Tag Archives: reviews

Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man S1 E9, E10

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Hero or Menace”

“If This Be My Destiny…”

The finale two episodes of the first season of Your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man are absolutely amazing!

In episode nine, we get a big showdown between Spidey and Scorpion, with Lonny smack dab in the middle. Lonny gets exposed to a gas that gives him super strength (and will eventually turn him into the Tombstone we know in the comics). Spidey and Lonny defeat Scorpion.

In episode ten, we have a big battle with Dr. Strange and the symbiote and we are shown that this battle is what would lead to the battle from the first episode at Peter’s school, and the spider that bit Peter was the spider that Norman had created with Spider-Man’s blood that they had collected. I loved that adjustment in the story. It made everything work for me.

The writing on this series has been excellent. It has developed more than just Peter Parker. I feel like they built the supporting characters around Peter so well, especially Lonny who could arguably be considered a co-lead character. They show us the beginning of several villains in the Spider-Man world, like Otto Octavius, Scorpion, Norman Osborn, Venom etc.

With Spider-Man’s actual suit debuting in episode nine, Spider-Man looked sensational. The animation of these episodes were so great with some amazing shots. I have not necessarily loved the animation prior, but this seemed to really be something special.

The voice acting did great all season long. Everything was excellent, especially Coleman Domingo, who was so epic. I would love to see Domingo play Norman Osborn in the MCU. The show has done a great job of slowly building Norman into who we expect he will become. And yet, it feels very justified.

I did not expect this series to be great because recent Spider-Man animation has been more directed toward very young children. This series was right up there with the best Spider-Man series and right there with X-Men ’97. I am happy that this series has a three season order so there are at least two more to go.

I love Spider-Man.

The White Lotus S2 E4, E5

Posted on by

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.

Invincible S3 E1, E2, E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

I did not finish season two of Invincible. I was not loving the show at that time. It felt to me that the show was just falling back on the blood splatter as the story. It was going too far for my taste. To be fair, I did not see the second half of the season so I do not know what it was like.

I had considered not watching season three either. It kicked off with three episodes dropping and they were longer episodes, so I just wasn’t sure if I wanted to get back into it. I decided that i would give it a chance.

I found these first three episodes of season three pretty good. There was still blood, but it did not feel as over-the-top as the last episodes that I watched.

I am not much of a fan of Mark’s new costume. I preferred the first one, but perhaps the new one will grow on me. The whole Invinci-Boy stuff was funny. Oliver is an interesting hero and kind of plays with Mark’s hypocrisy. His conflict with Cecil was based on basically the same idea, especially with Oliver killing the Mauler Twins.

The conflict between Mark and Cecil was rough and we saw how Cecil came to be with a backstory. I am not sure if any of them are in the right with this. Mark does seem to be overly erratic at times, but Cecil is totally condescending. We’ll see where this goes from here.

I did enjoy the arc of the Guardians over these first three episodes, with the conflict between Mark and Cecil splitting the team in half. I found this Guardians storyline to be a worthy addition to the stories going on.

I also liked the Mark-Eve relationship and how they have started to date. Admittedly, date might be a bit of a relative term, but I do like them together.

After watching the first three episodes, I feel as if I will keep giving the show another episode until I find myself feeling as I did during season two. So far, I would say, so good.

Dark Matter S1 E5

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Worldless”

Dark Matter’s fifth episode was another banger.

Between this, Silo and Hulu’s Paradise, sci-fi television is hot again.

Jason and Amanda moved through different universes, learning along the way about what they need to do to try and find their way to Jason’s original world. Meanwhile, they are encountering a variety of worlds where that world’s Jason had something tragic happen.

One world was filled with a deadly disease, and Jason found Daniela sick and dying, after they took away her Jason. Another world, Daniela and Charlie reacted to Jason in a terrible way because their Jason was supposed to be in prison.

As they met Blair, from Amanda’s reality, they learned more about the Box. Blair had gone through so much inside the Box that she simply could not go back into it at that moment. She could not face the differing universes and the stress that built on her inside the Box. She warned Amanda that she needed to know what she wanted for herself, instead of just following Jason.

meanwhile, Jason 2 has been moving in and out of the Box easily, including returning to his home universe to grab some more of the drug. He told Leighton that, after he leaves the reality, Jason planned on sealing the Box’s entrance, essentially preventing anyone from coming into the universe. He knew that Jason and Amanda had made it into the Box a few days before and he is looking to keep Jason from finding his way home.

Four more episodes to go for season one.

Dark Matter S1 E4

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Corridor”

The Apple TV + series Dark Matter episode four was on the docket tonight and we get a very cool display on the multiversal travel. It felt as if the corridor where Jason and Amanda found themselves after their harrowing escape from Leighton. They found their way into the Box and were transported to the corridor, with an infinite number of doors, and an infinite number of possibilities.

I was really wondering how they were intending on finding their way anywhere without it feeling random and coincidental. It seemed as if this was never going to have a reasonable answer to how to navigate the multiverse.

And then Jason figured it out.

So far, this has been great. I am still working hard to keep in focus on which Jason is which, and when they brought Leighton into the situation, I was even more confused (though I think I worked my way through it). The concepts here really work well and feel very tightly scripted. It had to be otherwise it would feel like a major issue.

The story of Charlie’s twin brother was very emotional and how his family honors him (Max) is quite lovely. It is also something that I am not sure if Jason 2 knows about and could be something to trip him up eventually.

Jason 2 is taking some big life changing steps as he occupies Jason’s life. Quitting a job and going full in on the Box, with Leighton’s help, of all people. It was interesting how Charlie had been picking up some vibes from Jason 2. Charlie knows something is not right, but he would never in a million years be able to come up with a theory of why.

Dark Matter is some outstanding sci-fi so far, even if it is a slow burn. I am loving it so far.

One of Them Days

Posted on by

I was never a fan of the trailers for the movie One of Them Days, and I swear it was shown before every movie I watched for months. Because of that, I have ignored this movie for several weeks. However, I have heard positive word of mouth about the film so I figured I would fit it into the schedule. A lot of times when I set up a film like this, I come back loving the movie. Sadly, that is not the case for this one.

Of course, I did not hate this. I would say that it was passable.

According to IMDB, “When best friends and roommates Dreux and Alyssa discover Alyssa’s boyfriend has blown their rent money, the duo finds themselves going to extremes in a race against the clock to avoid eviction and keep their friendship intact.“

While I did not love much of anything in the film, my favorite part was easily the performance of Keke Palmer. Her performance as Dreux was full of charm and humor. She pulled off the main protagonist of this film wonderfully well. She was absolutely a star on the screen. I was not as much of a fan of the performance of SZA, but she definitely had chemistry with Palmer. I was not a huge fan of the character that SZA was playing. I feel as if I have seen this type of character before.

The story was too compressed into this time frame and I think it is tough to buy everything happening in this single day. Still, several of the individual scenes were funny and well set up. And i guess the idea that this is “one of them days” is part of the concept.

Keke Palmer and, to a lesser extent, SZA is the reason to watch this movie. Their chemistry and charm carries the film through for me.

3 stars

Dexter: Original Sin S1 E9

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Blood Drive”

I was more impressed with this episode of Dexter: Original Blood than I had been for a few episodes. Then Dexter did something so stupid that it defies explanation.

In the last few minutes, he captured Captain Spencer and wrapped him up on his table. He taunted him for awhile and then decided to let him escape. I understand he was doing it so he could follow Spencer to where he had the missing Nicky hidden away, but there are so many things that could go wrong with that idea that it is shocking. I mean, just off the top of my head, the police captain could decide to turn Dexter in and frame him for the death of the kids. I can’t believe that would be hard to do… especially since Dexter had already cut off Spencer’s little finger, something that everyone knows the killer had done.

Spencer’s motive for kidnapping Nicky (and the kid before whom he killed) was fairly week too. I mean, just to get back at his ex-wife, he was going to torture and kill his own son? That felt so bizarre. I assume the other kid was taken and killed as a way to throw off the investigation, but that was so out there that I just do not accept that any of this made sense.

The flashbacks this episode were more engaging, which was not typical for this show. They featured the two traumatized brothers, Brian and Dexter, being adopted by Harry and Doris and having Brian be psychotic. It feels like it was a bit of a stretch from Brian and Dexter seeing everyone killed to Brian trying to suffocate baby Deb with a pillow to make her stop crying. The time frame seemed rushed.

I do think making the serial killer involved in this season Dexter’s separated brother is a good twist. I’m just not sure that this is done well either. Brian did not show much emotion about being separated from Dexter as a child, so having the separation be the driving force behind Brian’s murder spree did not feel right. Maybe it was just his excuse to unleash his own Dark Passenger, which makes more sense to me.

I believe there is only one more episode remaining for this season so we’ll see how things get wrapped up. The Brian storyline does not feel like it can be finished up in one episode, especially an episode where the Dexter-Spencer story is still a high priority. Still, we’ll see what happens.

Paradise S1 E1. E2, E3

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Wildcat is Down”

“Sinatra”

“The Architect of Social Well-Being”

I gave the new Hulu series Paradise a chance. It starred Sterling K. Brown, James Marsden and Julianne Nicholson. The first three episodes dropped on Hulu and Disney + earlier this week.

This political thriller/sci-fi show was very entertaining and was a very intriguing mystery.

It kicked off with an unexpected twist. One of the main actors is murdered within the first part of the movie. The narrative is told in both present day and flashbacks, which really helps to establish background of characters and helped to build characters.

Brown and Marsden had great onscreen chemistry. Their scenes together were some of the best of the show. The writing was solid, providing little details of what was going on as the episodes progressed. The reveal at the end of the first episode, that the world had come to an end but the President and the surviving people live in an underground cavern, dug into a mountain.

I liked the whodunnit style of this with the flashbacks giving us a chance to see important moments instead of just hearing about them. I enjoyed Sterling K. Brown’s scenes with his character’s father. Looking forward to the rest of this series being released on Hulu for the next five episodes.

The X-Files S8 E1, E2

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Within”

“Without”

I started season eight of the X-Files today, with its first two episodes, “Within” and “Without.” I have been dreading the start of this season because I knew that this was the season with David Duchovny departure…sort of.

Mulder was abducted by aliens at the end of season seven. This season, I remember Mulder was gone, but he was still in many episodes, being tortured by the aliens. I think this was the show wanting to move on, but yet keep Mulder in the mind’s eye.

This is one reason I remember hating the character of John Doggett, played by Robert Patrick, because he was the replacement for Fox Mulder and I wanted Fox Mulder back. And with the character still being shown every once in awhile, I could not get over it. John Doggett suffered for it.

Watching these two episodes, I had a much different reaction to John Doggett than I did when I first watched the show, back in the early 2000s. Here, I found him to be an interesting new character with a new dynamic with Scully. Scully as the believer (with Skinner in tow) and Doggett as the skeptic is a new feeling for the show.

The show bought in with the Alien Bounty Hunter once again, as the Alien Bounty Hunter was revealed to be on the ship that had Mulder.

These two episodes were really pretty good. It felt as if it took the story in a new direction while still circling back to the mythology behind the show’s first seven seasons. I know I liked them more today than I did in the past.

The X-Files S7 E19, E20, E21, E22

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Hollywood A.D.”

“Fight Club”

“Je Souhaite”

“Requiem”

And with this, season 7 of The X-Files comes to a close. Perhaps one of the most inconsistent seasons of the show, with some real highs and some real lows.

The first three episodes on the list were all based in humor. One that really worked well, one that was so-so and one that was maybe the worst episode of the series.

“Hollywood A.D.” was ridiculous in all the best ways. Mulder and Scully being followed by a movie producer, who was full of puns and jokes, and a movie with Gary Shandling and Tea Leoni. This was written and directed by David Duchovny and had enough wink-winks to make the episode work.

“Je Souhaite” was the middle ground episode as it featured a Genie granting wishes. Honestly I got a lot of Twilight Zone vibes from this episode, which ended like the Disney movie Aladdin did. I found this silly too, but the humor worked more than it did not.

“Fight Club,” on the other hand, is one of the worst episodes I have ever seen of the X-Files, rivaling “First Person Shooter”. Kathy Griffin played two characters who were doppelgangers of each other and in love with a man who also had a doppelganger. Oh, and pro wrestler Rob Van Dam appeared. This was one where the humor did not work and the story was so stupid and incoherent that it seemed as if everyone was just going through the motions.

Then in “Requiem,” the season ended with the show going back to its roots, quite literally, as the show returned to the Oregon town that appeared in season one episode one. It also returned actors who had appeared in that episode. Returning as well was Smoking Man, Krychek, and Marita Covarrubias and Krychek apparently murdered a wheelchair-bound Smoking Man by pushing him down the stairs. It sure looked like he was dead this time, but I know he did not die here. Besides, it would not have been satisfying having Krychek be the one to knock off the a-hole.

Mulder then gets abducted by aliens in full view of Skinner, setting up Mulder’s absence moving forward. Scully tells Skinner that she was pregnant, even though she does not understand how (I mean, she knows how… but she was supposed to have been unable to become pregnant after her abduction).

“Requiem” set up the series with some real cliffhangers that allowed the series to continue into the 8th season. Many times during the 7th season, it really felt like it was going to be the final season and that the creative juices were gone. Part of that may have been the end of the conspiracy and wrapping things up, like Samantha Mulder’s disappearance, as they did.

The Fight of Wolf Soccer

Posted on by

The Fight of Wolf Soccer

By Demon

All the kids came to see the new wolf soccer.

The wolf-mountain team players have been best friends since preschool.

Hey there fella my name is Dragow and I’ll name you tom and Bobby will name his Junior. 

“Hey Bobby, you want to play wolf soccer.”

 “Sure,” Bobby said, “Where is your pet wolf?”

 Boom, boom, boom aah, aah, aah, aah it’s pouring down rain, get in the truck.

“Whimper, whimper, whimper.

howl, howl howl,” the wolf whined.

“Let’s go home Tom.”

ruff, ruff, ruff. Let’s go home and play ball at home. Ruff, ruff, ruff.

 Bobby says to Junior, “Let’s go home. Junior growled at Bobby. 

  I know I don’t want to go home either in the stupid weather.

The  weather is dumb.

Raf, raf, raf Junior barked. yes I’m fine now Bobby said to Junior.  Now let’s go home and play some ball.

 Now the sun is shining, let’s play, let’s go outside!! Let’s go to the park and play wolf soccer!

We could invite some friends to come play with us.

 Bobby said to dragow. 

 I’ll be waiting for you to arrive so we can play wolf soccer and I brought a couple of friends with me so we can have a team.

 “Alright I did it so we can make more friends and let’s get this game started “ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, ruff, and ruff”Junior and Tom barked.

 Let the games begin. Let’s do this, let’s beat the team.

and they are off running and playing wolf soccer.

Wolf soccer is the best game ever. 

The teams rounded up to make a plan to beat the other team. 

ok let’s beat the other team and win this game

We are going to finish this game.

sure  you are “ha!” “ha” “ha” Dragow said. 

Bobby said stop laughing Dragow kept laughing

we are going to beat you fair and square Dragow said no you aren’t Bobby said 

Yes we are.

No you’re not Bobby and Dragow argued back and forth

“You are just jealous that we are going to kick your butt.

”Bobby said 

Is someone jealous of our team?

 “I am not jealous,” Dragow yelled 

“yes you are,”

 “no i’m not.”

“I’m done arguing about this stupid conversation 

“Of course you are but  I’m done arguing because you know I am right,” Bobby said.”

I’m done with you, said dragow.

no!! I quit this game. Bobby said

Fine, I don’t care.

Okay fine, fine.

that person is a dummy anyway 

yes he is a “big” “fat” “dummy!”

We are going to win this game, win, win, win.

Let’s do this game.

Come on, “let’s finish this.

yes sure are you ready to rumble  ah let’s finish this bump, bump, bumm.

 Bobby couldn’t Construct because he felt bad about what he said to Dragow

okay let’s do this okay i’m ready so am I other teammates said 

Let’s beAT them okay let’s PUT OURSELVES IN game mode.

They are so bad that they can be KNOWN AS THE worst team ever. They can never beAT us IN A GAME SO LET’S NOT LOSE ONE NOW. 

“Your team needs to practice more ANYWAY DRAGOW TEAMMATE SAID. 

BOBBY RAN OFF TO SEE IF HE COULD FIND DRAGOW.

eVERYONE GOT MAD BECAUSE THE TWO LEADERS LEFT THE GAME.

bOBBY WAS WORRIED THAT dRAGOW WASN’T HIS FRIENDS ANYMORE

jUNIOR AND TOM WAS AT THE FIELD STILL AND WAITING FOR THEIR OWNERS TO RETURN. 

dRAGOW RAN INTO A FOREST SO NOBODY COULD FIND HIM.

hE GOT LOST HOPING SOMEONE CAN FIND HIM. bOBBY SEARCHED FOR HOURS AND HOURS AND STILL COULDN’T FIND HIS BEST FRIEND. dRAGOW KEPT CALLING OUT FOR HELP TRYING TO SEE IF ANYONE CAN HELP HIM. aNOTHER HOUR PASSED AND bOBBY FOUND dRAGOW oUT OF NOWHERE THEY HEARD ROAR.

dRAGOW AND bOBBY WAS SO SCARED THEY STARTED TO RUN OFF AND HOPEFULLY BE ABLE TO ESCAPE THE FOREST. BUT THEY RAN INTO THE WILD BLACK BEAR.

tHEY BOTH SCREAMED LIKE LITTLE GIRLS EVEN THOUGH THEIR NOT LITTLE GIRls. Tom and Junior heard their owners screaming for help.

The wolf ran as fast as they could. Dragow and Bobby were shaking in a corner because they were trapped in no way to escape the bear.

Then their pet wolf jumps on the bear’s back and attacks the black bear. The wolves got the bear down and scared the bear away.

So after the wolves scared the bear away they all exited the forest.

Dragow and Bobby were happy their pets saved them and after that they promised never to fight again in the end.

Battlestar Galactica S4 E13-E18

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Oath”

“Blood on the Scales”

“No Exit”

“Deadlock”

“Someone to Watch Over Me”

“Islanded in a Stream of Stars”

I watched six episodes in the final season of Battlestar Galactica today, completely enthralled by the experience. This has been such a journey, with some of the best characters on TV and an almost impossible storyline to predict.

Admiral Adama has been so up and down over this stretch of time. So much of his shakiness has been because of his drinking. I do not think the show has intended to dive into his drinking, but it is clear that the alcohol has been a problem. It turns Adama into someone that is so different, so angry. He is usually a balanced individual, but when he is drinking, he is anything but.

Of course, he had to survive the coup attempt by Tom Zarek and Gaeta. I gasped when Zarek ordered the assassination of the Council, and it being carried out. It seemed like an impossible situation, but Lee, Kara and the others fought brutally to stop the coup and prevent Gaeta from executing Adama. It was close, but they succeeded. The scene at the end of that episode with a firing squad executing Gaeta and Zarek was rough.

How many times over these episodes did Adama remove his Admiral medals? I do not think this was a strong season for Adama overall.

Galactica is falling apart, and the pain it is causing Adama is adding to his own stress. Adding some Cylon living goop to fix the cracks in the structures was not helping matters and only caused more strife among the people on the ship.

Ellen returned. After she had been poisoned by Sol on Caprica, she was reborn in a Cylon resurrection chamber. She was one of the Final Five, and we learned that they were the five that created the current Cylons. Her arrival became a huge point of contention for Sol. Sam was shot in the head during the battle and wound up hooked up to machines, much like the Hybrid was.

Sol and Caprica lost their baby. He was going to name him Liam. It was a real painful moment and only went to highlight how vital Hera was to the Cylons. Boomer wound up manipulating Tyrol into helping her escape from the brig and she ends up taking Hera and escaping Galactica upon a viper, pretending to be Athena. Not before fracking Helo (still pretending to be Athena) with Athena tied up in the very room watching it happen. The possible retrieval of Hera feels like a major part of the final three episodes.

Kara struggled with her discovery from earth of her own dead body. She had no idea how it happened or what was going on. She was not a Cylon as all the models had been revealed (I guess except for Daniel, the mysterious Number 7). She had some connection to a song that her father used to play on the piano for her as a girl, the same song that Hera had written the notes to and that played to trigger the Final Five. How this song works in this story is still a huge question.

Oh, and what a dick move by Baltar to reveal to everybody that Kara had found her own body on earth. He claimed it was proof of life after death. Kara slapped him for revealing the truth as he did, but that seemed out of character. I expected Kara to give him a full on right cross. I had been finding more positives about Baltar over this stretch of episodes, but this made me remember what a jerk he was.

I really liked the alliance formed with the Cylons and the humans, and I also liked how there were plenty of people who found this to be against what they believed.

Adama’s decision to finally abandon ship and give Galactica a goodbye was long overdue as the ship had been dying for much of this season. The moment of Adama and Tigh accepting the loss together was a powerful way to end episode 18.

The final three episodes of the series are a three-part run, and I plan on watching them all together at some time this week. It is entitled “Daybreak” and I can honestly say that I have no real idea how it will conclude, which is awesome. I assume there will be some variation of the vision with Hera playing out at the new Cylon colony, and I have to guess that Cavil will get his comeuppance. I do hope we discover exactly what is going on with Starbuck, and what it means when the Hybrid and Sam referred to her as the “Harbinger of Death.” I do not want Laura to die from her cancer and I would love a happy ending for her and Adama. I do not think that is going to happen, unfortunately.

First Base

Posted on by

First Base

By: The Rookie

“YOU’RE A FAILURE.” 

Eddie Fox, is a seven foot six inch beast. He was twenty six years old and still living in his dad’s basement. He had been practicing baseball since he was five years old, and part of his dream had finally come true. He made it to pro baseball. He was an outfielder so he doesn’t make money yet. He needed to support his dad and try to make him proud of his son again. With his mom bills piling up especially with the bills that his mom had put on them, this was his darkest time. He felt as if he had died or was going to die.

 He had been trying to make them pick him for first base. That was his other part of his dream. He had not been able to practice much because of his mom. So the first day of baseball Coach Brian said that Eddie was in the outfield. Then the dad said unencouraging things. It went like this.

“Eddie, you are outfield,” said Coach Brian.

“Of course you are. You always are. How did I have this big of a failure,” said dad.

Then in the outfield he met his soon to be best friend, Blake. He is 4 foot 9 inches and he is 24 years old. He had already accomplished his dream of being a catcher. Eventually a ball got hit toward him, and it did not end so well.

“I got it, I got it,” said Eddie. Cluck! “That is not good. What are my teammates and especially my dad?”

Then his practice is over and Blake went over and talked to Eddie. 

“Hey if you would have put your glove up higher and tilted it more to the side you would have caught it,” said Blake.

“Thanks for the tips and looking out for me, that is the first thing anyone nice has done for me,” said Eddie.

“What do you mean by that,” said Blake.

“Well my dad thinks I am a failure, disappointment, and did I mention a failure. My mom died in a car accident and the last thing she said to him was something like you were a failure and you will never be a pro baseball player,” said Eddie.

“That is pretty rough. Dad died from cancer when I was little and my mom has been the best mom I could have ever asked for,” said Blake.

Then after they were done talking Coach Brian pulled him to the side. That did not go too well for Eddie.

“Eddie, if you keep playing like this, I am going to have to kick you off the team,” said Coach Brian.

“Coach Brian you know how much I need this,” said Eddie.

“I know but the team would be better off if you were just gone. Unless somehow you improve in a month. It will be hard for you to improve because you are bad at baseball,” said Coach Brian.

“Can’t you see that I am trying, I have been trying since I was five years old. Trying to make everyone proud of me but it seems that no one cares about me except for one person, Blake,” said Eddie.

 Eddie walked away wiping his tears from his face with Blake slowly recognizing and coming to comfort him. Then Eddie thought of what his dad said, what his coach said, and what his mom said before the car accident. He never forgot what she said.

“You are such a failure,” said Mom.

 That is when his dad saw him. It was brutal to watch for Blake. Blake saw exactly how his dad treated him. Blake then knew that his dad thought Eddie was a nobody. So did everyone else except for him. Blake felt so bad for him. For a second when Eddie’s dad  looked at Blake and then back at Eddie he thought that he was going to kill the kid. Then all of a sudden Eddie’s dad raised his arm ready to strike him. Right as he was about to, Coach Brian caught his hand and punched Eddie’s dad right in the nose, breaking it.

“Thank you so much Coach Brian. You don’t know how much that meant to me. But now when he wakes up and comes to our house he is going to kill me.” said Eddie.

Then Blake ran over.

“He won’t because you are going to stay with me for a while,” said Blake.

“Are you sure you don’t have to,” said Eddie.

“Like you said earlier he would kill you,” said Blake.

“Okay, I will as long as it is not too much trouble for you mom,” said Eddie

“I think she will understand,” said Blake.

So Eddie started living with Blake and his mom. It turned out that Blake lived right by a baseball field so they practiced every morning. Eventually in a month he had practiced fives hours a day. Eventually, they both became really good at baseball.Then came the final day before Coach Brian said he could not do that. He ended up impressing Coach Brian so much that he got put on second base. Eventually, the next month he got put on first base. He was also making money now. A lot of it too. Then his dad came three months later. 

“Son, I am so proud of you. Do you think you could give me some cash,” said Dad.

“What do you mean? My entire life you said I was a disappointment or a failure. Now since you did not need me when I was at my lowest then I do not need you now,” said Eddie.

So in the end Eddie realized that he did not need his dad in the end because all he wanted was money. He also paid off all of the debt and with the rest of his money he spent on more important things. Something that matters to him like Blake. So Eddie also treated Blake with all the nice things in the world like watches, TVs, cars, boats, a house, and he gave them ten thousand dollars. Eddie was really proud of himself. Blake and Eddie were having so much fun at their fun job that they loved so much. From that day on they lived the happiest they had ever been.

The X-Files S7 E14

Posted on by

Spoilers

“Theef”

There were a lot of controversial themes hidden in this X-Files episode. Okay, maybe not that hidden, but when the story swings on the choice of a doctor to end the suffering of a patient who could not be saved, it can create a lot of intrigue.

Picket Fences dealt with the concept of Euthanasia several times, but one would not expect it to appear on an X-Files episode.

The episode also featured “hexing” which seemed to be a backwoods form of voodoo, including the voodoo doll, called a poppet which was how the episode villain was using this pwoer.

The villain, Orell Peattie, was played by Billy Drago, and he was excessively creepy. He played the father of the girl who had been given the excess morphine by the doctor, Robert Wieder, played by James Morrison. Both of these actors did a great job in the episode.

The only issue could see was making Orell Peattie apparently not very highly educated, making the whole character a stereotype. The misspelling of the word “thief” being the title of the episode and something written after his victims.

I do not remember watching this episode when it first aired in 2000, but I did enjoy this one now. As I said, there were several themes in this episode that could be looked at deeper yet including not only Euthanasia but also modern medicine vs. practical magic.

Scully keeping Mulder on his toes is a fun moment in this overall creepy entry.

Dexter: Original Sin S1 E6

Posted on by

Spoilers

“The Joy of Killing”

I have been disappointed with the new Dexter show since the first couple episodes. This new one, episode six, was the best one since the first two.

The show limited the amount of silly Dexter action, though there was some of that as he was getting his first blow job. Still, it was kept to a minimum and the cases were compelling.

The captain’s son was snatched much like the judge’s son earlier in the season. We met the captain’s son recently as he spoke with Dexter. That made this more powerful than just a kid who we had never met. The tension of the cop shop during this episode was at an all-time high.

I am not in love with the flashbacks, but these were fairly significant. We see the birth of Debra and Harry’s wife told him no more affair. Another awkward moment.

Dexter set himself up as a serial killer (officially killing his third victim). The alligator dumping was not going to work any longer as the police have discovered the arm floating in the swamp that we saw a few episodes ago. I figured that was coming back, and I am glad it made it.

Of course, Dexter is not going to be caught or even implicated because we know he does not get caught or implicated for years. The dangers of a prequel.

I hope the remainder of this season is able to match this quality more than it has been lately.