'Jessica Jones' Season 2, Episode 6: 'AKA Facetime'

I noted before that the last episode's "cliffhanger" tried to make a big deal out of something that wasn't.  It turns out that I was, more or less, correct.  While we do see people fleeing the aquarium, the only real effect of the implied tsunami is that Jessica's phone is messed up, preventing her from taking a photo of the car as her targets make their getaway.  Even that is quickly dealt with via the old "bag of rice" trick.

From there, the episode proceeds to move onto several other issues.  The most prominent is Trish's addiction to Simpson's drug.  When we first see her, she's just itching for a fight; but once she's cut off, she starts to show the standard symptoms.  You'd think Jess or especially Malcolm would start to notice that something's up, but both remain oblivious.

Jess does get to show off her loyal, kind-hearted side.  Not only does she offer a shoulder/sounding board for Trish to vent about her romantic woes, but she even offers to act as nurse when Trish falls ill.

This seems to have positive ramifications as her romance with the landlord takes a step forward.  It seems his hangups about things moving too fast are no longer a concern.  Not only do the two hookup, but he paints her while she sleeps.  A little creepy, not going to lie.  I'm sure he meant it to be romantic, but some better judgment could have been used there.

On the flip side, she also relapses in regards to giving into darker impulses.  You see this mostly in terms of her investigation.  She breaks into a country club to pump a guy for information and when that doesn't work, she accosts his son.  She does acknowledge it via a voice over, but it seems her desire to be better has been put on hold. 

Said investigation does yield some results.  She manages to obtain the name of the IGH scientist responsible for the experiments: Karl Malus.  It's quite close to the name of the big bad on "Legends of Tomorrow".  Were these not two completely separate and independent shared universes from rival comic book companies, I'd say a crossover might happen, but I doubt it.  Would be interesting to see, though.

The other big development comes in the episode's last five seconds as the killer's identity is finally revealed.  It turns out that the woman is Jessica's mother.  It explains the parallels quite well and does add a more personal stake in the established conflict.  You'd think that this would come off as eye-roll worthy, having the villain be related to the hero is a rather old trope at this point, but it seemed to work here.  I think that Jessica's shocked reaction being what reveals it helps a little.  Normally, it's the antagonist who makes the declaration. 

Unlike last episode, this ending has more umph.  The conversation between the two should be interesting, to say the least.  Where things go from there remains to be seen.

It'll also be interesting to see what comes of the Malcolm/Trish...fling?  The idea that Malcolm has been pining for Trish does come out of left field.  The two just came off as good friends.  Yeah, Trish is gorgeous, so I can understand some degree of attraction, but the idea that he's been in love with her this whole time raised an eyebrow.  It does give Trish something to manipulate once she gets her drug fix in.  It also puts a whole new spin on the term "crack pairing".  At the very least, it adds a more literal element to it. 

All in all, this episode was OK.  Pacing was an issue; I did find myself checking the remaining time more than once.  Still, there were seeds planted that could lead to interesting plot development down the road.   

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'Castle Rock' Episode 6: 'Filter'

The season moves into its second half.  We get some answers, but, not surprisingly, even more questions.

Up until now, the show has been somewhat grounded.  The Kid really being the sole oddity in an otherwise "real" world.  That gets thrown out the window here as the episode introduces the possibility of a multiverse, a character becoming disjointed from time (I imagine it's something akin to what Picard went through in "All Good Things", but that's speculation on my end) and even a "voice of God" or the sound of a universe trying to correct itself.  For the most part, it all fits, but it can still feel like a bit of a curve ball in many respects.

The latter is most pertinent as it ties to Henry's tinnitus, which seems to be anything but.  It leads him to attempt to retrace his steps and find out what really happened out in the woods back when he was a kid.  I'm kind of surprised it took him this long to do this.  Seems like something that should have happened a few episodes ago, but it works well enough being placed where it is.  I think having the "Schisma" talk back in episode 3 would have been a lot for the viewer to take in that early.  Was still a fantastic scene, though.  It stands as one of the episode's highlights.

I'd also cite Ruth's reveal about her disconnection from time as one (Spacek did a great job with only a handful of lines there) and Molly revealing to Henry that she killed his dad.  The latter is especially impressive, as it was revealed to us a while back.  It speaks to both the writing and the acting that the scene packs the punch that it does.

As said before, the answers just raise more questions.  I suppose it's not that surprising, seeing as J.J. Abrams had his hand in this, but it does lead to things being vague for the sole purpose of not providing an answer.  It's another reason why it seems like this episode should have been placed earlier.  It's still compelling and more than a little intriguing, but with only four episodes remaining, one has to wonder how well they'll juggle everything that's being tossed out there. 

With all the complexity that this episode brings to the table, the Kid is given something of a motive.  After breaking out of Juniper Hill, he pays a visit to Ruth Deaver and voices his intent to "build a monument to those who imprisoned him".  So yeah, he wants revenge; at least, that's what I gather.  It's logical, can't really blame the guy, but it is surprisingly straight forward, maybe a little too straight forward.  Of course, even if the motive is obvious, it still doesn't explain his abilities. 

Having browsed TvTropes and Wikipedia, I kind of spoiled myself and now know the answer (well, some of them anyway,) but I'll leave discussion of what's going on until after I've watched the episodes and have full context.

Did anyone else get Slenderman vibes from this episode?  Between the camcorder POV shots, the frequent visits to the woods, and that one guy standing outside Molly's house; I felt like there were a few nods to the popular internet monstrosity.  Not sure if anything will come of it, but it's something to keep an eye on to say the least.   

All in all, this show's still going strong.  I'm looking forward to see what comes next as we move into the season's final four episodes.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 3, Episode 7: 'Welcome to the Jungle'

With Sara still out of commission, the team takes it upon themselves to go and take care of an anachronism.

Said anachronism happens to be in Vietnam circa 1967.  Not the most ideal of time periods.  Even Mick doesn't want to go, though he has his own personal reasons for wanting to avoid it. Conversely, Amaya is more than willing.  It was a nice callback to her origins as something of a soldier, though the others do point out that this war was very different than the one in which Amaya fought.

Not that it matters as the group has a third party antagonist to deal with.  Said antagonist is revealed to be a time displaced Gorilla Grodd.  It's been a while since we've seen him.  His episodes were always a season highlight back on "The Flash", so it was nice to see him show up here.  Unlike Thawne, this isn't a rogue that any of the Legends have dealt with before, so they're just as thrown off by the development as anybody else.  They get caught up pretty quickly, but it was an interesting twist to throw in.

David Sobolov continues to do a great job of voicing Grodd.  He presents the character with menace in spades, but also captures the more sympathetic elements rather well. 

Villains having layers is a recurring theme with this episode.  Grodd's nature initially throws Amaya for a loop, but it also gives her a new point of view in regards to Kuasa. 

It also becomes a factor for Mick, who runs into his father.  While Mick is often used for comic relief with some awesome moments in fight scenes, it was nice to see the character have some more serious material to work with.  Purcell took to it quite well and it made for some of the episode's highlights.

One other thing to note is that this is yet another instance this season of an anachronism being tied to the Legends or their family.  It's such a common time travel trope that I really hadn't thought that much of it, but they are right to point out how slim the odds are of it happening even once, let alone multiple times.  Maybe there's more to the anachronisms than meets the eye? We'll see.

Oddly enough, this episode doesn't really touch on Mallus, though the sequel hook does have Darkh recruiting Grodd to his new team.  Even stranger is the fact that there is no mention of the upcoming crossover.  They did a good job of it last year, but I guess they wanted to mix it up a bit.

The episode isn't without its flaws, unfortunately.  Evan Jones' depiction of Mick's dad, Dick Rory (rhyming names? really?) comes off as very forced.  He tries to do a raspy growl, but it doesn't sound natural.  The bonding scenes between the two still work, but it is a very noticeable weak spot.

The depiction of Lyndon Johnson is also a bit on the strange side.  Admittedly, I don't know what Johnson was like in real life....but I wouldn't have pictured him like that. 

Jax does get to show his heroic chops by saving him from a minefield.  It was nice to show Jax grow as a hero without Firestorm, but at the same time, the two rarely fuse nowadays anyway, so the change might not be as drastic as you'd originally think. 

The episode may not be one of the season highlights, but it did have some solid character arcs.  It also gave a fan favorite villain a return appearance and laid the groundwork for more appearances in the future. 

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'The X-Files' Season 11, Episode 9: 'Nothing Lasts Forever'

The season (series?) reaches its penultimate episode and it's...an odd one.  It tries to throw a lot in.  A good chunk of it works, but there's still some shortcomings to be found.

You'd think that the episode would fall into the trap of trying too hard to tie up loose ends, but as this is a stand alone, it (surprisingly) doesn't.

Instead, we have a plot that features an organ harvesting ring that serves a cult that worships an over the hill actress who feeds on the organs/cultists in pursuit of eternal youth.  There's also a devoutly religious vigilante who is targeting the cult for her own reasons.  It all connects decently enough, but it still feels like a bit much and some elements seem needlessly over-convoluted.

Aspects also come off as undeveloped.  I don't know if this plot warranted a two-parter, but at the same time, it would have been nice to get more details about both the cult and the vigilante.

To its credit, it does manage to provide a nice balance of genuinely funny and creepy moments.  The banter between the two agents is on point and Fiona Vroom looks like she's having fun in the role of the aforementioned actress.

I also got a kick out of Mulder's trolling tactic of using his reputation and knowledge of the abnormal to get the other FBI agents to leave.

Between the heavy focus on religion, celebrity, and appearance; I get the impression that the episode had some kind of intended message.  For the life of me, I can't figure out what it is.  With the celebrity obsessed culture, the episode certainly has relevance, but I don't know if there is a core takeaway to be had.  Of course, that helps keep the episode from becoming too preachy or heavy-handed, so that's a plus, I suppose.

I don't know if this will go down as one of the more memorable episodes of the season, but it will pass the time well enough.  As mentioned, parts of it do work and do work well, but it does come off a bit jumbled. 

Next episode will be what I assume is the last episode of the series.  Will it provide a satisfying conclusion to not only this "event", but the franchise as a whole?  Judging by the title, my hopes aren't high, but hope springs eternal. 

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'Castle Rock' Episode 5: 'Harvest'

As we saw in this year's docket, there's quite a bit of backlog to go through.  The focus of 2019 Q1 will be to clear out a lot of these TV shows that really should have been done a long time ago. It's been awhile, so if you need a refresher on what's happening in this particular series, this might help jog your memory.

Honestly, though, this episode was still pretty easy to follow.  Even if your memory is a bit foggy, only a few references are made to specific events.  It allows the episode to act as a solid stand alone, which is weird because this episode probably has the most momentum in terms of plot that the show has seen in some time.

I said before that a part of me wanted to see Skarsgard get more screen time and this episode delivers it.  He still doesn't say a whole lot, and we learn only a little, but he is able to play a much larger role in the plot.

A lot of this is due to the fact that the warden at Shawshank has him released.  Funnily enough, even Henry (who had fought to get him released) seems uncomfortable with the idea of the Kid being out and about.

The episode tries to play with moral ambiguity by suggesting that the Kid is a victim.  It would have been an interesting angle if it wasn't already abundantly clear that something is up with him that is beyond the norm.  Even if he's not intentionally malevolent, he does pose a clear danger and bad things happen when he's around.  It seems that not even skin to skin contact is necessary as his presence outside of a suburban home results in a child's birthday party turning into a violent fiasco.

Even Warden Lacey admits in a flashback that he's not entirely sure if his faith has led him in the right direction.  Judging by what we've seen, it seems like it has.  In any event, it gives Terry O'Quinn more screen time, so I can hardly complain about that.

This episode also delivers when it comes to Stephen King nods.  The references to Dodd and Cujo are nice, though they've been done a couple times now.  Juniper Hill is mentioned, but I think the big one is the reveal that Jackie Torrance is the niece of one Jack Torrance.  She even admits that it isn't her real name and she took it out of spite.  It does explain the similarity, though I do hope that the show does something more with the connection.

In the meantime, there are plenty of strange goings-on to keep the viewer intrigued.  There are too many to list, but it does add a foreboding element given the Kid's release.  It does suggest that dark times are looming.  This is almost literal too, as the sky takes on a darker, more overcast tone in some of the key scenes featuring the mysterious figure.

Much like the last episode, this one really kicks into high gear in the final scenes.  There's no big shootout, but there is a tense standoff, as Pangborn confronts the kid and tries to demand answers.  We learn that how Pangborn knew about Lacey's imprisonment of the Kid and that he went along with it, despite some doubts.  Those doubts are laid to rest, however, as Pangborn reveals that the Kid hasn't aged a day.

It's weird, we pretty much knew that, but for some reason, the fact never clicked up until Pangborn said as much.  The revelation still carries some weight for a decent wham moment, even though it really had no right to.

The Kid does admit that he isn't the devil, though he is perplexed regarding the fact that Pangborn doesn't know what's going on in the town.  It's a nice cryptic line to end on.  Honestly, the fact that he offered to help Ruth seems like the bigger twist, but we'll see what comes of it.  Maybe he does have good intentions or maybe he's just trying to gain leverage, it's too soon to say.

Really, though, Pangborn should have known that the Kid isn't Satan. After all, the devil had already made his way to the town and set up a pawn shop.  I'm surprised that fact hasn't come up yet on the show, but I guess it's possible that that didn't happen in this continuity.

Either way, this was a strong outing for the show.  It moved things forward and provided an impetus for some major developments in the episodes to come.  The strong ending also stirs up that urge to binge watch, which is quite easy now that the whole season is out.  Hopefully, I'll be able to keep pace.  While I do want to progress for the sake of clearing out the back log, I am interested to see where the show goes from here.  My analysis may be out of date, but my curiosity is still very much intact.













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2019 Docket and Goals

Happy New Year everyone!  It's that time where we try to lay down a plan for what's to come in the next 365 days.  As noted before, a lot of what was supposed to be done in 2018 wasn't.  As such, a good chunk of this year's docket is just carry over, but we'll go through it anyway just for the sake of record.


Stephen King


Back log

Hearts in Atlantis
Castle Rock Season 1
Sleeping Beauties
Strange Weather
The Outsider
On Writing
Secret Windows
The Plant
Dreamcatcher
Black House
Cell (movie)
Mr. Mercedes series
The Dark Tower movie


New additions

Castle Rock Season 2
It part 2
Elevation




Brad Thor

Backlog

Path of the Assassin
State of the Union
Blowback
Takedown


Netflix

Back Log

The Punisher Season 1
Daredevil Season 3
Jessica Jones Season 2

New Additions

Luke Cage Season 2
Iron Fist Season 2
The Punisher Season 2



Legends of Tomorrow


Back Log

Season 3


New additions

Season 4- Once again, I'll have to wait for this to hit Netflix in order to watch it, but the plan is to binge it when it does happen.  It may not be current, but I'm going to make a point of getting through it quickly this time around.



Anime

Back Log

Attack on Titan season 3
Rurouni Kenshin (?)


Archive restoration (?)

Reviewstream

Back Log

Dungeons and Dragons 5th edition rule books
JLA trade paperbacks


The dividend income reports will continue and I will also continue to post the latest episodes of "Let's Get it Right".



Oh, and I, of course, aim to finally finish "The X-Files".


Goals


Savings challenge

I neglected to mention it in the 2018 review, though I did bring it up on Twitter, but this year I completed two savings challenges.  The 52 week "dollar a week" challenge and the "penny a day" challenge.  These were two that I had started back in the day when I was still trying the whole "self employed content creator" thing.  With my new station, I was finally able to put those to an end.

This year I plan on keeping the momentum going by taking on the extension of the first challenge.  It turns out that some people push the weekly challenge to two years.  Rather than stopping at 52, they just keep going, putting aside $53, then $54, then $55 and so on.  For all intents and purposes, I'm doing this challenge twice, as the plan is to move the slated amounts to my primary savings account, as well as the online savings account.


Bring dividend forward income to $400

Right now, my forward income sits at about $70.  I wanted to find a number that was feasible, but still somewhat challenging.  With purchases and DRIP, I think that this meets that criteria.  If I break it before, that's awesome, but right now, that's where I'm setting the goal post.


Max out IRA contribution

When I first opened the IRA, I mentioned that the odds of me doing this were slim.  Truth be told, that's still the case.  This is more of a mental thing.  I figure, if I set my sight on that, it will push me to get as close as I possibly can. Even if I don't hit the goal, I think having this mindset will still be beneficial in the long run.



$300 in Side Hustle

This is something that I haven't really talked about, but I want to add it to the itinerary anyway.  Right now, my main side hustles are Apptrailers, Epoll, and Reviewstream (there's also the Patreon, ad revenue, and the Amazon affiliate links, but they haven't really brought in income so they're side hustles in name only....SHINO.)  Epoll will bring about $60 at best.  App trailers is nice, but if I'm going to pull this off, Reviewstream will have to be a factor.  This should be a motivator for me to write more and make sure I cross that threshold.  Again, I think that this is a goal that's feasible, but will still present something of a challenge.


Car


As of now, I am without vehicle.  It's something I am aiming to remedy.  I've given serious consideration to getting a bike, which is odd as I've only ridden once since elementary school.  It's cheaper, better for the planet, and everything is fairly close by here.  It makes a lot more sense now than it did when I was living in Maryland or Kansas, but I figure I'd still need to get a car at some point.  I'm not looking forward to adding two more monthly expenses to my cash outflow, but if I can knock the car payment out quickly enough, it might not be that bad.


Walk the Year Charity Miles Challenge

I'm a big fan of the Charity Miles app.  I plug it frequently and was even going on daily 4 mile walks for a while.  I haven't been doing a good job as of late and I'm hoping that this will get me back on the horse.

Fun fact, we're one day in and, because I didn't walk today, I'm already behind schedule.  Auspicious.


Read 26 books

I noted before that I got no reading done.  I really want to amend for that this year.  I know that 52 books is the average, but I figure that starting small will work out better.  There's another reason I only have this many books coming into play, the next goal.


Read 26 graphic novels/trade paperbacks

I've been trying to get back into comics lately.  Rather than go back to the individual issues, I want to shift my collection to trades so that I can show them off on a bookshelf.  Rather than argue about whether these count as books, I'm putting them in their own separate category so that I can get the best of both worlds.


Swagbucks

I had heard that this was a great side hustle, but it hasn't really panned out for me.  The site brings my computer to a crawl (my laptop is a little on the old side,) which means I only log in when I have to.  As that hasn't worked, I want to try to put it to use in order to up my philanthropic game.  You can donate points to different causes and organizations.  Since I have the account anyway, I figure this will at least put the account to better use than it has up until now.  As the point cost isn't as high as the other rewards, I'll be able to "cash in" more frequently.



3 year goal

Oh, we're going beyond just the year.  I want to try to think in the long term, and as such I've got some goals that go beyond.

For this one, I want to bring my forward income to $6,000 a year.  This will bring my dividend income to Spoony's Patreon income level. It's important that I hit this goal as soon as feasibly possible.   I have my reasons.

It sounds lofty, but I'd like to think that I can pull this one off.





5 year goals


House

I've only ever been a renter, but the idea of being a homeowner has really grown on me.  That down payment scares the crap out of me, but I figure with enough prep time, I can take it.


3x Salary Saved for Retirement

Back in January, MarketWatch posted an article stating that, by the age of 35, you should have twice your annual income tucked away for retirement. Millenials....did not take kindly to this information.  While it was mathematically impossible for me to hit this goal after discovering it, I did resolve to hit the next marker, which is having 3 times your annual income tucked away by 40.

Funny thing is, I'm quite confident that I can pull this off.  Technically, I am still behind, but I have been viewing these past few months as a "head start".  I'm maxing out the 401k and pumping money into the IRA, both of which will generate increasing amounts of income as time goes on.  Add to that the fact that my birthday is in March and that gives me three more months before the 5 year challenge technically even starts.

Now, you might be asking where the stock portfolio fits.  It does and doesn't come into play as far as my retirement is concerned.  The dividends are designed to help finance and carry me through my golden years, but I'm not counting the portfolio into the overall total.  I could use market value, but that's way too fickle a beast.  As such, I'm viewing it as its own thing that is only tangential to the overall goal.


I'll admit that this is a lot, but I'm confident and fired up.  2019 is going to be huge.  2018 had its perks, but this is where I push myself to my limit, and then break past it.