Tag Archives: tv

The X-Files S5 E5

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“The Post-Modern Prometheus”

We have come to an episode of the X-Files that would be one of my top ten episodes of the series. After watching it again tonight, I have an even greater appreciation for “The Post-Modern Prometheus” than I had when I first saw it.

Mulder and Scully came to a town where a woman claimed to have been impregnated by a monster in her home, without her consent. The woman, who seemed more intent on making the Jerry Springer Show, stated that her 18-year old son Izzy was conceived in the same manner.

Turned out that Izzy was the writer of a comic book that followed the adventures of the Great Mutato, a local legend and the Great Mutato fit the description of the supposed attacker/rapist.

Shot in a beautiful black and white, this episode took the story of Frankenstein and turned it about to fit into an episode of the X-Files. Much of the stylistic choices of the episode fit right into the type of old fashion horror movies, like Frankenstein. The episode was striking with its mood, creating a fantasy style and a surreal element of the tale.

Music of Cher was used throughout the episode, including a majestic version of “Walking in Memphis” at the very end. There was a reference made to Cher’s movie, Mask, where Cher played the mother of a disfigured boy, something to which the Great Mutato could relate.

I read that some people believe that this episode takes place outside of X-Files continuity since the episode begins and ends as if it was a story in a comic book. This is an interesting idea that does make sense with what was provided. It allowed the creators a freedom to be able to bring a different style of mood to this episode.

Over-the-top actor John O’Hurley, known as J Peterman from Seinfeld, played the “mad scientist” Francis Pollidori. His style of acting fit perfectly in this fantastical story.

This is one of the best X-Files episodes of the entire series, and it was epic to get a chance to see it once again. It is a beautifully constructed and filmed fairy tale that is a love letter to the Universal Monsters from the 1930s/1940s.

Them: The Scare S2 E7, E8

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“One of Us Is Gonna Die Tonight”

“The Box”

This is what American Horror Story: Delicate wished it could be.

I was very disappointed with AHS this year as the classic horror anthology series just failed in this season. However, Them: The Scare was everything that AHS was not.

I had not seen the first season of Them, so some of the things that happened in the finale seemed a little confusing. I could only guess (and then confirmed after the show was done) that the photo and the woman giving baby Dawn and Edmond away had some tie to the first season (she did) and that the weird creature at the end also tied it to the first season (yup, it was something called Da Tap Dance Man).

So we have a connection between the first and second seasons, but the story of this season was all about family and the pain of being rejected and tossed away. The seventh episode does a tremendous job of laying out everything that we needed to know to understand what was happening and gave us a horrendous end for Athena Reeve (Pam Grier).

With the exception of the arrival of Da Tap Dance Man, there was plenty of satisfying moments in the finale. The confrontation between Dawn and Edmond was tense and powerful, showing how much love still existed between the twins, even if Dawn had forgotten about him. The scene of Edmond killing himself and giving himself over to the demon with the red hair was tough to watch. The shooting of McKinney was dramatic and pleasing to see the rotten racist get his comeuppance.

This was just so creepy. The imagery of the red-headed man will never allow me to look at Raggedy Andy the same way ever again.

There were several times that I found myself holding my breath from the tension of the situation. The performances were top notch and the tone was just so exceptional.

Them: The Scare was everything you would want in a horror anthology series, filled with thrills and anxiety and a story with themes of family, loss and rejection. I loved this show and I was happy I gave it a chance. Them: The Scare is on Amazon Prime.

The Jinx Part Two S2 E1, E2

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“Why are You Still Here?”

“Friendships Die Hard”

I never expected that there would be more for The Jinx. I loved that docuseries when it originally aired on HBO, but it felt like it was one and done. When I discovered that there was a part two that had already started, I was excited to see this story continue. I rewatched the first season of The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst in preparation. With that done (and still as shockingly engaging as it was the first time), I was able to watch the first two episodes of the second season.

While there has not been anything quite as shocking as “killed them all, of course” to this point, the story of Bob Durst continues to be riveting, to the point of being spellbinding.

One of the early highlights of episode one of season two was the scene where Kathie’s family, the prosecutors and investigators and others viewed the streaming of the final episode of The Jinx at Andrew Jarecki’s home. Their reactions to some of the other scenes were fascinating, but the moment where Bob gives his accidental bathroom confession was surreal. The gasps and the stunned silence gave way to a buzz through the room of excitement and anticipatory expectations. There was a palatable relief for so many of these people.

The first episode included the fallout from the airing of The Jinx, including Bob’s decision to go on the run after the fifth episode. Bob is both one step ahead of everyone and foolishly naive at the same time. Bob’s biggest problem seems to be his desire to talk to anyone about anything. Doing the interview with Jarecki in the first season felt like a self-destructive decision, but that did not stop Bob. Why does he make that choice? We hear Bob admit in season two that doing the Jarecki interview was a huge mistake.

The second episode focused on Bob’s friends and confidants that Bob may have confessed to or those people who may have helped him at some point during this adventure. In particular, was Nick “Chinga” Chavin, who was about as close to Bob as you could get. The thing was that he was also very close with Susan Berman, and that loyalty was a theme of this episode. Chavin’s belief in becoming famous as a singer in a “country porn” band with songs such as “Cum Stains on My Pillow (Where Your Sweet Head Used to Be)” continues to be an unbelievable feature of this overall story.

Another shocking person here is Susie Giordano, who we see Bob state that he wished he had married. She and Bob are apparently in love, to the chagrin of Bob’s wife, Debbie. You can’t make this stuff up. No one would believe it.

I love these first tow episodes, even if it does not really provide us any further specifics of the case that we need to know. It is all setting up what is to come with the Bob Durst trial, I can only assume.

I have caught up to where the season is currently for releases. Each new episodes (the four remaining) will be arriving on Max on Sundays and I will be anxious to see the next installment.

The Jinx: The Life and Deaths of Robert Durst S1 E5

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“Family Values”

Episode five goes into more of the Durst family drama, including the apparent hard feelings between Robert and his younger brother Doug, who had taken over the running of the family business.

The sibling rivalry part of this docuseries was truly weird. Robert had some real issues with his brother Doug and Doug was avoiding everything to do with his brother, especially the documentary that was being film about him.

But the real meat of this episode was back with the murder of Susan Berman, who was murdered in Los Angeles. Susan had been a huge Robert Durst supporter, but she wound up death, with a bullet in the back of her head, execution-style in her home. There was a timeline laid out that indicated that Robert could have done it. He is placed in California, but not actually in LA. Even Robert said it though, they never placed in in LA and California is a big state. That line from Robert was chilling. He clearly stated this as a way to show what his defense would be if this charge ever became reality.

But then the letter was found that had been sent by Robert to Susan that matched the letter that had been sent to the LA police, that had the same misspelling of Beverly Hills, with an extra E in the word. The handwriting sure looked to match between the two documents. Andrew Jarecki wanted to record the reaction of Robert to this piece of evidence that no one knew they had.

This is what would lead to the bombshell next episode. The insanity of this entire show has been off the charts and this little man is just an amazing character that you find so difficult to believe was real.

X-Men ’97 S1 E7

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“Bright Eyes”

X-Men ’97 is not a kids show. Where as the original X-Men animated series from the 90s was absolutely made for children, this is anything but. While kids could watch and enjoy this show, the themes are considerably more adult than the previous incarnation.

Rogue going rogue showed us that. There is no way that we see Rogue kill Trask in the 90s series. But we saw that here in one of the most dramatic ways possible. Seeing him turn into a hybrid human/sentinel did not change the fact that she let a man fall to his death.

We also saw someone smother Henry Peter Gyrich to death. I am ashamed that I did not recognize Bastion immediately. He is a character that came into prominence during a stretch when I was not reading as many comics as I am now. Still, I should have identified this character sooner.

Having Bastion as the big bad is genius. Having him above Sinister even makes this character an immediate threat. His toying with a captive, yet still alive Magneto was creepy as could be.

I love the inclusion of Nightcrawler this week, but I am surprised that Storm did not make her return yet. She’ll be back soon, I am sure but to see her not at Remy’s funeral was disappointing.

That was another scene that I was not sure we would see. The funeral of Remy LeBeau, aka Gambit was tough. Does this mean that Gambit is truly gone? I know no one is ever truly gone when you are talking about the X-Men, but this felt very final to me. I know the showrunner said that the sacrifices of episode five were definite, that they were there to maintain stakes, but even still. Gambit is a major player in the X-Men universe.

Captain America making a cameo in this episode was interesting, if not unnecessary. Seeing Rogue fling the shield off into the mountains was rude. Emma Frost and her diamond form made an appearance too, saved from the rubble of Madripoor.

They do a remarkable job of packing so much content into a 30-minute episode. It is quite impressive and never feels too short.

The final three episodes, entitled “Tolerance is Extinction,” are a three part saga that the showrunner indicated would be as dramatic as episode five. That can’t get here soon enough. X-Men ’97 has been some amazing television so far.

Twin Peaks S2 E21

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“Miss Twin Peaks”

The penultimate episode of season two of Twin Peaks came hard to the Miss Twin Peaks contest as Windham Earle, dressed as the Log Lady, kidnapped Annie after her victory in the contest.

The entire moment felt so chaotic, bringing back the moments of the flashing strobe lights when Bob or the Giant would show up.

After Annie and Cooper got busy in his Great Northern room, she was clearly the target that would make the most sense for the revenge-minded Earle.

Andy comes through big time too, with an explanation of the mysterious cave drawing actually being a map!

You could tell that this episode was ramping back up into a more intense level. Much of the series had wandered since the reveal of the killer of Laura Palmer. Some parts had been good, some were bad. It felt unrefined and inconsistent. This had a much better feel to it. Even the Miss Twin Peaks contest, which was one of the areas of the recent weeks that were not the strongest, created some serious moments.

This sets up the finale of season two, which, it seemed, would be the finale of the series. However, a surprise season three came back on Showtime. When I finish the next episode, I plan on taking a time out before the season three rewatch (probably in the summer).

Shogun S1 E8

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“The Abyss of Life”

Whoa.

The scene near the end of this episode was unbelievably powerful and tense. The confrontation between Toranaga and Hiromatsu, which led to Hiromatsu committing seppuku. Man, what a moment among a pretty solid episode filled with moments.

It seemed as if Toranaga has more planned than what it appeared. He claimed that Osaka must believe he has given everything up. The loss of his son last episode and Hiromatsu’s death in this one has given Toranaga, who appeared very sick and frail from the trip, time.

John faced a member of his crew finally after months and it did not go well either. John had attempted to sway Yabushige to forming an alliance. Yabushige rejects the offer in name of loyalty to Toranaga. However, the death of Hiromatsu changed his opinion, saying that he did not want to die for the crazy old man.

There was a powerful scene over some tea between Mariko and her husband Buntaro. Buntaro wished to have them both commit suicide as a protest to Toranaga’s decision, but Mariko came out and specifically said that she did not want to follow him into death and that she would rather live a thousand years because of the way he had treated her.

Two more episodes remaining in this series and who knows where it is heading. This one left that knot in my stomach as I watched the pain involved in the machinations of Taranaga.

Shogun S1 E6

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“Ladies of the Willow World”

In episode six of Shogun, some big things happened.

We see some of Mariko’s back story, and see how tragic it actually was.

We go inside the best brothel and engage between John and Kuki, the top courtesan of the house. He was given this as a gift from Toranaga, a thank you for saving his life during the earthquake last episode. Of course, this was not what John had wanted, as he had asked once again for the return of his men and his ship. John wants to leave Japan, but Toranaga continues to keep him. He even promoted him to the head of his canon brigade.

An attempt to vote against Toranaga by the council failed, leading to the death of the regent who voted against the plan.

We continue to see the machinations of Ochiba no Kata, who has her own plans brewing clearly.

We learn of the plan called Crimson Sky, which is Toranaga’s forces launching an all out assault on Osaka, killing the regents and setting up a new form of government with Toranaga at the head. A Shogun. Toranaga rejected the plan at first, however, the death of regent Sugiyama changes his mind and we end the episode with Toranaga’s forces honoring their leader, preparing for their attack.

A fascinating episode as we dive into another aspect of the Japanese culture with the brothels. The manner in which sex is used is not what I am used to seeing. This show continues to be really great.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live

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“Becoming”

Lookee there… it’s Father Gabriel.

Did not expect to see this former character again. Did not expect to see him interacting with Jadis. I really thought he was going to buy it at her hands in this episode. I am glad how it worked out for him.

Jadis, however, met her fate at the hands of Rick, via a walker. She caught up with Rick and Michonne and their showdown was very intense. It was unclear what was going to happen. Yet, when the walker took a bite out of Jadis’s neck, the end of the major feud came.

Jadis showed her inner humanity after the walker bite by telling Rick and Michonne the truth about the dossier that she had on Alexandria.

The whole wedding proposal reaction between Rick and Michonne was a beautiful moment before they return to the C.R.M. in the finale next week.

Man from Atlantis S1 E2

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“Death Scouts”

The second of the Man from Atlantis television movies was actually entitled “Man from Atlantis II: Death Scouts.”

According to Wikipedia, “Mark investigates the disappearance of three scuba divers, two of whom are ‘replaced’ by waterborne aliens (Tiffany Bolling as Lioa / Dilly and Burr DeBenning as Xos / Chazz). The aliens assignment is to scout Earth and check its defense capabilities. They also give the impression that Mark may also be one of them, specially bred for Earth infiltration.“

I was not wild about this story. While I appreciate them trying to tie Lioa and Xos to Mark’s background, it all felt kind of muddied. It seemed to indicate that they were lying about Mark when they informed him that he was from their planet, but at the end, it sounded as if Lioa had confirmed that he was from earth.

It was a messy story. If Mark did not have a connection to these two, why did they both have the webbed fingers? The symbol on Mark’s trunks, was I to understand that it is not the same as he saw in the spaceship?

I hope that this was a lie because I feel as if making Mark an alien from another planet is just lazy writing. I do not know if they will ever go into further details on his past in the short season one, but I’m sure it could be handled more deftly.

There were just too many plot holes for this tv movie. There were some decent sci-fi shots, several of which actually reminded me of The Land of the Lost, but the writing of the story felt off.

However, the shots of Patrick Duffy underwater continue to just amaze me. I am curious how they shot these, especially those that seem to have Mark in a tank of water for extended periods of time while on screen. How much did Patrick Duffy do on his own? I would love to know the specifics of these shots because they are the best underwater shots I think I have seen and this was 1977.

X-Men ’97

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“To Me, My X-Men”

“Mutant Liberation Begins”

I was not ready for the levels of AWESOMENESS that the new animated series, X-Men ’97, a continuation of the 1990s TV series, X-Men: The Animated Series, would be.

Honestly, I knew there had been positives said about it by many people, but I did not expect the amazing two episodes we got kicking off the series on Disney + today. This was simply epic.

The 90’s series was great in its day, but it does not hold up as well as some animated series. the storytelling in the first series was decent, but the clunky, block-like animation never looked very good. It always felt rushed, as the time frame never seemed to be long enough to sufficiently tell the story. While I loved the show when I was younger, my recent re-watch of a few episodes only enhanced my thoughts that this was not as great as I remembered.

This changes everything.

These two episodes, which deal with the continued rage against mutants and the after effects of the ‘death’ of Charles Xavier, are filled with emotion, action, potential storylines that are not just focused on children.

That is really the main change. The 1990s show was focused on children, while X-Men ’97 feels as if it is not only something that works for children, but also targets those same children of the 1990s who have now grown up. This is a decidedly more adult version of that show. The 1990s show was a cartoon. This is animation.

Speaking of the animation, it does a remarkable job of updating the look of this show without feeling as if it rejects the look of the original. It feels like a new style while still engaging the nostalgia of those fans of the 1990s X-Men show. It is really beautiful and laid out in a wonderful manner.

Cameos everywhere, from actual mutants like Roberto DeCosta to multiple mutants shapeshifted by Morph from everyone from Angel to Sabretooth. You had to keep your eyes open to see what Morph was doing next. And, by the way, I am not even going to address the controversy over Morph that sprung up online. Morph was just amazing. ‘Nuff said.

Note to all future X-Men live action shows or movies, this is how you do Cyclops. Talk about a character that has never been done properly in live action, Scott Summers is right at the top of that list with Doctor Doom. Cyclops is pitch perfect in these first two episodes of the new series.

Oh, and the 90’s show never allowed Storm to bring the level of kick ass as she did in these two episodes. She showed the Omega-level mutant that she is.

These first two episodes have laid the groundwork for some brilliant storylines moving forward. Nathan Summers? Rogue-Magneto? Gambit’s jealousy? Storm’s loss of powers? Roberto and Jubilee? Magneto’s attempt to go straight? Genosha? Was that Madeline Pryor? So many threads here to bare.

The voice cast is exceptional. I do not know how many actors came back to once again voice these characters, but the actors doing these voices sound very much like the cast from the 90’s show. They are exceptional.

What a treat these first two episodes were. I can not rave enough about how much I loved these two episodes. If the remainder of the 10 episodes are the quality of these first two, we are in for quite an amazing and possibly uncanny ride.

Shogun S1 E5

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“Broken to the Fist”

What a show this is.

An absolute banger of an episode after the huge and brutal episode last week, “Broken to the Fist” was truly a beautiful combination of conflicting cultures.

A few episodes ago, I wrote that Mariko’s husband, Buntaro, had been killed, but we did not see a death on screen so he may return someday. Someday was this episode as he arrived at the very beginning, immediately reclaiming the role of asshole that he seemed to have shook free of with this apparent sacrifice. The scene with Buntaro, Mariko and Blackthorne and the drunken bow and arrow display was about as tense of a scene as you are going to find.

This show is doing a marvelous job of portraying many truths of the Japanese culture of the time that I was unaware of and how it conflicts with the ideas of Blackthorne. I am never sure what the Japanese people in this show might consider shameful or what they may do in response. It is fascinating to watch them attempt to co-exist.

Especially with the secretive night that Blackthorne spent with the “cortisone” last episode. Mariko’s returning husband certainly places them both in jeopardy.

The earthquake at the end was devastating, showing the power of nature over everyone, including the most powerful of them all, Toranaga. Blackthorne’s immediate rush to save Toranaga was very heroic, but I did wonder how the Japanese would react this this? Did it insult honor to have this man save Toranaga? Did it show weakness of Toranaga? Just my own uncertainty of the culture makes this show unpredictable for me.

The whole scene when Blackthorne learned of the fate of his gardener and how it was indirectly his own fault was powerful. I knew that when John had stated if someone touched the peasant it would be death was an error, and it certainly came back to pay off at the end.

The army on its way sure picked a fine time to arrive.

This is very exciting and is one of the best TV shows going right now.

Moonlighting S5 E5

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“Shirts and Skins”

Episode five of season five of Moonlighting was really pretty good. My memory of season five was low quality, but it really does feel as if the show was trying to get back on track with some decent episodes.

This even avoided the end of the episode silly chase scene that has been a trope of the show for a good part of the run. This was a serious case that centered around a battle of the sexes.

Maddie and David find themselves on opposite sides of a criminal case as investigators and the stress of the situation was causing some serious issues between them and within the office of Blue Moon.

To be fair, the show was behind Maddie’s side of the case, as it featured a woman who had been fired for rejecting her boss’s sexual advances. After that, she bought a gun and shot at him several times, finally winging him in the leg. Honestly, she was totally in the wrong here even if her boss was a complete jerk. Shooting him is going too far.

It’s not that big of a deal, but with the woman getting completely off from the charges, that sent a poor message. I really don’t agree with the idea that it is okay to ever take a gun and shoot at someone, even if they are a big jerk.

It did lead to Maddie and David reuniting and Maddie offering to make him officially her partner.

There were fun bloopers played over the end credits too. Several with those weird birds from earlier this season.

I do think the show quality has taken a step up during this season, and that they were trying to get the show back to where it was. Unfortunately, I just believe that they had done too much damage to the brand by this point to go back. It is sad considering how much they could have done with this show moving forward.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live S1 E4

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“What We”

Michonne found Rick in the season premiere, but she did not actually find him until this episode.

What an episode.

“What We” was written by Danai Gurira, who plays Michonne, and this is one of the most emotional episodes of the entire The Walking Dead series. It was beautifully written and had so much between these two, amazing characters, inside this building that is collapsing around them.

I would compare Rick to an abused and beaten dog who can’t see any other path than taking it, retreating inside himself to hope for the best. Michonne can see that this is a shell of the man she knew all those years ago, but she held out hope that that man was still inside him somewhere.

Andrew Lincoln and Danai Gurira give Emmy-winning worthy performances basically on their own. Their passionate arguments to their ass-kicking of the Walkers just filled this episode with power.

The Walking Dead: The Ones Who Live S1 E3

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“Bye”

The third episode of the new Walking Dead spinoff arrived Sunday night, but I could not watch it then because of the Academy Awards. So I watched it on Monday.

Rick and Michonne are really great together. I honestly did not see that much of the couple since they were not together as much during the time in which I was watching The Walking Dead. However, they really do have that chemistry where you believe that they could do anything.

Janus’s comment about how she was more concerned with them together because they could maybe do anything was very appropriate.

The potential escape attempt that Rick backed out of shows how far down he has fallen. This was the guy who was unafraid to take on the Governor or Negan, but he has been so beaten down that he can not see a way out of his current situation without losing everything.

Michonne has not lost that focus and I have to say that I gasped loudly when Michonne grabbed Rick and threw them both out of the helicopter during the terrible rain. What a shock. It was something that Michonne would do. Past Rick too.

I do think that next episode is going to really set the stage for what’s to come.