'IT' (2017 movie) Trailer Reaction

Trailer reactions are generally a Youtube thing.  I do have a channel and one of these days I'm going to use it for something, but right now, we'll stick to text.

I'll admit my Stephen King coverage hasn't been what it was back in the Examiner days.  I am working my way through "Bag of Bones", so it hasn't been completely forgotten, but I've been broadening my content into other areas of pop culture.

With the trailer for the new cinematic adaptation of "IT" hitting the internet yesterday, I figured this would be a good way to touch base and weigh in on some current Stephen King related news.

Right off the bat, you can tell that this adaptation won't be as narm-y as the 1990 TV miniseries. There is a much darker and more serious tone that I think fans of the book will appreciate.

It does have a bit of a "Stranger Things" vibe (I still need to check that series out, now that I mention it.)  I have to think that it was unintentional given how production schedules work.  At the very least, it's understandable, as the Netflix series was frequently compared to a Stephen King work.  On top of that, both center on a group of kids in the 80's dealing with supernatural elements.  

It is kind of interesting how there's no mention of the adult iterations of the Loser's Club.  This is probably simpler.  I do wonder if the "flashback" element will remain in place or whether it will just be a straight, linear telling of the events.  At the very least, doing it this way will allow viewers to understand the characters' fear when they first get that call decades later.

Oddly enough, the most memorable part was the weakest element and that's Georgie.  Seeing him run face first into that roadblock was funny and gives us at least one moment of levity, so credit for that.  I wonder if this is going to be used to help explain his poor judgment when confronted by a clown lurking in the sewers.  You could either argue that this is to indicate that he's kind of dumb or they could say that he's still woozy from the blow to the head, thus is disoriented and not thinking straight.  Given how the trailer plays out, the latter is unlikely.  I think it would have been an interesting angle, regardless.  

"Spirit" Georgie, though, didn't work for me.  His attempt to be scary fell flat.  That's a subjective thing, so it's possible others are chilled by it.  I just wasn't.

By and large, though, it seems like the child cast is on point.  Granted, the trailer is more horror-centric, so we don't get to see the individual personalities or the bond all that much; but based on what we've seen here, I still have a good feeling about the cast.

Considering how thick the book is, I get why they're doing this as two movies.  At the same time, people's tolerance for multi-part movies has diminished a lot in recent years.  Couple that with the fact that the child portion of the story is generally stronger and it seems like part II will have an uphill battle.  That's a bridge to cross later.

All in all, I thought that this was a strong trailer.  It got the atmosphere down pat and gave us a hint as to what sort of Pennywise we're in for.  It would have been nice to hear him talk.  I don't think his voice is something that warrants saving for the theater.  All we get is that shriek near the end and, alas, that fell more on the side of silly as opposed to scary.  His face in that shot didn't help matters.  Thankfully, the other shots present a more menacing figure.

We do, at least, get acknowledgement that Pennywise has more than clown and giant spider. Pennywise was meant to be every monster rolled into one and he does feed on fear, so seeing that made more prominent is a plus.  

There are some weak spots, but the positive response is warranted.  It's a shame that we have to wait until September (I do wonder why they picked that release date) but that's the way of things.  I have a good feeling about this and, at the very least, I have to admit that I'm more excited to see what they do with this than I was before I saw the trailer.











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'Legends of Tomorrow' season 2, episode 16: 'Doomworld'

With the Legion of Doom having acquired possession of the spear, we're thrown into an alternate reality of their own design.

It's not as bad as you might think.  True, the other heroes are all dead, sans the Legends.  In comparison to Star City 2046, though, things were looking alright.  Heck, Thawne even used his scientific prowess and STAR Labs resources to develop clean energy, bringing an end to global warming/climate change/pollution/whatever you want to call it.

The Legion are still villains through and through.  Darkh even gave himself his magic back, but I thought that it certainly could have been worse all things considered.

You might be wondering why the Legends exist at all.  Heck, Malcolm even calls Thawne out on this.  Considering it's another instance of hubris causing problems later on down the line, he's right to bring it up, but still, you can't fault Thawne.  The Legends are depowered, dispersed, and have no memory of what came before.  You could see why he'd get a kick out of having his adversaries in subservient roles.  Even Damien looks like he's having some fun with it.

If the episode has one problem, it's that the Legends get their memories back too quickly and too easily.  I'm not sure how you avoid that.  We're at the penultimate episode of the season and have only a 43 minute run time.   There had to be some way to get them back in the game, but Ray's "oh I built this thing because...I dunno I felt like it" didn't really fly for me.

I did like the call back, with Nate's barging into STAR Labs asking Thawne for help mirroring his initial appearance recruiting Oliver back at the beginning of the season.

As much of a problem as I had with Nate being able to find changes to history (as it was history, thus already happened, thus that's what he should think of as the actual events) it's even more difficult to buy him detecting changes to reality itself.  They try to address it, painting him as more of a kook, saying that his subconscious remembered things; and again, rule of plot dictates that the heroes get thrown some bone in order to turn the tables, but it was still hard to buy.

The new reality did put Mick in an interesting situation.  He's the only team member to have his memories and, in many ways, that ends up biting him as he comes to regret his decision over the course of the episode.

I don't know if it was an intentional nod or not, but the whole heist scene, with Mick acknowledging how pointless it is to rob banks if there's no resistance or challenge, was very "Twilight Zone".  Of course, that's only a fraction of what eventually leads to him trying to make amends.

I'm not sure why, but I was expecting this episode to be a one-off, with the status quo restored by episode's end.  On the contrary, in keeping with the general plot hook for the episode being the bad guys winning, Thawne succeeds in destroying the spear, making it appear impossible to restore things.

It's a great, dour note to end on, though the heroes do have another plan.  It also gave Thawne a chance to bask in the glory and rub his success, not to mention the futility of resistance from here on out, in everyone else's faces.

Speaking of dour notes, Amaya gets killed.  Credit to the scene, it worked well enough that you felt that hit.  At the same time, though, it seems a little cheap as it's pretty clear that she's coming back.  For one thing, they have to put her back in her time for present day Vixen to exist, but even putting that aside, seeing as the Legends go back to WW1 in the next episode means that Amaya is still going to exist in some capacity.

That's not to say that there wasn't levity.  On the contrary, the episode delivered all kinds of humorous highlights throughout.   Seeing the Legion of Doom headquarters from "Superfriends" was a nice touch, as was seeing ray blasting dominators on some unnamed computer game.  The character exchanges and dialogue were what really carried it, though.  Who would have thought we'd see the day where Nate and Damien almost give each other a high five?

All in all, this episode was quite enjoyable.  Sure, the characters' powers are gone, but they still managed to give the Legion a solid, climactic fight in the end.  Besides, more often than not, the more powerful characters get sidelined anyway, so there wasn't that much of a difference in the grand scheme of things.

We're down to the final episode.  It'll be sad to see it go, but it'll be interesting to see how things wrap up.  I do wonder if this will be like Flashpoint, where we'll see ripples that affect the other shows even after everything is seemingly restored.  It might be too soon to pull that trick, though it would be a logical effect.

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'Iron Fist' episode 2: 'Shadow Hawk Takes Flight'

At first, I assumed that this episode was going to follow a similar structure to Luke Cage's 'Step in the Arena', with Rand's being incapacitated at a mental hospital being the pretense to flashback to those missing 15 years.  Such is not the case.  On the one hand, you could argue that's a good thing as it would just come off as a rehash.  At the same time, focusing on Danny being held prisoner doesn't make for the most compelling hour of television.

We do get smidgeons of character development here and there.  Danny's origin is essentially told to us during his interviews with doctors. It's quicker, I'll give it that; and Finn does what he can with the material, but it doesn't feel like there's a whole lot of momentum.

Things do start to pick up a little later on, as Danny starts noting specific details that help confirm he is who he says he is.  Even the doctor seems to be more than willing to acknowledge the truth.  It probably would have been easy to just have the hospital be on the Meachum's payroll, thus hell bound to keep Danny there by any means necessary; but showing that the institution is legit does make for a more compelling dilemma.  While the doctors keeping him there is a negative from a meta-perspective, you can't fault them for thinking that Danny's nuts and their desire to help him is genuine.

Harold Meachum, the believed to be dead patriarch of that particular clan, also gets some layers added to him.  He still pales in comparison to previous Netflix rogues, but this episode pushes him in the right direction.  Just giving David Wenham things to do helped, but he develops a memorable dynamic with his put-upon assistant, Kyle; and also takes an interest in Danny's past, especially concerning The Hand.

The revelation that Danny is a sworn enemy to the organization was the real whammy for the episode.  It helps to set up "Defenders", of course, but it also makes the conflict more complex, as apparently the cult is warring with more than one faction.  Alas, no mention is made of the Chaste, but it's still early. The show could tie it all together later.

For his part, Meachum knows who they are.  I'm not sure if he plans to turn Danny over to them in exchange for some manner of protection from their agenda, but that seems to be the likely route.  Maybe he's not so nefarious, but we'll have to see.

Overall, though, it seems like the show took a step backward in characterization.  It seems like the last episode did a better job showcasing the main cast and their personalities.  Colleen Wing starts to connect a little with Danny, but we still don't know too much about her.  Where Danny was quirky and pleasant, here, he's just dour.  Given the circumstances, I guess you can't blame him, but it robs the show of the lighter tone that the last episode seemed to establish.

Also, for a show about a martial arts based superhero, there are surprisingly few martial arts on display.  They try to justify it as the drugs messing with Danny's chi, but you'd think he'd still be able to stealth his way out or use his hand to hand combat abilities (which he still has as seen when a patient tries to attack him).

Having the episode culminate with Iron Fist receiving a power boost Goku Black style (something established via a Chekhov's Gun line of dialogue) and getting his groove back in order to beat up some thugs and chi punch his way out was satisfying and made for a nice end to the episode.  It still seems like this was a problem that didn't need to take this long to solve, but I don't know how else you'd go about it.

The only other action beat is the Pink Panther style staged attack with Colleen Wing.  It's an odd teaching strategy to say the least.  It did seem a bit on the forced side.  I have to admit, though, given how stylized that sequence was, her assertion that this was a real world application did come off as kind of funny to me.  It's possible that was the desired reaction, but I honestly couldn't tell you.

I could see what this episode was trying to do, but there were flaws in the execution.  There's some character development, but not enough to carry the full hour.  There's still stuff to like here, so it does seem like some of the critics are blowing it out of proportion.  The show still has kinks to work out, but it does seem like it's at least beginning that process.

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'Dragon Ball Super' episode 83: 'Form the Universe 7 Representing Team! Who are the Strongest Ten?'

Judging by Beerus' line last episode about the need for a strategy session and the title of this episode, you might think that the focus would be on building the team for the tournament.  While it does certainly come up, the group finds themselves getting distracted pretty quickly.  First, by food, than by Bulma's pregnancy.

Granted, it isn't like they have trouble filling in the roster for their team.  Most of the team member selections are obvious.  The fact that the team is already widely known also justifies not spending a lot of time discussing the pros and cons of each potential fighter.

I did like how Goku was quick to suggest Monaka join the team.  It's a nice continuity nod, but seeing Beerus scramble to explain why he can't fight was good for a chuckle.  Supreme Kai also suggests exploring other planets for potential fighters, which was also appreciated.  I think TvTropes brought up the issue that all 10 fighters were centered on Earth and found that odd.

Alas, that isn't viable either, as apparently only 28 planets in this universe have life on them.  That seems....small?  I was honestly surprised by that. I guess the three punch of Freeza, Buu, and Beerus really did a number on life sustaining planets, because it's down to a handful.  Though, now that I think about it, that could be one of the reasons why universe 7's rating is so low.

We're given a reason as to why Goten and Trunks aren't fighting (too inexperienced) and we also see Goku and Gohan call Krillin's viability into question.  They mentally pit him against Basil to see how he'd fare.  It gives the episode it's only action beat, but it was still an interesting fight.  I figured they were going to go the more comical route and have him get trounced, but honestly, Krillin held his own pretty well due to quick thinking and clever tactics.  He still loses, but credit where it's due.  Not that it matters, Goku is still convinced that Krillin is tough enough.

There is still a problem, though, as Vegeta remains adamant about remaining by Bulma's side until the kid is born.  It's adorable, but that's just the beginning.  We'll get to that later, though.

As a way to negate that particular argument, Whis decides to essentially bring about the birth of Bulma's second child using his own abilities.  You might think that this is going in some weird, problematic area, but the whole thing is pretty innocuous.  Whis chants, his staff glows, there's a flash of light, and "poof" baby.  I mean, the baby was just about due anyway, so there's no issue there and it saved Bulma the hassle of labor.  Sure, Whis was doing it to get Vegeta to fight, but that wasn't the only benefit to going this route.

From here, the episode just becomes cuteness incarnate as everyone gushes over the newborn child.  Of course, Bulma's parents want to introduce themselves to their grandchild, but Mr. Satan and even Yamcha try to get in on the oohing and aahing, though to much less acclaim from Bulla.  Considering how good Mr. Satan is with Pan, you'd think he would have been better received, but he's not really family here and it was amusing in any event.

Also amusing (and adorable) is Vegeta's reaction to everything going on around him.  He tries to remain his stoic and aloof self, but he also puts in a lot of effort to coming up with names for the child and doesn't take it well when his new daughter is upset.  He doesn't really attack anyone, but he does immediately go into his blue form to show that he's not happy.

This is one of those episodes that doesn't move the plot forward all that much, but is so charming and cute that you don't care.  I've seen some argue that the "slice of life" episodes are the best part of the show.  I don't know if I'd go that far, but they have certainly been very well done and this entry is just another example of that.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' season 2, episode 15: 'Fellowship of the Spear'

This episode had a lot going on.  There are times where it's a detriment, as ideas can be left under-developed, but this was an instance where it managed to balance it all rather effectively.

Even the more standard "team up with historical figure to achieve goal" aspect was well handled.  Not only does recruiting J.R.R. Tolkien allow the writers to throw in some shout outs to the books, but it also tied in nicely with the team's own mission regarding the spear.  Even if you took out the, again, standard parts where the heroes unintentionally inspire the historical figure in question, the parallels were still there and illustrated in a satisfactory fashion.

We also got some great character conflict as both Amaya and Mick are tempted by the power of the spear.  Despite both Rip's and Sara's warnings, you can't fault them for at least thinking about it.  While Sara mentions Laurel at one point, she doesn't even consider using the spear to bring her back.  Credit to her for that resolve.  If this had gone down back at the beginning of the season, I'm sure she wouldn't have hesitated to do it, so hooray for character growth.

This episode does feature the return of another deceased character, though, Captain Cold.  The Legion comes up with the idea as a way to turn the tables.   Granted, people knew it was going to happen as the producers dropped the spoiler before the season started.  Even if the big wham moment was blown, it still made for some great tension with Mick as he is pulled between who he was and who he was becoming.

A part of me thinks that grabbing Snart before he joined the team would cause all kinds of paradoxes or changes to the timeline, but I suppose that the Legion's later possession of the spear would remedy that anyway, making it a moot point.

I remember getting a little tired of Miller's Snart back in season one, but it was nice to have him back. Sure, he kind of starts to veer in to large ham territory near the end, but for a majority of the episode, he was pretty compelling.

Really, it seemed like everyone was on point this week.  A benefit helped by the fact that everyone had a chance to shine.  That's not an easy thing to do when juggling a whole team of superheroes. It would have been nice to see Firestorm and Atom out in combat, but they had other highlights.  I seem to recall feeling ambivalent about when they went all out back in season one, due to temporal aftershocks, so I probably shouldn't be too hard on that aspect now.

I also shouldn't be too hard on the side step regarding the "team goes to the crucifixion to get Christ's blood".  A Christ/Legends meetup would be interesting, but I can't fault Rip's assertion that said time period is too vital a time to alter in any capacity.  I have to admit, his line about how the team can never and will never go there was kind of amusing, just because it seemed a bit meta; like the writers were telling viewers that the show would (both figuratively and literally) never go there.

With that, though, the weight of the divine artifacts is well on display.  The spear is directly said to be one of the most powerful objects in existence and when the team does come across the vial of Christ's blood in WW1, there is a palpable sense of awe, as everyone stops to take a second and let what they just found sink in.

As we move closer to the end of the season, it would stand to reason that the episode would end on a dour note and it didn't fail to disappoint.  Not only does the Legion come away with the spear, but they also nab Mick, who has gotten tired of being treated like the team pet and decides to awaken the darkness in his heart once again and return to the cold (yes, I'm aware of the irony,) ruthless criminal he was before.

The betrayal was especially interesting, as even some of the team acknowledge that Mick may not have been that far off on his assessment of their view of him.  It was clearly true with some, like Stein and Rip, but it seems like both Ray and Amaya genuinely connected with the "thug".  The latter is especially true as Mick offers for her to come with them before the villains exit stage left.  Of course, she turned it down, but it still spoke volumes about the two's connection that he even made the offer in the first place.

Next week's episode should be interesting to see, as the Legion has effectively rewritten reality.  Man, between this and Flashpoint, reality is not having a good year.  It's a shame that neither one really stuck around long enough to explore.  Seeing how the "Doomworld" affected the other shows would be cool to see, but I doubt we're going to get much of that.  At the very least, like Flashpoint before it, we could have some longer term ramifications that could play out over the remaining episodes of "Legends' sister shows.   We'll just have to see, I guess.

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'Iron Fist' episode 1: 'Snow Gives Way'

The fourth defender made his debut, hitting Netflix on St. Patrick's Day.  It took me a little while longer than I would have liked, but I finally got to sit down and check out the first episode.

Now, I should note that I know nothing of the character.  He does martial arts and he's best friends with Luke Cage, becoming "Heroes for Hire".  As such, I can't really tell you how close this is to the source material.  It could be 100% accurate, or maybe they changed things; I really have no way of knowing.

From what we see, Danny Rand, the protagonist and figure who eventually becomes the titular Iron Fist, is something of a send up of Bruce Wayne or Oliver Queen.  He's the son of a billionaire industrialist who disappeared and than came back several years later on a more noble quest.

Where the two aforementioned figures were met with media hoopla and open arms, Rand is met with hostility and suspicion.  Early on, it seems like the people he interacts with have no idea who he even is.  It makes for an interesting dynamic and paints Rand in a quirkier light.  It's later explained that Danny allegedly died in a plane crash years ago, hence the skepticism.  I actually kind of liked the idea that people were completely clueless as to who he was, though this is the more logical approach.

Finn Jones got a lot of flak for being cast, but honestly, I thought he did fine.  He has an approachable charm to him that makes it very easy to like and connect with the guy.  Also, he's good with dogs; that's always a plus.  Sure, he's a bit of an oddball (it'll definitely be interesting to see how he interacts with the other defenders,) but the quirkiness makes him stand out and you sympathize when everybody seems to go out of their way to avoid talking to him.

His presence gives the show a much lighter tone than the shows that came before.  It's more in line with what you'd see in a cinematic entry as opposed to the grittier street heroes we've seen in the MCU to date.  Whether that's a good or a bad thing depends on your individual tastes.  I found it fun, but mileage may vary.

Jones also deserves credit for pulling off the other aspects well.  When Rand starts to get more intense, such as when he's holding a character hostage in a speeding car (it makes sense in context,) he does it in a believable fashion.

The other characters are OK, though they take a back seat to Danny for understandable reasons.  Colleen Wing and Big Al are probably the two supporting characters that left the most lasting impressions.  One for her cautious apprehension to Danny's introductions and the latter for just being a genial guy who takes an instant liking to Danny.

Sadly, the villains are beyond underwhelming.  They're just Danny's father's coworker, who is now running the company, and his two kids (who Danny was close to in childhood.)  After Diamondback, I'm not sure it was the best idea to have another antagonist with ties to the hero's childhood, though this could be from the source material.  If that is the case, it's a tad harder to criticize.  It does feel a bit repetitive in either case.

On top of that, they have no real motive or menace.  They want to keep running the company and are not too keen on a stranger claiming to be their dead friend taking over.  Even if we assume that they were somehow responsible for the plane crash and grabbed power through illegitimate means, it still pales in comparison to the villains we've seen before.  Hopefully somebody from K'un L'un ends up being the true big bad because these guys are lackluster, to say the least.

I did find it odd how they came up with the idea that this person claiming to be Danny was part of some corporate sabotage to create inner conflict and undermine credibility in the company.  I know this is a world with aliens and Hulks and LMD's, but that didn't fly with me.  Despite the reputation, companies don't really do that.  This isn't "Young and the Restless".

Surprisingly, there's little talk of Danny's origin.  We get some brief flashes, but nothing too in depth.  I know we'll be getting it over the course of the show, but with this being the first episode, you'd think that it would get more focus than it ultimately did.

A part of me can see why they structured the story this way, but I also wouldn't have minded just having the origin told in a linear fashion.  Seeing things from the plane crash to Danny's time in K'un L'un probably would have been more engaging and had more momentum than this did.

For an opener, this episode had problems, but I don't think it's enough to write off the show just yet.  It has a strong lead and it does a great job setting him up.  The lighter tone also made for a fun watch.  Alas, there are definitely kinks that need to be worked out.  Hopefully the next episode can begin that process.  

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'Dragon Ball Super' episode 82: 'Never Forgive Son Goku! Toppo the Warrior of Justice Intrudes!!'

When we last left, Goku had been challenged by Toppo, a champion of justice from Universe 11 who had called Goku's moral fiber into question.  You'd think that the episode would build on this to some extent, but aside from Toppo's grandstanding, there isn't a whole lot there.

Even with the episode devoting the first 6-7 minutes to the pre-fight stare down and verbal exchange, there's not as much tension as you'd think there would be.  It's odd, as this franchise usually does that so well.  Having Goku start to sound like Black at points was a nice touch, but that's about all we see to suggest that Goku is still the villain of the piece.

Toppo's righteousness doesn't come through either.  As I said, it's a lot of grandstanding.  I never got the sense that he was a genuine hero.  He makes one mention of Goku being the impetus behind the tournament, but after that he just sings his own praises.  It got a little annoying, to be honest.  I was almost expecting Goku to make some reference to Zamasu, but that never happened.

When the fight does begin, it feels a bit on the hollow side.  I suppose it's tough to keep that momentum after several episodes of fights, but it's been done before.  It isn't even that Toppo isn't a formidable opponent.  He gives Goku a run for his money as a super saiyan, dislocating his shoulder and getting him into a deadly bear hug.  When Goku does go blue, Toppo still manages to hold his own, so props to him.  The fight just didn't wow me the way others had.

Of course, the fact that the high priest cuts it short doesn't help matters.  It was a gutsy move on his part, as even the two Zeno's want to see the fight continue.  A lot of viewers have brought up the fact that there's something fishy about this guy and this scene helps prove it.  He is able to convince the two omni-kings that it will be better to hold off until the tournament proper and they agree to call it there for the day.

It was nice to see Goku back in his cheerful and friendly mode.  His offer to shake Toppo's hand for a good fight and to let him know that he was looking forward to the rematch was oddly heartwarming.  Alas, he gets rebuffed, as Toppo is still convinced that Goku is evil.  I'm not sure why Goku is confused by this, it isn't like he did much to rebut the accusation when it first started getting thrown about.  Maybe if he had acted confused earlier, it would have helped sell the idea that he's not a bad guy to the others, but that's just me.

With that matter settled, the high priest announces that the tournament will begin in less than two days.  This doesn't leave the universes much time to put their teams together, but that's the way of it.

Goku, for his part, isn't fazed by any of it, which annoys Beerus to no end.  The bickering was oddly one of the stronger elements of the episode.  It's weird how the show's initial big bad is more concerned than the hero, and he doesn't hesitate to point this out.

It did seem like Goku was acting out of character.  You'd think his first impulse would be to hit the hyperbolic time chamber and get his training on.  After all, he knows that there are fighters out there stronger than him and that they'll all be gunning for him.  If nothing else, you'd think he'd be excited about the idea, but he comes off more as bored than anything else.  Considering the fact that fighting is the one thing that's supposed to hold Goku's attention, it was surprising to see.

Overall, this episode was a disappointment.  Maybe the break gave the impression that this fight would be bigger, but it felt mostly like padding.  Even the ideas that the last episode introduced weren't followed through in a satisfactory manner.

Hopefully, the next episode will mark an upswing.  There won't be fights, but we could use something to break it up a little, quite frankly.  Instead, it looks like the focus is going to be a strategy session, as Goku and the others try to decide who will make up the remaining team.  Granted, we know who it's going to be, but strategy discussions are always interesting to watch.

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'The Fireman' by Joe Hill novel review

As far as books go, Joe Hill has had a pretty solid track record.  He came out of the gate strong with "Heart Shaped Box", "Horns" was a solid follow up, and the third time proved to be the charm as "NOS4A2" seemed to hit on all fronts and bring Hill's author cred to new heights.

Thus, I was looking forward to his latest tome, a tale of a post apocalyptic world ravaged by a strange spore that causes spontaneous combustion.  Sadly, this one fell flat for me.   It seemed like all of the pieces were there, but it never really came together the way the other books did.

While the book clocks in at over 700 pages, the plot doesn't really have a lot of momentum.  It never centers on any one aspect long enough for that.  As such, we have a myriad of mini sub-plots that ultimately fall flat.  The book would set up some mysterious aspect, and then, when the true nature is revealed, you just kind of shrug and move on with it. It never felt like there was much of a "whoa" factor.

There are moments here and there.  The section of the book detailing Harper being ostracized from the community of infected for breaking one of their decrees is harrowing and comes to a head with an attempted execution that is appropriately intense.  It's the part of the book where you feel most connected, as you sympathize with the protagonist and develop something of a loathing for those who are antagonizing her.  

Amid that, there's a supply stealing thief, a community member being attacked, a ghost, a possible new society of infected, a vengeful ex-husband (ugh, we'll get to him in a second), revelations about the nature of the spore, and a power hungry leader who rules with an iron fist.  It's a lot, even for a door stopper.

Some of these don't even go anywhere.  The book spends a lot of time detailing the potential threat of "the bright".  We see it, but it never resolves itself in any real fashion.  At no point do the characters address how they're supposed to change moving forward to avoid a repeat of what happened, they just sort of go and that's it.

The characters themselves are...OK at best.  Harper's fine, but the rest of the cast are hit or miss.  Even the titular fireman doesn't really shine the way you'd hope he would.  Aside from Harper, I think that Father Storey is probably the only standout, mostly due to how benevolent and avuncular he is.

The rest suffer from inconsistent writing.  Allie, a young girl who lives at the camp, can be malicious and spiteful one chapter and than be depicted as one of the more compassionate members of the camp.  She's even directly involved in a rather brutal assault on Harper at one point (under the influence of the bright) and the whole thing gets brushed aside.  She apologizes, but you'd think that there would be more repercussions than there were.

Jacob, Harper's husband is probably the biggest victim of this.  When the book opens, he's a pretty stand up husband.  He clearly cares for her and the two have some rather tender scenes together.  It isn't quite as dynamic as the romance in "NOS4A2", but it was alright.  Once Harper gets infected (and he thinks that he's been infected,) he pulls a 180 and becomes something out of a stereotypical Lifetime movie.

It's a pretty jarring shift, but you could try and explain it as a result of fear; even when he tries to make good on a murder/suicide pact that the two had for this scenario.  It only goes downhill, though, as the book tries to pull a half-hearted retcon to make it seem like this latter characterization was how he always was and the entire relationship was a sham. It wasn't done well.  It also results in a lot of eye-roll and groan inducing comments and "insight".  It makes for a weak, two dimensional character, and an incredibly lackluster villain.

Due to the aforementioned lackluster characterization, Harper's subsequent romance with the fireman also falls flat.  The two didn't really have much in the way of chemistry, despite the book's insistence that they were OTP.

This book makes multiple references to "The Stand".  Surprisingly, none for "Firestarter".  They're amusing.   I think my favorite was a character alluding to the appearance of "the hand of God".  This book provides a stronger context and explanation for why it's appearing, which is nice, but it was still a cute nod.  Having characters talk about forgetting the face of their fathers was also a nice nod.

Oddly enough, Hill doesn't reference his own works all that much.  I guess after "NOS4A2" did it, he didn't want to fall into habit.  Christmasland gets a mention, though the context is entirely different than the one we saw in Hill's previous entry.

It's a pity that this one didn't work, but in the long run, it could work out for the better.  I remember hearing Will Smith express relief that "Wild Wild West" bombed the way it did.  It keeps the ego in check and relieves some of the pressure of heightened expectations, like how sports teams will occasionally express happiness to lose once or twice over the course of the season.

Hill's next release will be a collection of novellas set to release later this year.  We'll see how those entries fare when that comes out.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' season 2, episode 14: 'Moonshot'

See, now were I on the writing staff, I would have tried to foreshadow the plot of this episode by having characters make reference to the old "Honeymooners" line by facetiously threatening to send each other to the moon during their bouts of bickering.

In any event, this episode has the team track down Nate's grandfather, Hank Heywood, in order to retrieve the final piece of the spear.  The good news is that Rip knows what year he dropped the former JSA member off.  Amaya makes mention that Hank was something of a chameleon.  You'd think this would work in their favor, as even Sara notes that it makes it hard for the legion to find him.   The thing is, the team has a very easy time of finding him.  I guess that was something of an informed ability.

Not that it matters anyway, Thawne had apparently deduced the location of the final piece and was on his way to get it.

Props to Commander Steele though, hiding it on the moon (in the flag that Armstrong planted to be specific) was a stroke of genius.  Even though he is largely unaware of the capabilities of the Legion, he knew that it wouldn't be safe on Earth, thus hid it off-world.  The moon isn't exactly easily accessible, so again, hats off to him for pulling that off.

Now, the genius is somewhat negated when you take into account Thawne's time travel abilities.  He could have just gone to the future where space travel was more common, but his plan to fix the Apollo 13 vessel works well too.

As the episode largely takes place in small, confined spaces; the team doesn't really get to show off its superhero skills.  Even the initial skirmish between Ray and Thawne was subdued, though it does allow both to showcase their non-powered combat ability.

There is still tension aplenty as lives hang in the balance and the crews of both the Apollo and the Waverider face various perils.

On top of that, the episode gives the characters a real chance to shine.  Where Commander Steele was somewhat bland in his JSA outing, here he comes off as much more layered, noble, and sympathetic.  This, in turn, effects Nate, who wants to return his grandfather to the past so that he can be present to raise Nate's father and make him a better man in order to improve his own upbringing.

Granted, the family vs history conflict has come up with other characters (Jax, Rip, Sara) but it was really well done here.  When you have a group of people traveling through time, it makes sense that they'd want to go back and fix things about their lives that they think went wrong.  The Flash himself fell victim to this mentality, though I think this proves Oliver's point about how anyone would have done the same thing.   The fact that the writing and the cast worked as well as they did only made the episode (and its ending) that much more effective.

This also ties into Nate's relationship woes with Amaya, as he has to reconcile their blossoming romance with her destiny.   This conflict also works well, though the highlight for me was Amaya asking about what happens.  This results in Mari not only getting mentioned, but us seeing photos of her (from her stint on "Arrow") pop up on the viewscreen.  

Even Thawne himself got a strong showing.  It wasn't so much that he was a menacing presence, but he came off much more human.  His alliance with Ray was purely pragmatic, but it did allow him a chance to showcase his scientific prowess as well as reflect on things.  The nods to his time as Wells were a nice touch, with him saying that he missed the camaraderie he had with Cisco and Caitlin.  I thought this remnant was Thawne before he ventured back and did all of that, but I could be remembering wrong.  I still liked the callback in any event.      

With Rip's return, there was a bit of a tug of war between he and Sara about command.  It never gets too overblown, but you can tell that he's out of the loop.  It gets to the point where the team is able to execute ideas before he even has them.  Even Hank notes that the team is more organized than they were when he first met them back in WW2.  I remember reading one review saying that Rip should just be dropped off somewhere, as his role in the show is done, but it was nice to see Sara make it clear that he's still part of the team.  Who knows, being the ship's second in command could work to his advantage.  He can still bring his knowledge, skill set, and insight to the table; but not have to worry about the pressure of tough calls and the stresses of wrangling all these so called misfits.  

For all the great characterization and tension, the memorable show stealer is going to be Stein spontaneously breaking out into a rendition of Belafonte's "Banana Boat Song" to distract mission control in order to buy the team a few more minutes.  Even if you know it's coming, the sheer "...Wat" factor alone makes it jarringly hilarious.  You could tell that Garber was enjoying the hell out of it, though, as he goes as over the top as he can with it.  Even the producers seemed to get a kick out of it as the scene is replayed over the show's closing credits.  The sense of the fun that is being had on this set is palpable, even through the screen.

All in all, this was a solid outing for the show.  It managed to give several characters meaningful plot arcs and kept the viewer engaged throughout.  The situation kept the team's power set in check in a believable fashion, allowing for enough tension to make up for the lack of superheroics.  Also, Stein sang "Day-O", I mean...come on.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' season 2, episode 13: 'Land of the Lost'

I was skeptical about how this episode would play out based on what I saw in the previews.  I thought it odd that Rip would be able to hijack the ship the way he did.  True, there is a voice interface, but you'd think either the team or Gideon would take precautions to prevent that before bringing him back on the ship when they know that he's a member of the Legion of Doom now.

Thankfully, the episode averts this on two fronts.  For one thing, we do see that Gideon was told to ignore anything Rip said.  Granted, it's moot as he has some override code that she can't ignore (Gideon is just a computer after all.)  On top of that, said hijacking was merely the means to which the episode's real plots kick off.

As a result of Rip's actions, the ship crashes back in the cretaceous era.  The ship crash made for a rather solid spectacle, but it also gives Ray, Nate, and Amaya a fetch quest as they have to go retrieve the technical mcguffin that allows the ship to travel through time.  Given the crash, you'd think the damage would have been more extensive or that repairs would be more difficult, but they seem to have a rather easy go of it.

The episode did a good job of following up on the fact that Ray spent a good deal of time in this period earlier in the season.  It was nice to see him show off some of his survival skills, but I do wonder why he didn't bring his suit with him.  Not only would it have saved time, but it would have allowed him to better defend himself against the dinosaur that their group spend a majority of the episode evading.

The nature hike approach does allow for some nice character moments as Nate and Amaya continue to bond and Ray talks to the prior about the risks.  It was nice to see Hawkgirl get a mention, but Ray bringing up Mari and Amaya's relation to her was the stronger nod.  It's good to see that Mari hasn't been completely ignored.  I think this is the first time the blood relation has come up.  I'm not sure how Ray knows this, but it's now official canon as opposed to merely a "word of god" fact regarding the show's mythos, so that's a good thing.

Said relationship also brings up an interesting question regarding Amaya's long term position.  Unlike the others, she has to eventually go back to her time in order to keep the timeline intact.  She's not someone who can just go off and start protecting history with no consequences.  Given that the Arrowverse has a pattern of having heroes operate for a short time and than ride off into the sunset, it isn't like she'd be the first, but it does make for a unique angle.

The second plot line followed Jax and Sara as they ventured into Rip's mind.  Their mission was two-fold: restore his mind, but also discover the location of the final piece of the spear, as Rip had destroyed the amulet.

I found this to be the stronger of the two plots.  It had more forward momentum and it felt more tense as the two faced evil versions of the team while racing against the clock.

The Sara vs. Sara fights were well done.  Sadly, the CGI on evil Firestorm was beyond sub-par.  It was a nice idea, as a powerless Jax has to face his own super powered iteration, but those graphics really ruined it.  Jax gets a nice moment to show off his clever side, sending Evil Jax out into the time stream, but it ultimately proves to be moot.

As these scenes take place in Rip's mind, it does allow for some nice bits, such as Rip having powers.  I was expecting Sara and Jax to do a similar "dream warrior" bit, but it's only Rip who appears to be capable.  He doesn't even do as much as you'd expect.  He just sort of shoots pressure waves, sort of akin to the canary cry.  I guess they wanted to keep some tension and making Rip overpowered would have robbed the episode of that to an extent.

Having Gideon appear "in the flesh" was also a nice touch.  The "romance" that seems to be brewing between Gideon and Rip is a bit strange, but we'll see where the show goes with that.  Maybe nothing comes of it and it just shows how close the two are, but this could take the show in a weird direction.

It's nice to see Rip back as one of the team again.  The team is surprisingly willing to let bygones be bygones.  I mean, I know it was the Legion, but you'd think that there would be some tension there.  Sara is especially willing to just hand command back to Rip.  It's smart to avoid any power struggle, but it would have been nice to see him defer to her and operate as a non-captain member of the team.  It seems like the team listens to her better anyway.    

This episode passed the time well enough.  There's quite a bit to like, but it did feel like it was lacking in some respects.  Again, it seems like the team's heavy hitters are oddly sidelined.  You'd think now would be the time to cut loose, but we don't get that.  We do get some solid character development and the return of Rip, so it's hardly a bust.

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'Dragon Ball Super' episode 81: 'Bergamo the Crusher vs. Son Goku! Which One Wields the Limitless Power?!'

Before the third and final exhibition match begins, Bergamo, Goku's opponent, takes a moment to effectively call Goku out on starting this whole mess and ensuring the destruction of several universes.  He goes on to say that he's going to put a stop to Goku's reign of terror and defeat him for the greater good.

It's an interesting inversion, having the opponents acting more nobly than the protagonist.  It works really well and the crowd even starts to resent Goku's attitude.  Beerus and the Supreme Kai try to paint this as some underhanded tactic on Bergamo's part, but he's not wrong.

Where Goku was talked out of trying to convince the dual omni-kings to phase out that particular caveat regarding the tournament, Bergamo humbly asks that the duo remove the erasure rule.  He does put in one qualifier, though: he has to beat Goku.  I have to think that's what sold them on the deal, to which they surprisingly agree.  Giving the fight some stakes makes it more exciting, yes?  That seems to be what they're looking for first and foremost, so props to Bergamo for presenting it to them in that fashion.  The fact that he said please and asked while down on one knee also showed no intent of impudence on his part.

Just to make sure there's no funny business, the high priest does go on to say that should Goku hold back or try to throw the match as a way to save lives, all of the universes will be erased.

Knowing Goku, he wouldn't hold back or allow himself to lose anyway (he even says as much,) but it does throw Goku fans a bone as you could argue that he's trying to prevent total annihilation as opposed to nigh-annihilation.  Granted, it's clear that he's just looking to fight and doesn't seem to care about stakes or how others view his attitude, but it's another way of looking at it.

Speaking of fighting, the fight does eventually start with Bergamo and base form Goku holding at about an even keel.  But things take an interesting turn when Bergamo pauses, extends his arms outward and tells Goku to stop trying to hit him and hit him as hard as the saiyan can.

It turns out that Bergamo can absorb hits and blasts to become bigger and stronger, hence his nickname "the crusher".

This makes for a somewhat difficult fight for Goku.  Granted, we know that Goku's going to win as there's no way that the universal elimination would be phased out of the tournament before it even started, but at least it's somewhat compelling.  Does it pale compared to the last two? A bit, but again, I thought it was adequately done.

Going super saiyan doesn't seem to do much good, but Goku goes blue and even throws the kaio-ken on top of that for good measure in order to create a kamehameha wave strong enough to...I guess overload Bergamo and knock him out.

It was nice to see the blue transformation get treated as a big deal again.  That epic chanting music is brought back and we see the look of astonishment from the other gods as they see what mortal saiyans from one of the lesser universes are capable of doing.  It brought back some of the majesty to godly ascension.

I'm surprised that Goku threw the kaio-ken on top of blue again.  For one, I'm not sure how necessary it was.  Bergamo wasn't quite Hit levels of difficult and it's also a risk, given how it messed with Goku the last time he did it.  Maybe there's going to be some hiatus that would allow Goku time to recover..or maybe his training has allowed him to do that more easily; I don't know.

While Bergamo is defeated, he does get something of the last laugh as he swears that every fighter from every universe is going to be gunning for Goku now.  Again, this is something of an inversion of standard formula.  This isn't a villain swearing he'll come back again to defeat the hero or get vengeance, but a more noble character swearing that the (at least perceived) bad guy will eventually get his.

For Goku's part, his response is to essentially tell all of the universes to bring it.  It's somewhat childish and face palm inducing, but at the same time, the way the scene was executed, it was an awesome moment for Goku.  Even Gohan has a proud smile on his face while all of this is going on.

Just like the last episode did, this one has the high priest come in and lay down some more rules for the official tournament.  Unlike the preliminaries, being knocked out of the ring will result in elimination.  In fact, it's the only means of elimination.  It's explicitly said that if someone is knocked out, another fighter has to toss them out of the ring in some fashion in order for the unconscious fighter to be removed from play.

On top of that, weapons outside of abilities aren't allowed, nor is killing....or flying for that matter.  It seems like an odd decision, but Gohan does note that it adds an element of strategy.  From a meta-perspective, it could be a way to hearken back to the Dragon Ball tournaments of old, before characters could zip around in the air.  Then again, it does seem to negate earlier efforts to portray this tournament as something unlike anything we've seen before, so it's a bit of a double edged sword.

There's also a time limit that amounts to 48 minutes.

Oh, and rather than rounds, it's going to be one big battle royale.  Yeah, 80 fighters going at it at once.  Which ever team has the most fighters still standing at the end wins; or if there's only one fighter left, that universe wins.  This means that teamwork is going to be essential.  Characters talk as if Goku is incapable of working in a cooperative capacity, but he seemed to do pretty well working with both Vegeta and Future Trunks against Zamasu and Black.  Maybe they're just underestimating him?

Either way, the fact that everyone is gunning for Goku will also become a bona fide problem, whether he wants to admit it or not.  Remember, universes 7 and 9 were said to be two of the weaker ones out of the bunch.

I am starting to feel like the writers bit off more than they could chew with this story line.  Were this "Z" with story arcs that went on for 40 to 50 episodes, they could have probably pulled it off to its fullest potential, but with Super's story arcs only going 20 episodes at most, it seems like they're having to undercut the premise as a way to fit within the allotted time frame.

I mean, first they eliminate four of the universes from the proceedings right off the bat, and now they're streamlining it into one big fight.

Now, this could work.  There are a lot of elements that make this set up more interesting than the standard tournament bracket format we're used to, but at the same time, it also runs the risk of getting overcrowded.  Maybe the chaos works to the tournament's advantage, but we'll have to see.

Rather than end the episode with the teams returning to their respective universes to train and further prepare for the tournament proper, Toppo, a being from universe 11 who has spent all of his screen time shrouded in a cloak, jumps down to the ring and challenges Goku.  After removing said cloak, he announces himself as a champion for justice and wishes to see if Goku is evil or not.  If so, Toppo intends to vanquish said evil.  Goku is oddly not phased at the idea of being viewed as evil, but he's totally down for another fight, considering Bergamo wasn't up to the task.  This makes for the episode cliffhanger as this unscheduled throw down is about to begin.

After two episodes centered on fighting, this one took a side step and decided to put the emphasis on character.  The fight was OK, but we knew Goku was going to win.  Even if it wasn't clear before, Bergamo's offer to the two Zeno's more or less sealed his fate.  It wasn't a bad fight, but the die was cast right from the get go.  It is a little strange that this, the last fight of the preliminaries between the two groups' strongest fighters ended up being the weakest of the three fights, but to be fair, those other two did set rather high bars.

The real meat of the episode comes from how Goku is portrayed and viewed from other characters.  It's an interesting perspective, though fans of the character will likely feel ambivalent.  Even taking Goku's selfishness into account, this heel turn can be seen as a bit of a stretch.  It's going to be interesting to see how Funimation handles this given their more noble take on the character or even how this arc and show handle Goku from here on out.

If you check out the Midnight Screenings episode for "Dragon Ball Z: Battle of Gods", "Angry Jake" goes on a lengthy rant detailing how Goku is Superman's moral superior, given the fact that the latter has often been corrupted and twisted to become more malevolent.  He argues, conversely, that Goku never has and never will suffer that fate.   To be fair, he's basing his stance on the Funimation take which, oddly enough, was essentially Superman.  You could say that, based on Toriyama's intended take on Goku's personality, he was just wrong, but I have to think that it falls under "hilarious in hindsight" at this point given that Goku has more or less become the villain of the story and endangered lives on a scale that could only be rivaled by the likes of the anti-monitor.

Maybe this will be a growing moment for Goku.  He could see that the "fighting comes first" mentality doesn't work and start working to fight for things other than his own need for a challenge.  I'm just spit balling, but it's an option.

This episode's fight was lackluster compared to what came before it, but this episode made up for it with some great character dynamics.  They're really playing up Goku as the bad guy here.  That was interesting on its own, but it also allowed Bergamo to shine as a character.  While he wasn't formidable enough to take on the likes of Son Goku in a fight, he made for a fascinating character in his own right.

Alas, it's going to be two weeks before we see the Toppo vs. Goku showdown, but it has been a while since there was an off week.  The animators could use the break.  Either that or the next episode's fight is going to be one of the more kinetic ones.  I guess we'll have to wait to see and find out.

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