her biological brother. She tries to save a little boy by taking him to the hospital and he dies in the back of her car. This little boy had told her that he was seeing a red-headed man who wanted to kill him. She is put on leave from her job because of this. The racist cops of the LAPD made things even worse, making sure that everything looked bad for her. McKinney is such an a-hole.

However, it is not as simple as Edmond is the killer. There is something supernatural going on too. How does that happen? Edmond hears voices. I do not think it is as simple as Edmond has mental illness. There is something deeper and darker going on.

The attack on Dawn’s son during his performance was frightening as could be, as was his breakdown in the classroom as he was seeing the red-headed man.

Wild speculation time: Does Dawn have something to do with these murders? I mean, more than just being connected to them or being Edmond’s sister? The missing time suggestion means something. What is it? Clearly, Dawn is not very stable at the moment and her life is falling down around her.

Deborah Ayorinde was outstanding in these two episodes. I am very conflicted by her character and I am not sure what this show is expecting me to think about everything. Is she just a victim? Or is there something more sinister going on?

Only two episodes remaining and there are a lot of questions with the show. Either way, this has really kicked into high gear, which was impressive because it was always very compelling already.

Moonlighting S5 E4

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“Plastic Fantastic Lovers”

Season five continues to put the David-Maddie relationship on the back burner and focus on the cases with only a few references to the “Spaceman.”

This episode dealt with plastic surgery, and made me think about the episode from season two, The Lady in the Iron Mask. This time there was a man who had been horribly disfigured by a plastic surgeon that he wanted to find details to sue him. This is why he hired David and Maddie.

David did not want to take the case. This led to an interesting discussion of vanity between Dave and Maddie that continued to inform on their characters.

Of course, as any Moonlighting case, things are never exactly what you see and it leads to a wild, cartoonish chase scene.

There was a chainsaw too.

This episode did feel as if the writers were trying to reach back before the whole Dave and Maddie thing to capture some of the old magic of the show, and they did a fairly decent job of it. This had that same feeling of the third season, but the tension between Dave and Maddie was not here. I liked this episode, but you can see how it is just not quite the same.