Tag Archives: television

The X-Files S6 E21, E22

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“Field Trip”

“Biogenesis”

The sixth season of The X-Files, one that had some absolute highs and absolute lows, wraps up with these final two episodes.

One of them was a really bad trip (though a wild and bizarre episode).

‘Shrooms cause trouble for the agents in “Filed Trip” which found both Mulder and Scully trapped underground being devoured by a plant as they hallucinated different ‘realities’ about what was happening.

The episode felt like one of those Russian dolls. When you thought we had come to a crossroads, there was another story inside.

It was fun seeing the different hallucinations that Mulder and Scully had and how their POVs played into each of them.

The season finale for season six was “Biogenesis” and it led to Mulder being in a mental institution and Scully in Africa chasing after an artifact that could prove that aliens put the human race on earth at the beginning of the planet.

It feels as if the X-Files reignited its mythology with a slightly different focus, though we have appearances by Smoking Man, Krychek, Diana Fowley, and Albert Hosteen, characters all involved in previous X-Files stories. Skinner also took a step back with his involvement in the conspiracy/mythology of the show.

As all season finales of the X-Files seem to go, the show will be a to be continued until the beginning of the following season. Season 7 is one where the show goes through significant upheaval with new characters and exits by major figures. I’m not sure where things will go as I was not a fan of what happened during this time frame so I guess we’ll see how I react to it now.

The Greatest American Hero S2 E4

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“Hog Wild”

Ralph and Bill are on the way back from a communication seminar and they come across a biker gang that was itching for trouble.

Now, Bill is anything but subtle and his borderline obnoxious personality ended up getting him three broken ribs and taken hostage by the gang.

Oh, and the gang wound up with the suit.

Of course, it only works on Ralph, but it still led to a whole bunch of trouble as the biker gang returned to a town that had run them off the day before and blackmailed Ralph into being their “muscle.”

Bill was really over the edge in this episode, displaying how he is too stubborn and hard headed in most situations. Ralph, although too involved with the communication from the seminar, does a great job doing what he could. I liked how Ralph and Bill used some other characters in the show to help the overall scenario. It was neat to see Ralph working with others without having to hide the suit.

I do think that Ralph could have taken this biker gang out much easier than he did, but I understand they needed to stretch the story to make it a full length episode. Overall, it was a fun show, but probably the weakest episode of the second season so far.

The X-Files S6 E10

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“Tithonus”

I enjoyed this episode of the X-Files for all the ways it turned the typical formula on its head.

First, Scully was out in the field, assigned to a case with a different partner, and she would call back to FBI headquarters to talk to Mulder and he would do the background stuff. Lots of time, this was flipped, with Scully doing info searches or autopsies. Poor Mulder was like a sad puppy the whole time too.

This also felt like an opposite of “Clyde Bruckman’s Final Repose” as we had an older man who could see death. This episode, the man himself could not die and he was determined to take a picture of death with the hope of being able to do what everybody else would do. This episode was played much more serious than “Clyde” was, which had some of the funnier moments in the early days of the X-Files.

The old man, Alfred Fellig, was played by character actor Geoffrey Lewis and he does a great job playing against Gillian Anderson.

At the very end of the episode, after Fellig had taken Scully’s place and had died from the gunshot wound, Scully was in the hospital from the same gunshot wound. Scully said “You know Mulder I don’t even know why I entertained the thought. People don’t live forever.” I think that was a reference, in Scully’s mind, back to Bruckman who had told her that she would never die. This brush with nearly dying herself from the gunshot wound made her question her own mortality in a very different way. At least, that is how I took it.

The X-Files S6 E6

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“How the Ghosts Stole Christmas”

A little spooky Christmas cheer with the X-Files in July.

This episode mashed-up a Christmas trope with a haunted house trope giving us something original between the two styles.

The show contained only four actors, David Duchovny and Gillian Anderson, of course, as well as Edward Asner and Lilly Tomlin, as the ghosts in the house.

Asner and Tomlin, two all-timers in the world of TV, brought a wonderfully different feel t the episode and their interactions with Mulder and Scully was the strength of the show.

There were plenty of fun ‘tricks’ played on out FBI agents by the two ghosts including showing Mulder and Scully their own dead corpses buried beneath the floorboard, and trying to manipulate them into offing each other. There was also a moving brick wall blocking the exit of several rooms in the haunted house.

The ghosts used this opportunity to share some dime store psychological tidbits on Mulder and Scully which hit pretty close to home. While it was intended to drive them mad, there was enough truth sprinkled in the dialogue to give the audience more insight into Mulder and Scully.

It was a fun, stand-alone episode of the X-Files which seems to be the overall theme of season six so far.

The Greatest American Hero S1 E3

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“Here’s Looking at You, Kid”

Perhaps the title of this episode should have been “Here’s Looking Through You, Kid” instead because Ralph discovered a new power of the suit, invisibility. And, of course, he struggled controlling it.

Maxwell had Ralph trying to do telekinesis when Ralph disappeared. They then spent the rest of the episode with Ralph fading in and out of visual in the most inopportune times.

The Greatest American Hero’s strength as a show is the comedic moments between Ralph and Bill and this episode was very solid, from the fading in and out, to Ralph taking a bus so he did not have to fly. William Katt and Robert Culp really work as a wonderful team together.

There is a case that Bill is working on, but it is truly unimportant. It just provided Ralph and bill with bad guys to fight while the suit causes troubles.

We meet Pam’s parents in from Minnesota for the episode. June Lockhart was Pam’s mother and Bob Hastings was her father.

It was a fun episode that took a different power of the suit to mess around with.

The Boys S4 E8

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“Assassination Run”

They filmed this season over a year ago, and yet it feels as topical as ever. Perhaps even too topical.

Season five finale was brutal throughout as The Boys set the table for the final season, season six, with a massive cliffhanger and Homelander standing tall.

So many things happened, so let me touch on a couple.

The Frenchie/Kimiko scene near the end was just one of the most beautiful scenes of the series but I was holding my breath the entire time because I was afraid of the portents that this scene may hint at. I do not want to see Frenchie or Kimiko die and I was afraid that was what was going to happen before the end of the episode. I was grateful when they survived, although separated by Gen V’s Kate.

The Annie/Hughie relationship was tortured by the shape-shifting shooter, but seems to have survived as well. I had honestly forgotten that Annie was being held captive and so when she proposed to Hughie at the beginning and he ran off to get his mother’s ring, I was happy. Then I remembered and it was sad again. However, Annie’s line about shifting syphilis was both funny and hopeful for out first couple.

Ryan is being torn apart by every side as everyone has their own agenda for him and it is starting to really hurt the boy. When he was told all about Homelander’s evil, he realized that they just wanted him as a weapon against his father.

No sign of A-Train this episode. I am glad he survived. I am sure that he has a role to play in the conclusion of the series next season.

Sister Sage’s return was epic. She has been behind the scenes of everything, setting up the events to drop as they did. What , then, is ‘phase two?’

Butcher’s tentacle powers are horrific, and seeing them rip Neuman in literally two pieces was shocking. I did not expect that to happen and it solidifies Butcher as just slightly less crazy than Homelander. I think that is the idea setting him up as a person who would do absolutely anything to kill Homelander. I have never been a fan of the character of Butcher as a hero. He is, at best, an anti-hero and probably more of another antagonist.

I believe season two of Gen V will come first, but this season really sets up some major events for the finale of the series in season six. Can’t wait.

The X-Files S6 E2

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“Drive”

Some of the best and most under-the-radar episodes of The X-Files are the ones that seem to take a premise or theme of a well known movie and adapt it into the world of the X-Files. There was an early season episode called “Ice” that was similar to The Thing. “Post Modern Promethean” was in the style of the Universal Monsters movies, particularly Frankenstein. This one “Drive” takes the premise of the movie Speed and plays with it so it fits with the X-Files concept. In fact, Mulder even makes a joke about seeing this movie.

Bryan Cranston was an unexpected face to see in the car with Agent Mulder. He was about a couple of years before being Hal in Malcom in the Middle and a decade away from becoming Walter White in Breaking Bad, but Cranston remained an amazing actor at any point of his career, playing antisemite Patrick Crump in this X-Files episode and forcing Mulder to drive him fast and to the west. Cranston was able to instill in “Mr.” Crump a humanity that took this character which could be considered the villain of this story and made him someone the audience was rooting for, despite his antagonistic approach to Mulder near the beginning of the episode.

The dialogue between Cranston and Duchovny was expertly written and helped take this premise to another level. It was much more than just an homage to Speed. It fit right into the world of The X-Files.

The episode kicked off with a fantastic hook, having Crump in a high speed chase with police, filmed from the above helicopter. The start of the episode set a tone that insured that this was going to be fire.

I really enjoyed this episode and thought the inclusion of Bryan Cranston made this episode a standout.

The Greatest American Hero S1 E1

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Look at what’s happened to me….

That is right. I found this series available on Amazon Prime and so I have added it to the watch list, along with The X-Files, Bates Motel and Battlestar Galactica. The Greatest American Hero was one of my favorite shows on ABC back in the early 80s. Starring William Katt, Robert Culp and Connie Sellecca, the series featured a high school teacher that was given a super suit by aliens. Unfortunately, the teacher, Ralph Hinkley, lost the instruction manual so he had trouble figuring out how the suit worked.

Meanwhile, FBI agent Bill Maxwell was with Ralph when the aliens arrived and becomes involved in the scenarios. Ralph’s lawyer and girlfriend Pam Davidson gets involved with the chaos as well, at first believing that Ralph had lost his mind.

This first episode is the full length pilot episode, running around 90 minutes long.

The Greatest American Hero was a ton of silly fun, playing with the tropes of the super hero genre. Ralph is unable to access the full power of the suit and what he can do, he does not do smoothly. [“DAMN”].

There requires plenty of suspension of disbelief here. Why doesn’t Ralph put on some kind of mask as he is flying around the city with his own face exposed. He also randomly tells people his name and job as he is dressed in his suit. Sure that defies logic, but so does a super suit from space aliens and a flying teacher who can crash through a wall. If you are derailed by some faults in logic, you have chosen the wrong show to watch.

Of course, one of the things this show had going for it was perhaps the best TV theme song ever recorded. “The Greatest American Hero [Believe it or Not]” by Joey Scarbury is undeniably catchy, easy to sing along with and sets the perfect tone for the show. To this day, that song is on my phone and is one that I always stop to listen to when it comes around.

William Katt and Robert Culp are also huge pieces of this show’s unlikely success. Both actors are solid performers and have had plenty of luck in the past. Culp was a star of the show “I Spy” with Bill Cosby. Katt appeared in the Stephen King film, Carrie, as well as several other films. The pairing of Katt and Culp were one of the key elements to this series’ cult stasis.

There are 45 episodes spread over three seasons of The Greatest American Hero. We will continue to add to this watch as the months go on.

The X-Files S6 E1

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“The Beginning”

The opening “previously on The X-Files” showed that this season six takes place directly after the movie, The X-Files: Fight the Future, the feature length film that had been released in theaters, and the story told in that movie is included in this season premiere.

However, it is only part of the story as the episode also included details that were introduced in the fifth season finale, “The End.” Specifically, the use of the little boy who could read minds, Gibson, as well as agents Jeffrey Spender and Diana Fowley. These two agents were assigned to take over the work of Mulder and Scully, who were reassigned within the FBI with explicit instructions to not work on the X-Files again.

Fowley is one of my least favorite X-Files characters because she is such a sell out and feels as if she exists only to put a stress on the connection of Mulder and Scully. You can see that stress in this episode and Scully argued with Mulder and at one point asks him to trust her. I seem to remember a time when Mulder said that Scully was “the only one he trusts.” That seems to have been chipped away as the new Mulder only wants to hear from Scully if she agrees with him.

Diana Fowley becomes a major character over the next few seasons and it is part of the slipping of The X-Files.

The horrors that the show has put the character of Gibson through is shocking and terrifying, and not in a good way. The treatment of this kid has been very distasteful by everyone and I do like how he just calls the adults out because he knows what they were thinking.

Spender, of course, is a horrendous person too, because he is taking direction from Smoking Man, who continues to be the one character that has to have a bullet in his head. I am consistently stating how much I hate this character, which should go to show what an amazing job William B. Davis had done with this role.

However, the opening scene of the episode featuring a carpool, had some of the worst dialogue that I ever remember in an X-Files episode. It was shockingly bad and did not start the episode off well. Thankfully, an alien ripped out of someone’s chest and made things a lot better.

My memory is that The X-Files becomes difficult to watch over the next few seasons, so we will see how this rewatch progresses.

The Bear S3 E10

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“Forever”

Season three of The Bear leaves off on a cliffhanger that was really frustrating… one that I should have seen coming.

The ever elusive restaurant review finally is published and Carmy is seeing the Google alert on his phone. There are also several messages and missed calls from Uncle Jimmy and the Computer which implies negativity. Or does it? This whole review plot has been scattered through the second half of the season and it has been anxiety-driven.

The finale included the “funeral” for the restaurant, Ever. It included a ton of guest stars and returning cameos throughout the evening.

Above all else, I have got to say… I love Olivia Colman.

She is such a joy on screen. I mean, in whatever role she is doing, it does not matter whether the episode or movie is good, Olivia Colman will rock every moment on screen. She is such a magnificent actor that creates a connection under every circumstance. Here, as Chef Terry, she is a jewel, a character who clearly should be emulated by Carmy, Sydney or anyone else.

There was also a return cameo by Joel McHale, as Carmy’s old boss who drove Carmy to be the chef he is today, as well as give him panic attacks and the source of his PTSD. The confrontation between Carmy and McHale was as powerful for Carmy as underwhelming as it was for McHale. One hopes Carmy can finally realize how much like McHale’s chef he has become and understand that he needs to change his behavior or else he could cause everyone around him at The Bear to feel of Carmy the way Carmy feels about McHale.

This season of The Bear had a lot of experimental episodes that felt different than what one expects on TV. While the performances continue to be top notch, especially some of the cameos (I have to call out Jamie Lee Curtis once again), the story itself could have progressed a bit more than what it did. Was there any real progress in the story from episode one to episode 10? Most of the big questions brought up in season three remain unanswered heading into season four. While I understand building toward the next season, I need a little more results from season three.

Still, I thought this season on The Bear had a lot of great moments and I still hope that the answers will come quickly in season four for some of the storylines left open.

The Bear S3 E8, E9

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“Ice Chips”

“Apologies”

Jamie Lee Curtis is just so good.

After the episode 7 cliffhanger with Sugar going into labor at the store, we picked up episode 8 with her desperately trying to call someone. No one answered.

Finally, out of desperation, she called her mom.

Jamie Lee Curtis’s portrayal of Donna has been one of the craziest characters of the show. Her performance in season two’s “Fishes” was epic, really showing the wildness of this character.

However, we get a new side to Donna in this episode as she is there to help her daughter through the labor, from her own first hand experiences to some uncomfortable truths.

This was an amazing episode.

The penultimate episode seemed to be setting up some major things for the finale. Oliver Platt came to speak to Carmy, having something to do with the money owed. They are making a big deal out of the review that is yet to come. They teased the review both ways, but Platt said that if the review is a bad one, he would have to cut the strings to the money.

Sydney is conflicted over the job she had been offered and nearly talked to Carmy about it. Carmy invited her to the final night at Ever. Neil and Theodore went to see Claire at her job to speak on behalf of Carmy. Carmy continues to feel the absence of Claire as he went into the freezer to reflect on everything.

One more episode in season three to go.

The Bear S3 E4, E5

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“Violet”

“Children”

The Champ is here!

Or at least John Cena is here, starting in episode 5, as Sammy Fak, Neil and Theodore’s brother. And he brings his excellent comedic timing to an amazing scene stealing cameo on the show that kills all the cameos.

I loved John Cena’s arrival and appearance. He was very entertaining as the show progressed. So was The Computer, a man brought in by Oliver Platt to tell Carmy and the rest of the staff what the future of their restaurant is and how they can improve it to make things better. Most of his suggestions are ways that they waste money and how they could do better.

The Computer was there basically to bring Oliver Platt back in. The whole scene in the back with Platt, The Computer, Carmy and the rest was really entertaining, especially when Sammy joined in.

Episodes four and five are two of the calmer episodes of the third season so far. The typical conflict the show has spotlighted over the first three episodes is toned down. There is a small bit of it, but the conflict is done more as a way for humor, such as Sammy ‘haunting’ Theodore because he had taken Sammy’s SD cards.

Carmy was at a lower level of crazy here, as he is starting to wonder if he is messing things up. Learning that his friend and mentor Chef Terry had to shut her restaurant had an impact on him and maybe brought him back to reality. Maybe he just kept his distance from Richie.

We get some sweet scenes with Richie and his daughter. Richie also shows how great of a dad he is when he asks Sugar if he should back out of his relationship with her so it would not be weird with Frank (Josh Harnett of all people).

There is also a review that is being written of The Bear that is causing some anxiety.

These two episodes were solid with less hectic drive of the first three this season which made for a nice change before things clearly will amp back up as the second half of season three gets underway.

The X-Files S5 E16

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“Mind’s Eye”

Season five X-Files episode number sixteen is next up for the X-Files rewatch and it was titled “Mind’s Eye.”

Lili Taylor appeared as blind woman Marty Glenn who seemed to be the main suspect of a murder of a drug dealer. She had blood on her, but that did not convince Mulder that she was guilty.

Mulder and Scully are called in to help out on the case. Despite the evidence that seemed to be loading up against Marty, Mulder believed that there was more going on than what we could see.

Marty Glenn was one of the most sarcastic and snarky characters we have had on the X-Files in quite a long time. I’m not sure why Mulder liked her. He does say that he admired her, overcoming her disability, having trained the remainder of her senses to be able to be anything but a hinderness.

It was a decent episode. Nothing special, but enjoyable.

The Bear S3 E3

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“Doors”

Another absolutely tense and stressful episode as we see several days at the Bear and how the conflicts are driving everyone nuts.

Carmy, Richie and their baggage exploded at least once and threatened to do so several other times. The stress of having to do everything perfect is pushing the chefs to their breaking point. Oliver Platt made another guest appearance raving over the cost of what was being purchased. He said the restaurant was filled every night, but why was their no money?

And after every intense scene, someone hollers “doors” indicating that everything is starting over again.

Things are at a high level of intensity at The Bear and it is clearly leading to trouble.

By the way, Carmy had another round of flashbacks during a particularly stressful moment in the kitchen, making me wonder if that PTSD comment I made from episode one was right on the money. How these flashbacks are triggers for Carmy when the PTSD is getting to high.

Need to take a break from this show for a little bit. It is so anxiety-filled that I feel the same way. It is amazing, but I just do not like the binge method for this show. Needs some down time with it.

The Bear S3 E1

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“Tomorrow”

WTF was that?

I have to say that the first episode of season three of FX’s series The Bear (which is listed as a comedy for awards consideration, but there are not very many laughs inside), was a visual trip. About half way through the episode I had to stop and go back to read a synopsis of the final episode of season two to try and remember exactly what happened to see if I could determine what was going on.

I did not succeed.

I am guessing that this flashback episode, which jumped between moments from Carmy’s distant and recent past, was designed as a consciousness of thought. In my research, I found a site that mentioned that flashbacks could be a sign of PTSD, or perhaps dissociation (Tully, verywellmind). I found that intriguing since the final episode of season two certainly put Carmy through the ringer, being trapped in his freezer, breaking up with his girlfriend all on the night of his big opening for the restaurant The Bear, albeit friends and family night.

Could this first episode be a mental response from Carmy for the trauma from the first night?

Some of the moments we saw in the flashbacks we had already seen, such as the flashback to the family dinner from season two episode “Fishes” and we saw scenes that I either did not remember or that we new. I do not remember seeing the phone call from Sugar to Carmy dealing with their brother’s suicide.

This first episode absolutely required the viewers to stop and give the show its complete attention because there was no straightforward narrative structure to the episode, but it provided some deep investigation inside the mind of Carmy.

The Bear is currently streaming on Hulu and on Disney +.