Welcome to the brand new feature entitled EYG Daily Countdown. This is going to be a bit of a challenge. I am going to compile Top 100 lists of certain topics and then count them down with a daily post for the following 100 days.
I have some rules I will be following.
First of all, I will choose a topic and as soon as I compile the list, the topic is closed. If something new and awesome comes out while I am making the list, it will not be added and it will have to wait for a future list for its flowers.
Second of all, clearly this is going to be my own personal choices. That means there will be items from the topics that I will not have on my list. I’m not setting this up as a debate. It’s my list. You can make your own.
I will have had to see or hear or experience it to be on the list. If something is considered the greatest of all time, but I have not seen it, it will not be on my list.
This is going to be building toward something that has scared me forever… a list of the Top 100 of my favorite movies of all time. I am not ready to dip my toe into that list because of how monumental that feels. I am going to work my way to that impossible list with some less impossible lists.
Any kind of list is fluid. It changes constantly. Maybe a rewatch leads me to move something up or down. Just because I finish a list, does not mean that it could not change. Perhaps down the road I could revisit the lists as we move along to see how time has changed my opinions.
I plan on starting this some time over the next week. I do have a topic, which I will announce below, and I have started to compile possible entries for the list. I will tell you that I have currently 132 potential choices for my Top 100 list so I will need to narrow it down.
These are tough things to do, so my expectations are that I will be missing some along the way. Again, that is tough, but there will be nothing I can do about it. I will do my best to make the list as comprehensive as I can.
Each day, I will make a post with one entry on the list. I will start with #100, the following day will be #99, then #98… and so on. One a day, every day.
I may yet compile a running list on the site to keep track of the list as we go.
With that out of the way, the first topic for the EYG Daily Countdown will be:
Top 100 Favorite TV Shows of All-Time.
This is quite an undertaking, but it is not as wild as movies would be, so I thought I would kick it off with this. Good luck and here’s hoping the new challenge will be a lot of fun.
August is coming to an end and we finished off the load of books from this week. So here we go.
Books this week:
The Knives: A Criminal Book graphic novel. Written by Ed Brubaker and art is done by Sean Phillips. Brubaker and Phillips have done some excellent graphic novels together and this new one has a fantastic story, weaving together three separate stories into one overall narratives. It was very compelling and wraps everything up beautifully.
Pulp graphic novel: Written by Ed Brubaker with art by Sean Phillips. I got another graphic novel from these two on eBay this week. Pulp was a cool story about a writer/artist of a comic strip, telling stories of the Old West with a character based on his own life. This was another excellent book from Brubaker-Phillips.
Universal Monsters: The Invisible Man #1. Written by James Tynion IV and art by Dani. Cover art was done by Dani & Brad Simpson. Yet another mini-series featuring the Universal Monsters kicks off with The Invisible Man. James Tynion IV has done a great job with these monster books and the Invisible Man starts off with some cool stuff.
Miles Morales: Spider-Man #37. “Thick as Thieves Part One” Written by Cody Ziglar and art by Luigi Zagaria. Cover art was done by Federico Vicentini & Neeraj Menon. Miles has to face off with White Cat and Inari, both making their first appearances. Also, how is Miles Morales: Spider-Man made it all the way to #37 without rebooting?
The Mortal Thor #1. “No Gods, No Monsters.” Written by Al Ewing with art by Pasqual Ferry. Cover art was done by Alex Ross. I got a foil variant of the issue by Patrick Gleason (Gold Medalist). The new arc of Thor starts with this issue as the recently dead Thor is here in a different form and a human frame. Where will this go? I am interested in the story.
Ultimate Spider-Man #20. Written by Jonathan Hickman and art by David Messina. Cover art was done by Marco Checchetto & Matthew Wilson. This issue was very much of a dialogue driven issue between Peter, MJ, Harry and Gwen as they go through everything that has happened lately.
The Thing #4. “King of Yancy Street Part Four” Written by Tony Fleecs and art by Justin Mason. Cover art was done by Nick Bradshaw & Rachelle Rosenberg. Aunt Petunia’s baby boy Ben Grimm has to deal with a list of supervillains to try and protect the little girl. Thing showing off why he is one of the toughest heroes in the world.
News from the Fallout #3. Written by Chris Condon and art by Jeffrey Alan Love. This continues to be the most original looking book on the market every month. The mysterious creatures wandering around are frightening and in pursuit of anyone they can find. I loved the design of the book.
Blue Palo Verde #3. Written by Ray Fawkes with art and cover art by Rimanti. Kris and her father are in a lot of trouble in the small town. Some wild things are going on with the sheriff in pursuit of them. I do love a mysterious small town story and this one scratches that itch.
Avengers #29. “The Missing Moment.” Written by Jed MacKay and art by Farid Karami. Cover art was done by Cafu and David Curiel. Reed Richards guest starred in this as the Avengers continue to try and find what exactly the Missing Moment, that Kang was searching for, was. How is the missing moment get caused by Reed?
Benjamin #3. Written by Ben H. Winters and art by Leomacs. Cover art by Christian Ward (Bronze Medalist). This highly entertaining three issue series ended with this issue. Honestly, I never saw the ending of this coming. This is a wild and creative sci-fi story.
Masterminds #1. Written by Zack Kaplan and illustrated and cover art by Stephen Thompson. New sci-fi book from Dark Horse featuring a video game designer trying to join up with the biggest group of the video game world… the Masterminds.
West Coast Avengers #10. Written by Gerry Duggan and art by Danny Kim. Cover art was done by Josemaria Casanovas. This is the final issue of this volume of WCA. I really loved this version with these characters and I wish it would have continued past this issue. The Avenger Ultron storyline ends up in a dramatic fashion.
Red Vector #1. Written by David “DB” Andy & Tim Daniel with art and cover art by Chris Evenhuis. Another new sci-fi series from Mad Cave. It actually felt similar to Void Rivals from Image. It felt very clean and new and I will be interested seeing how it moves forward.
X-Men #21. “Upstarts II” Written by Jed MacKay and penciled by Netho Diaz. Cover art was done by Ryan Stegman & Marte Gracia. Fitzroy and his Upstarts take on some of the X-Men and… Juggernaut does some violence.
Sleep #4. Written, drawn and cover art by Zander Cannon. We are still moving towards this mystery of what is happening when Jonathan goes to sleep. We have an idea of what is happening, as does Jonathan. Why is it happening? What causes it? Can it be stopped? Sleep has been excellent so far.
Speed Racer #2. Written by David Pepose and art by Davide Tinto. Cover art was done by Alessio Zonno. Speed Racer’s father has a heart attack and is hanging on by a thread. An expensive surgery requires Speed Racer to go try and win money racing. What does Racer X have to do with it?
Vanishing Point #4. Written by Mark Russell and art was done by Jok. Cover art is done by Chris Weston. This sci-fi anthology asks the question about “what is a living thing?” It is a sentient question in sci-fi and this is one more thought on the topic.
The Voice Said Kill #2. Written by Si Spurrier and art and cover art by Vanesa Del Rey. More back woods drama going on as Marie, the pregnant park ranger tries to navigate her way through the chaos.
Immortal Legend Batman #1. Written by Kyle Higgins & Mat Groom and art by Erica D’urso & Dan Mora. Dan Mora did the cover art. An Elseworlds Batman story set on another planet with characters we recognize. Immortal Legend Batman becomes the Dread Pirate Roberts on another planet.
You’ll Do Bad Things #6. Written by Tyler Boss and art by Adriano Turtulici. Cover art by Tyler Boss. I have to say that this issue was a really confusing read. I am not sure exactly what I read in it. It seemed as if it had a happy ending, but I am not 100% sure.
Runaways #3. “Think of the Children“ Part Three. Written by Rainbow Rowell and art by Roberta Ingranata. Stephanie Hans is the cover artist. I have missed the Runaways and their dysfunction. The group has the drama cornered even when they are trying to prevent the Doombots from taking their Doombot. The interpersonal aspect of the Runaways is definitely the strength of the book.
The Last Boy #5. Written by Dan Panosian and illustrated by Alessio Avallone. Cover art was done by Dan Panosian. Peter Pan has his final showdown with the Phantom King, whose true identity is a clever use of Pan lore. This issue wraps up this Boom! Studios book’s adaptation of Peter Pan and Wendy.
Incredible Hulk #28. “The Requiem Plain“ Part One. Written by Phillip Kennedy Johnson and art by Adam Gorham. Nic Klein did the cover art. The Pinkerton Detective Agency teams up with Hulk to search for Brother Voodoo. Things are starting to happen with Hulk and Banner that may foreshadow some terrible events.
Robin & Batman: Jason Todd #3. Written by Jeff Lemire and art and cover art by Dustin Nguyen. Awesome short series featuring Jason Todd and his choices to leave Batman. Did he make the right choice? I enjoyed the writing on this series as it now ends.
Geiger #17. Written by Geoff Johns and art by Eduardo Pansica & Gary Frank. Gary Frank and Brad Anderson did the cover art. A new arc kicked off as Geiger ends up in a prison. Geiger has been one of the more consistent books each month.
Minor Arcana #10. Written, illustrated and cover art by Jeff Lemire. Budd St. Pierre and his journey in prison, starting in 1977, is followed.
Dust to Dust #6. Written by JG Jones & Phil Bram with art by JG Jones. Cover art also done by JG Jones (Silver Medalist). It has been a long time since we received an issue of Dust to Dust. It makes it tough to maintain momentum of a series when it has been almost four months since the last issue was released. The art design is always beautiful in this book, no matter how many months between release dates.
Phoenix #14. Written by Stephanie Phillips and art by Roi Mercado. Lucas Werneck did the cover art. Jean Grey stands her ground against the In-Betweener and a few other galactic powers insisting that she will protect her sister Sara under any circumstances.
Justice League Unlimited #10. Written by Mark Waid and art and cover art by Dan Mora. Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman disagree about the next steps with Airwave. The League also has to try and save Doomsday!
Death of the Silver Surfer #3. “Fantastic” Written by Greg Pak and art by Sumit Kumar. Dike Ruan & Rachelle Rosenberg did the cover art. The Fantastic Four join in the events of this issue. I am now not sure if this is supposed to be a future event or present day. Johnny Storm had his mustache and I have not seen that anywhere outside of the main FF title. Otherwise, they are trying to prevent Galactus’s blood from damaging earth.
Hornsby & Halo #9. Written by Peter J. Tomasi and art by Ramon Bachs. Peter Snejbjerg & John Kalisz did the cover art. Zach and Rose try to take some time off by heading to the carnival. Sadly, things won’t leave them alone.
Other Comics This Week: Spider-Verse vs. Venomverse #4, Mr. Terrific Year One #4, X-Men: Tooth and Claw #1, Imperial War: Black Panther #1, Imperial War: Planet She-Hulk #1, Green Lantern Dark #6, and Be Not Afraid #3.
Quick Hits: Fantastic Four Fanfare #4 has three separate stories, with a cool one between Sue and Mole Man. Two books had Red Sonja featured. First was the final issue of Dynamite’s Red Sonja vs. the Army of Darkness #5 and the new Sonja Reborn #1. The penultimate issue is here for We’re Taking Everyone Down With Us #5. Lots of things need to be wrapped up in that book to finish it off. Two absolute books out this week, Absolute Wonder Woman #11 and Absolute Martian Manhunter #6. Deadpool/Wolverine #8 sees Logan and Wade team-up again. The reprint of the 2005 classic Marvel Zombies #1 came out in 3D, including a pair of 3D glasses. It is a cool book, but the reprint is not currently in the CLZ app which bothers me. I grabbed the Doomed 2099#1 foil issue which has one of the most beautiful covers of the week. I also picked up Dynamite’s Stitch #1. I thought maybe it would be a book that I would like even though I did not expect to. Nope. That one was nice for the collection. Predator: Black, White & Blood #2 is a fun book with interesting stories. Predator has been solid in the Marvel books. Bad Guys have been brought on twice this week as the storyline of “Bring on the Bad Guys” concluded with Bring on the Bad Guys: Dormammu #1 and Bring on the Bad Guys: Mephisto #1 coming out. More bad guy fun with old school Emma Frost: White Queen #3 is out this week. Monsters abound in The Oddly Pedestrian Life of Christopher Chaos: Children of the Night #3 featuring Adam Frankenstein and Henry Jekyll. Oh, and it sure looks bad for Dracula Boy. Void Rivals #22 continues the Energon Universe. Finally, Lost Fantasy #4 saw a huge sword fight.
Dexter is struggling with all of the outside forces coming into him.
Angel Batista’s obsession is making things difficult. Batista nearly caught Dexter in a kill room. Dexter found the ear pods Batista left behind in his car though.
Dexter failed to grab “Rapunzel” who did not like Hamilton. “Did you know they all rapped?” LOL.
Harrison asking for help with Elsa’s landlord.
Prater showed up at the site where Dexter was having dinner with Harrison. No good will come of that.
Blessing getting mad at Dexter when Dexter let it slip to Blessing’s daughter about her father’s past. Perhaps the rumors of Blessing being the New York Ripper, a twist that I would not be a fan of. However, his reaction to Dexter’s mistake made me think that there is more to Blessing than we thought.
However, it seemed as if Detective Wallace is filled with doubt about Batista and what he is doing. She did not respond to the story of the kill room very well, and she called down to Miami to ask about the Bay Harbor Butcher case only to find out that Batista was no longer an active police captain. Batista surely is looking shaky as his obsession with Dexter might be bringing him down.
Harrison had a night of sex with Gigi. I don’t know why but I just do not trust Gigi at this point. Maybe that is just the type of show Dexter is that I question anyone new, but I am just unsure about her at this point. I do hope she is not going to betray Harrison because I like seeing him happy for once.
I know now that there are two more episodes of Dexter: Resurrection remaining. Surely, there will be a confrontation between Dexter and Batista among those and I get a feeling that Blessing may have something in his past that we still need to face. I do hope that neither Batista or Angel wind up on Dexter’s table. Prater, however, I feel is destined for that table.
Episodes three and four of Apple TV’s new series, Stick, starring Owen Wilson were really great. I have to say though I am a little disappointed with Pryce and his weaknesses that are coming through. He does feel manipulative in his involvement with Santi and he is clearly also a problem with betting. These will both come back to haunt him later in the season, I am sure.
I do like the first few steps between Mitts and Elena. The whole “Mitts is trapped beneath the bed” part of episode three was fun and was a good way to learn about who these characters are.
We learned specifically what happened to Pryce’s son as Mitts told Elena about it after she had made an off-hand comment about Pryce not knowing about kids because he doesn’t have any. The little boy died at 4 from cancer, which is way too horrible to even think about. Elena immediately made the connection between the loss of his son and the meltdown Pryce had on the golf course that ruined his career. I had inferred this as well, but knowing the details make it even more painful and allow us to understand where Pryce is coming from.
We are introduced to Zero, played by Lilli Kay. I had seen her on the IMDB page and I did not know who she was, but she has been added as a “love interest” for Santi. Not sure I loved this character at this point, as she was portrayed as a far left idealist with big words for the society around them.
I did not think that the deal made by Zero and Pryce was a good idea. It will absolutely explode on them later in the season. Why they don’t just stick to the truth? It is such a better choice.
Stick has been solid so far and I am looking forward to see these seeds that the show is planting grow as the season progresses.
Since I currently do not have any active TV shows going, and having finished off the X-Files recently, I started to look for some new programs to watch. Yes, I am doing the season binges of What We Do in the Shadows, but I needed something to spread out over a few weeks to a month. I have started Stick on Apple TV, which was great. I then started another Apple TV + show called Smoke.
Apple TV + has had some great shows such as Ted Lasso, Shrinking, Silo, The Studio and Dark Matter. There have been a bunch of Apple TV + shows that I have not watched, but are fairly well liked.
Smoke caught my attention from the show synopsis: “When an arson investigator begrudgingly teams up with a police detective, their race to stop two arsonists ignites a twisted game of secrets and suspicions.”- from Apple TV + website.
I will say that after the pilot episode of the show, I was not sure how I felt about it. It was a slow burn for sure and I was just not sure if I was engaged enough to commit to it. However, by the end of the second episode, I was fully in. This show is currently active, with, I believe 5 episodes out. A new episode comes out on Fridays, so it would be nice to get caught up before the next episode is released.
Taron Egerton starred as the arson investigator who has his share of troubles and he is working with former marine and current police detective Michelle Calderon (Jurnee Smollett). Egerton is excellent so far in the show and the two leads have great chemistry. Egerton was probably the main reason why I kept going after episode one.
I do like the mystery aspect of this show, even though it seems that one of the arsonists is not much of a mystery. The second one has a massive reveal at the end of the second episode that makes me wonder what exactly was going on.
Last week, after watching Poker Face S2 E11, things just did not make sense. The whole storyline with the Iguana setting up Charlie to lead him to Beatrix Hasp in witness protection seemed so full of coincidences and impossibilities that it was tarring what I had been enjoying. I had hoped, I even think I wrote it in the post, that the writers would have something in the finale to make it all work.
Boy howdy, did they.
They then tossed in the twist of all twists for this show. A twist that they had been setting up for several episodes now. See, last episode when we saw the Iguana killing that guy to go to the wedding and making his prosthetics, it wasn’t the Iguana. This was another hitman….
The Iguana was Charlie’s friend, Alex.
Patti Harrison played Alex, and we thought she had been set up by the real Iguana as a patsy in the murder of Beatrix Hasp’s adopted son in episode 11, but, in truth, this was the Iguana. The Iguana had grown tired of the assassin game, because it lacked any sort of challenge. Then, when someone was trying to hire her to kill Beatrix, the name of Charlie Cale was brought up. A woman who was like a human lie detector and who was infallible presented the challenge for the Iguana. Could she lie to the lie detector?
When she was explaining everything to Charlie, we got flashbacks to the last few episodes, placing everything into context, showing that it all would fit. There are some awesome details that were dropped and we see Alex and her ability to lie to Charlie. Alex told her that every time she had to focus on every little thing to prevent Charlie from discovering the truth. She said it was thrilling.
Poor Rhea Perlman. She had to come back for this episode just to play a dead body with a bullet in her skull. Charlie was able to figure out things, but just too late. I wondered why the show chose to focus on the “Big Red” gum Alex had given to Charlie. It was weird product placement, I thought. But it triggered a memory of a lie Alex had told Charlie a few episodes ago and it put Charlie on to the truth.
The chase scene was fun but let’s talk about the “To Be Continued” that flashed up on the screen as Alex seemingly drove Charlie’s car off a cliff into the Grand Canyon Canyon in Indiana, Thelma and Louise style. The screen froze with the car in the air, about to fall to their doom. I literally screamed out in shock. I wonder if anyone immediately shut off their TV in frustration at that point? I had just stared in shock at the unbelievable cliffhanger when everything started to rewind. The car went backwards and we see the POV of Charlie, as she jumped from the car and held on to a branch, dangling over the cliff as the car flew into the canyon and crashed in a fiery explosion.
What a moment that “To Be Continued” was. It felt both awesome and cruel at the same time. Somehow, Alex’s body was not in the car afterwards. Not sure how she escaped but the show is setting Alex up as Moriarty to Charlie’s Sherlock Holmes. The show gave Charlie an arch nemesis and I liked that, even if I had to suspend disbelief that Alex was not dead. However, after questioning the story last episode, I have learned that Rian Johnson has planned things out so when Alex inevitably returns, it will make sense then.
Sadly, Charlie is on the run once again, now from the FBI. Simon Helberg’s Agent Luca Clark giving Charlie a head start, telling her that the next time they met, he’d have to arrest her. I waited for Charlie to say “bullshit” but she did not, so I guess he is telling the truth. I like how this relationship with Charlie and Luca is progressing. Luca clearly is amazed with her and her intelligence and I hope there will be more with these two moving forward.
I know Poker Face has not yet been renewed, but this show has set up plenty of story for a third season so I hope Peacock knows what they have in this show or if they let it go, maybe another streamer like Netflix or Amazon would give it a go.
Natasha Lyonne directed this episode and she did a great job with several creative and original shots and images. Lyonne is also one of the most interesting characters on TV right now and I really want more of her.
Season two was very strong and ended with a big time splash.
I wrapped up season 10 and then I had to start season because of the cliffhanger they left us with.
“Babylon”
Homeland meets Californication.
The X-Files had a Muslim terrorist angle that did not put a very positive face on it. It had a definite feel of islamophobia to it as the terrorist organization they were pursuing was Muslim.
It seemed as if the episode was as interested in introducing mirror images of Mulder and Scully. We meet Agent Miller (Robbie Amell) and Agent Einstein (Lauren Ambrose). They were younger examples of Mulder and Scully. Miller was a believer in the paranormal and the weird aspects of the world and Einstein was a scientist who was a skeptic. She was even a red head.
At first it felt like they were just a joke, but they actually turn into characters that would play an important role in the next episode.
The bizarre hallucinations Mulder underwent (thanks to a placebo, apparently) were strange and included the Lone Gunmen (RIP).
“My Struggle II”
Why will they not just shoot him in the head?
I was just screaming at the TV again when Cigarette Smoking Man showed up, not dead again, and plotting to expose the world to a deadly alien virus. Mulder had a gun on him again and just refuses to shoot him in the head. Why won’t he shoot him in the head? Everything can be over if he would just shoot him in the head… several times. Empty the gun.
We get an apocalyptic episode where the world is going to hell and Scully and Einstein race against time to try and find the cure for the virus. Meanwhile, Mulder is confronting CSM and NOT SHOOTING HIM IN THE HEAD!!!!
This episode did feel like a mess and wound up leaving on an insane cliffhanger. It was advertised as “This is the End” and it sure felt like it.
The show did bring back Monica Reyes and put her with CSM, which allowed me to freely hate her instead of trying to like her as I did in season 8 and 9.
“My Struggle III”
Nevermind.
Oh, that ending to season 10…. well, that was just a possible vision that Scully was having. Wink wink.
I wonder how much of the dislike for season 10 episode 6 there was in the world led to this changing of mythology in season 11.
I do not think that the revelation at the end of the episode would change the negative thoughts though as it was revealed that William was not Mulder’s son, but that he was artificially inseminated by CSM and that he was the father of Scully’s baby. Not sure why anyone would think that would be a well received idea.
It was hinted that William was the one sending these visions to Scully, which make little sense, but it definitely kicks off the storyline of finding William for season 11.
Oh, and Skinner won’t shoot CSM in the head either. Why don’t they just SHOOT HIM IN THE HEAD? They have the opportunity to d it. Who would blame them. He is believed to be dead anyway. JUST DO IT!!!!
Oh and Jeffrey Spender is back this episode, but looking a lot better than he did the last time we saw him. Did it cost too much for the make up?
Welcome to the first official EYG Favorite Comic Covers of the Week on Thursday. I decided to wait until Thursdays to pick up the books from both Comic World and In This Issue before doling out the medals. I picked an exceptional cover week to star the switch to Thursdays. I picked out a possible ten books with awesome covers that we in the running. I also ignored the Captain Planet #1 I got in the mail from eBay today. It is a lovely Mark Spears cover.
Speaking of Mark Spears, our current leader for the cover artist of the year had a book this week, Green Lantern #23, that did not make the cut for a medal. This is one of the few Mark Spears covers that I got on time that has not placed somewhere in the top three. It speaks to the quality of covers this week.
And it looks as if there are three Image Comic entries in the medalists this week. Two of them are variants.
Let’s go…
Bronze Medalist
G.I. Joe #7
Incentive Wraparound Variant H
Cover art by Andrea Milana
This may seem like a gimmick, but I really was drawn to this cover, with the partial head of Beachhead die cut and wrapped around the book. This was awesome.
Silver Medalist
Universal Monsters The Mummy #3
Cover art by Faith Erin Hicks & Lee Loughlin
I saw this cover a few weeks ago in passing. As soon as I saw it, I thought this had a chance to win a medal. I just love this compelling look at this character and the sides to her. The bloody hand is all the more riveting.
Gold Medalist
Feral #13
Variant Cover B
Cover art by Tony Fleecs & Allen Passalaqua
This is easily the best of the horror-themed variant covers for Feral, and calling it Feral the 13th was also a stroke of genius. I love the creativity and cleverness of this design and it fit so perfectly in what they were trying to do. I did not mean to do the pun (purr-fectly).
What an end to the second season of The Last of Us. Abby comes face to face with Ellie and it sure seemed as if Abby shoots Ellie.
Ellie killed a couple of Abby’s group earlier, including Mel, a pregnant woman, and it was clear that it hit Ellie hard. Mel became collateral damage in this revenge and that shook Ellie to her core.
With the screen going to black when the shots are fired, we have no idea what happened to Ellie. Most series I would say that it was obvious that she would be fine, that it was someone else’s gun going off, but about a month ago, the show killed Joel so I would not put anything past it.
It did end the season with the idea that the show was going to switch POV to Abby as the episode ended with a chyron stating “Seattle Day One” on the screen after we saw Abby in the Wolves’ stadium. I do not know how excited I am in seeing the POV of Abby in this whole thing. I hate this character of Abby and I do not want to have my opinion changed on her. I am not interested in a redemption arc for her, seeing everything that she has been through. She killed Joel and she killed Jesse. I am sad for the loss of Jesse, by the way. I should have known earlier in the episode when Jesse said that he was not dying that it was just foreshadowing the end.
By the way, the short time that Ellie was on Scar Island with the Seraphites was utterly frightening. I was not sure how Ellie was getting out of that situation as the noose was around her neck and she was just about dangling off the ground. She was seconds away from being gutted like a deer by the Seraphites. Thankfully, an alarm goes off, preventing the scarred psychos from completing their ritual. Ellie has that luck roll working for her.
The shots of Ellie on the water in the thunderstorm was amazing scenes. The power of the storm was clear and the danger that Ellie was willing to put herself in to satisfy her own selfish vengeance is fully realized.
I was not sure that this was the finale of the season, and it left off at a horrible moment. Then, Abby seemingly the focus of the third season, at least at first does not make me anxious for the show to return. It is absolutely a quality show, but I worry that it may push some viewers, particularly those that are not the game players, away.
Last week, I was not very interested in the new story arc that The Sandman was starting off. This week, I am all in.
Funny how a week can change things. The whole story of Rose Walker and her search for his brother Jed was not catching my attention. I theorized last week when Rose showed up in the Dreaming at Morpheus’s throne room, business might be picking up and I was right. Right now I am fully engaged with this story of a sister trying to reunite with her brother.
We got more abut Jed’s life, trapped in a basement as his cruel foster father collected $800 checks every month and how Jed escaped into his dreams, with the aid of one of Morpheus’s missing nightmares, Gault, to become a super hero called The Sandman. Perhaps it was this dream that grabbed my attention, but, whatever it was, I thought this was so much more entertaining and gripping than it was last week.
The Corinthian was back again, being brutal and vicious in the most gentlemanly manner. When he showed up to take Jed, it was both a happy moment and one of anxiety. One thing is for sure, I was happy with the fates of the foster parents. They deserved every bit of what they got.
It seems more and more to me that Morpheus is not the hero of this story. On the surface, it appeared as if he wanted to help Rose find Jed, but it appeared that he only cared about retrieving Gault. His punishment of Gault was over the top too. I have to not think about Morpheus as a hero and instead thing of him like a force of nature. He is much like Galactus. Galactus consumes planets, but he is a necessary cog in the universe’s life span even if his actions could, at times, seem villainous.
The Lyta/Hector storyline still does not intrigue me near as much as the main story with Rose, but the dream baby does have some interest.
I am looking forward to next week’s installment, which is episode nine of eleven. We are coming to the end of the second program in the Sunday Morning Sidewalk series. I am actively looking for the third TV show to include after The Sandman concludes in three weeks.
EYG- Embrace Your Geekness 