'Castle Rock' Season 2, Episode 7: 'The Word'

 

This episode takes us back to the past.  Not to play bad video games, but...wait, I have deja vu.  We do kind of have another flashback episode fairly quickly.  However, where that focused on Annie's upbringing this one reveals the origins of the cult that is slowly overrunning the town.

I was expecting this to be a whole episode flashback, but instead, this intertwines those with events that are unfolding in the present day.  I think it worked out for the better.  While the flashback story did have highlights once it gained momentum, I don't know if there was enough there to carry a whole episode.

Annie and Joy mostly sit this one out.  There is one scene where Annie is trying (not very successfully it appears) to maintain the cover story that she was the one who committed the murder in the previous episode.  It seems like they're overcomplicating this.  The woman really was trying to do Annie harm, so wouldn't that give Joy a pretty strong defense in court?  It seems like they're lying when they don't necessarily have to.  We'll have to see where that goes.  In the meantime, though, the cult is still aiming to make her a vessel for their prophet, Amity, who's story is told in the aforementioned flashbacks.

Most of the present day plot focuses on Ace, as he is made aware of the strange things his son has been up to.  There's a little bit of dumb luck to get things started, but once Ace is put on the trail, his part becomes pretty compelling.  Even though he doesn't have all the pieces, it was interesting watching him put the pieces together to figure out that something is up.  He even tries to warn Abdi, who ignores said warnings.  The latter is later made aware when he sees 

It was also amusing to see Tim Robbins return to Shawshank.  Sure, it's a different character under entirely different circumstances, but that had to be intentional.

This also allows this season's plot to tie into that of the first.  While this season has done well telling its own independent story, the link was a nice touch.  The timing fits, as we are nearing the end of the series.  I doubt it'll tie everything up, but it does shed light on some things that were left hanging.

It's been quite some time since I was able to sit down and watch this.  Despite the gap, I was still able to keep up with what was happening.  Really, the only point my brain needed to stop and think about what was going on was with Annie and the cops.  Even that didn't take that long to click back into place for me.

The episode is fairly well paced.  I wasn't sure about the flashbacks at first, but they found their footing and became just as engaging as the present day plot progression.  

We're down to the final three episodes and it's quite clear that things are being set up for the final confrontation.  It'll be sad to see the series go.  This season has been quite strong overall, but I am still looking forward to seeing how things wrap up in the episodes to come.

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Content Creator Mk II

 So, I've been feeling the itch to get back to writing. A heckin' busy schedule and a slow as all get out netbook had been hindering me for some time.  While the schedule is still somewhat absurd, I am finding windows here and there.  This has been helped by the fact that the aforementioned netbook died, forcing me to upgrade.  I have also been making an effort to pull back at work, so as not to burn myself out mentally and physically.  

Now, this won't be like the last time around.  The jobs stay put.  This is going to be more of a "Buzz Beer" situation as opposed to trying to go the "self employed content creator" route again.  So, for all intents and purposes, I will be working three jobs as far as I'm concerned.

While content will be more consistent on both sites going forward, the plan is to ultimately move into fiction. I talked about it back when the Patreon was up and, while the means are different, the end goal does remain the same.  I do still like the idea of monthly novellas.  Short stories and full-on novels are also possibilities, but the novella seems like it would strike the right balance for me.

So, how does this little endeavor finance itself?  Well, from where I sit, there are four main sources of revenue.

1. E-Poll

Not a huge money maker, but every little bit counts.

2. Swagbucks

You know, it's funny, as much as I feature the referral link, I haven't really used the site that much. It didn't really get along with my old computer.  Now that my tech is more up to speed, I need to put this site to use to increase cash flow and boost my metrics even further.  I doubt it'll be big money, but again, every bit counts.

3. Reviewstream

This one is probably the best, as it is actually tied to writing.  Not only that, but I can throw the content on to either site. There is a pretty high payout threshold, so it'll take a while to get funds, but when they do come, the needle will move.  On the plus side, I don't need to come up with some outlandish number in terms of articles per day to ensure my bills get paid.  All that is already taken care of.  I can just work at a reasonable pace and still allow myself to put some focus on bigger projects

4. Dividends

This will really be the backbone of the operation.  It may not seem like it now, but as time goes on.  It's going to play a bigger and bigger role.

Wait, you're using side hustles to fund a side hustle?

Yes.  It's like seed money or startup capital.  

The Patreon...stays down.  It had its chance.  Truth be told, I think I put together a good system, but it didn't go anywhere after several years, so there's no sense in wasting time and energy with it.  I'm on a better path anyway.  Not only is this delivering much better results, but it suits me better.

I am toying with the idea of taking certain aspects of the campaign and applying them to the dividends, namely the quasi-basic income guarantee pledge (where at $1,200/month at least 10% goes to other creators to help build their income floor) and the charity milestone (where at least another 10% goes to charity).  Back when the Patreon was up, I had the latter milestone set at $4,000/month, but I am considering lowering it to $3,000.  Overhead isn't the concern that it was then and getting there sooner would be better.  We're still a ways away from that, but it is something to look forward to in the years to come.  Better yet, at that point, I'll be able to put E-Poll and Swagbucks points towards charities to bolster things even further.

One tricky thing, though, is that dividend payouts aren't even from month to month.  So, would I have to cross the threshold for all three quarter months before the perks get initiated or would I apply it to each quarter month as it hit?  The latter seems like the better way to go, but it is something that will have to be ironed out.  Again, I've got time on that one.

Could this phase out the current second job? Theoretically, it's a nice idea, but I don't want to get ahead of myself like I did the last time around.  I'm taking great care not to make the mistakes I made in the first go around.

I'm excited for this.  It'll be some time before you see anything substantial.  I still have brainstorming, drafting, and quite a bit of rust to shake off; but I think getting back into this will be good.  I think the setup is a lot better than the one I was trying to run on previously.  It's going to be interesting to see how things play out this time around.  I'm looking forward to it, though.  

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'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 3: 'Wig Out'

 

This episode picks up where the last one left off, with Luke hanging around after beating Cockroach up something fierce.  You have to figure that was awkward for all parties.  His family is still cowering in the corner and he's just sitting there.  Yeah, he's waiting for Claire so she can administer some first aid, but they don't know that.  Having Misty come in to effectively let Luke off the hook probably didn't help matters.  She does get flack for it later, but again, they don't know that.  

 Claire, on the other hand, is still concerned. To the episode's credit, it isn't quite as blunt force as its predecessor was, it just continues the plot thread.  There is still tension between the two and it culminates in one of the episode's final scenes where the two hash it out.  It's an appropriately intense scene, and the two actors do pretty solid work, but there are script elements that undercut it.  Luke tying his whole hero endeavor to his manhood comes out of left field.  It's never been an issue with him before and it, frankly, makes no sense that he's bringing it up to the extent that he is.  In any event, the two seem to have parted ways, as Luke's anger issues are clearly becoming more apparent.

On other fronts, we do see Mariah using blackmail to help set herself up for her upcoming "retirement".  It is very much akin to something you'd see on "Melrose Place" but it worked.  She is also bonding more with her daughter.  It's nice to see the two coming closer, though Shades is still not on board with the whole arrangement.  

He does note that he's being reduced to errand boy when Mariah tells him to go get the money from the last viable buyer.  Oddly enough, him bringing up manhood would have made more sense than Luke's did.  Considering Mariah just tells him to shut up and do it, it's probably a moot point.

This does allow Shades to meet Bushmaster face to face.  It's a pretty memorable scene.  Of course, having the latter hand the prior a duffel bag full of money with a decapitated head in it would leave an impression.  Credit to Shades, though, he doesn't flinch.  I thought he'd be unnerved, but a later scene shows that he's happy to see the deal going through.

In a similar fashion, Luke also meets Bushmaster.  He's trying to stop the deal from going through and tries to exert some pressure.  Up until this point, it didn't seem like the two had any real conflict.  Even one of Bushmaster's men points out that they have a common enemy in Mariah.  But, Bushmaster is still a criminal seeking to grab power, so that puts the two at odds.  Bushmaster does propose an alliance to take her down together, but he could have been joking.  Luke doesn't bite anyway so it looks like we'll have a three way face off this season.

Misty's part of the plot had the most meat to it.  She's still grappling with the loss of her arm, which she equates to a part of her identity and soul.  Unlike Luke's manliness thing, this actually makes sense.  She did lose a literal piece of herself, but she also invokes her playing basketball and being right handed when lamenting what she'd lost and how she's struggling to adapt.

Luckily, Colleen pops by to help.  The two do play well off each other and it is a nice way to show the linked nature of the shows in a more subtle way.  I know Danny's going to pop in later, but for now, it was like a little mini-crossover.

All in all, this episode was decent.  It had a good bit of humor, and there was enough action to keep things going.  Almost all of the characters saw some progression and it ends in such a way that you want to tune in to see what happens next.  It did feel like there was some padding here and there.  The script also needed some work, but not a bad entry by any stretch.

Random musings

- Even if Luke was faster than Usain Bolt, doesn't his status as a metahuman render that comparison invalid?  If anything, the comparison is complimentary to the runner as he would (I presume) hold his own and come in a close second in a race

- Colleen is given grief for wanting to go to a library if she had a million dollars.  Perhaps a better option would be to buy a ton of books and put a library in her house.  Assuming she doesn't want to just fund a local library, that's also an option.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 4, Episode 10: 'The Getaway'

The team travels to 1973 to try and figure out why Nixon is, all of a sudden, telling the truth.  This aspect of the plot becomes tertiary at best, as Hank's desire to stop the Legends from figuring out his plan becomes more of the focus.

On paper, this episode had potential.  You've got the team road tripping in an RV, you've got a mystical bug that forces people to tell the truth, you've got police chases.  The results, alas, aren't what they could have been.  It's not a bad episode, but it doesn't leave an impression the way other episodes have.

Part of this could be because the episode is much more grounded.  There's no big action sequences, nor is there the zaniness that previous episodes have delivered.  There's still good stuff to be seen, though. The truth bug, while a plot device, does bring a decent amount of comedy, character development, and even a dash of squick for good measure.  Sara and John have a nice scene where John gives a fake pep talk that somehow manages to still work.  Nate and Hank have some great moments as well.  

Alas, there's also quite a bit of filler.  It negatively affects the episode's pacing.

While Nixon takes a backseat to everything else, he was still a detriment.  A part of it is due to the actor never really selling us on the idea that he's actually the former President.  The jokes at his expense were also largely obvious and have been done to death.  Really, the only joke that landed on that one was John's "dick in a box" line.  His final speech about how he had become inspired to be a better person and leader was a nice moment that was amusingly subverted when the team had to "undo" it to preserve the status quo.  Other than that, though it was a bit of a dud humor wise.

As far as the over-arching plot, this episode does move the needle a bit.  Hank is dead, killed by Neron after trying to back out of the arrangement.  Nate also mistakenly believes that Nora is responsible, as she had broken out to try and help.  

The big reveal about Mona is also followed up on. To her credit, she does repeatedly try to tell Sara what her deal is, but keeps getting brushed off.  It comes to a head when she transforms again and Sara has to talk her down.

You can see what the episode was trying to do, and Lotz does what she can to bring the scene some emotional weight, but it's undercut by the creature makeup effects which are..not good.  It's odd as the show can, and has, done better, but this time around, it ended up taking me out of the scene.  The fact that she's supposed to be bawling in grief really didn't help matters.

Overall, the episode passes the time well enough.  It does have its strengths, but it doesn't pop as well as some of the show's earlier episodes had.  We'll see where things go, though.  As I noted, it does plant some seeds for things down the line, so it'll be interesting to see how it plays out.

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Moro Vs. Cooler: Who Should be the Villain in the Next 'Dragon Ball Super' Movie?

 You've probably heard that there is another 'Dragon Ball Super' movie in the works, set to come out some time next year.  Being a fan of the franchise, I am naturally excited and intrigued. There hasn't been any official word on what the plot would be, or who the heroes will confront, but there are two major contenders for the role of film antagonist, at least based on what musings I've come across.

The first is Moro, the ram-like sorcerer who acted as the main foe in the first major post-Tournament of Power arc in the manga.  I don't read the manga, but I it's been well received.  Moro himself is a distinct villain who operates differently from most dragon ball villains.  The arc also gives Vegeta quite a lot of development and even gives the human Z-fighters a chance to shine in the final battle.  

Whether it's in film or a relaunched series, I am looking forward to seeing this arc get brought to the animated medium.  

While this is a convenient way to go, as the story's already been written, there are some among the fandom who would rather the arc wait for a full series.  It is a big arc and a movie might not do it justice.

On the other hand, remember how 'Super' started.  We had the two "canon" Dragon Ball Z movies (Battle of Gods and Resurrection F), then when the Super started, it kicked off by retelling and embellishing on those two plot points. It's possible that viewers can have their cake and eat it too.  The movie gives us a glimpse of what the arc would look like, then when (or if) the show returns we can see the more elaborate and fully fleshed out take on the story line (as well as Broly's).

Speaking of Broly, that brings us to the other lead suspect: Frieza's brother, Cooler.  I'm not entirely sold on this idea, to be honest.

For one thing, you just did Broly, so going back to the old movie well for another villain seems kind of...lazy.

On top of that, if they wanted to canonize Cooler, they had a perfect opportunity in the flashbacks of the Broly movie.  It wouldn't have taken much, either a quick cameo or even just a line alluding to his existence would have been enough. That way, if he did appear, it would have been more organic.  

Now that I think about it, they could have thrown in a Turles appearance too, really brought the movie rogues into the main storyline (Garlic Jr. is already canon, remember.)

Another option would be just to wait a bit.  Bringing Cooler in might go over better if there is some space between him and Broly.  It would be interesting to see more of the movie villains become part of the main story, but doing them all in rapid succession takes away some of the appeal.  

Seeing Janemba or Hildegarn get brought in later on down the line would be cool, but I wouldn't want to see them right after Broly and Cooler.  Mix it up a bit.

So, my vote goes to Moro, but I know that Cooler has his fans.  Of course, the movie could throw a curve ball and do something completely different.  If Moro is too big for a movie, just do something smaller scale that gives the team something to do and possibly give the (maybe) returning anime some story fodder going forward. 

As of now, it's too soon to tell, and it's all just speculation.  In either case, I am looking forward to seeing 'Dragon Ball Super' make its return.  It has been far too long since we got our fix in.

'Castle Rock' Season 2, Episode 6: 'The Mother'

 

While the plot of this episode is centered in the present, it pretty much acts as a sequel to the events featured in the one that preceded it.  

After Joy's phone call, Rita has a pretty easy time tracking down her long lost daughter. It does take a bit of reluctant assistance from Chance, but Rita is eventually able to reunite and tell Joy about what really happened all those years ago.  Suffice it to say, it's a curve ball that leaves the young girl reeling.

Nadia herself is reeling from her own revelations.  Learning about Pop was bad enough, but following that with learning that  her brother also knew the truth does little to help the matter.  She's left confiding in someone who technically isn't even there anymore.  It does put a dark twist on the scene.  Not much is really done with it, but I noticed it.  

The reunion between Ace and Annie also seemed like a missed opportunity.  After all this time, you'd think that there would be more tension, but she gets even more drunk, then he take her home and puts her to bed...that's it.    

While we're on the subject, we are given some illumination about what Ace is doing.  It turns out that the resurrected townspeople are reincarnation vessels for the town's early settlers.  Ace himself is referred to as "Pere Augustin" at one point.  We also learn that certain medications hinder the transfer process.

This aspect of the plot is put on the back burner, but there is enough to keep the viewer satisfied.  It's also nice to see all the plot lines converging.  Nadia is (sort of) brought into the fold when a young woman (briefly) escapes the clutches of the cult and makes it to her hospital.  Annie is unknowingly brought in when Ace/Pere decides that she is to be the vessel of a woman named Amity.  

Not surprisingly, the Wilkes family drama brings the best material for the episode.  All of the characters are put through an emotional wringer and you can empathize with all of them and see where they're coming from.  We also get another impassioned plea and declaration of devotion from Annie to Joy.  You'd think that it would be old hat by now, but Caplan is just so damn good at it that it works every. freaking. time.  

Overall, this was a solid episode.  It wasn't quite as impressive as some of the other outings, but there was a lot to like.  The plot advanced on several fronts and the cast all turned in strong performances.  It's weird to think that there's only four episodes left.  It seems like there's still a lot of plot to cover, so we'll see how things play out.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 4, Episode 9: 'Lucha de Apuestas'

 The team is tasked to find the Kaupe, which had escaped Time Bureau custody.  In true "Legends" fashion, the plot manages to rope in a variety of disparate elements: Mexican wrestling, government conspiracies, romantic tensions; and throw them together in such a way that it all still works.

The Bureau's shadier dealings have been known (to the viewer anyway) but its presentation here is more akin to other science fiction plots.  Mona herself makes a direct comparison to "The X-Files".  If you watched Justice League Unlimited back in the day, you might think that this would have been a great opportunity to bring the Question to the Arrowverse.  Sadly, it doesn't happen.  

The episode does still bring a lot to the table.  It's entertaining as all get out.  Seeing John help coach a washed up wrestler so that he can reclaim his former glory against Konane was one of the episode's many highlights.  There's quite a bit of slapstick involved, as the team has to teach Konane to lose; but seeing the two join forces against the Bureau MiB's was a splendid thing.

While the show does get wacky, it still manages to bring a healthy dose of heart to the proceedings.  The Mona/Kaupe "romance" is still a little weird, but it isn't without its heartwarming and tragic moments. When Mona does decide to part ways and say goodbye, it actually is a moving scene, even though it should be ridiculous by any stretch.  

Even Mick gets to have a serious and sincere conversation.  It's a small scene, but it was well done and Purcell did a great job with it.

Speaking of romance, it seems as if the Sara/Ava ship has sailed. The episode puts the two at odds and creates a rift that even a conversation over a tango can't fix. It is sad.  The two were great together. On the other hand, this could just be a tension building thing. The wrestler even notes that stories involve falls so that the heroes can rise.  This could be one of those things.  We'll have to see.  I'm still rooting for them.

All in all, this was a solid episode.  It brought fun, the wrestling sequences were fun, and the character moments all worked out.   This episode did shake things up on several fronts so it'll be interesting to see how things play out.

 

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'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 2: 'Straighten it Out'

 After no selling a Judas bullet, Luke decides to test how far his figurative zenkai boost has gone.  I was expecting a montage of Luke getting hit by friends and fans with various objects to see what would faze him, but instead, all we see is him performing various physical feats.  It does show us that Luke is a powerhouse in and of himself, and it is a fun sequence, but I'm not sure it really accomplished the goal that the characters wanted. It does allow us to see a glimpse of that "friendly neighborhood Luke Cage" persona.

In an interesting twist, Claire becomes concerned that Luke's power boost could become a detriment later.  His abilities made it hard to treat him when he did get injured, and this development could just make that worse.  

She's also concerned about Luke's estranged relationship with his father.  You can kind of see where she's coming from.  She does relate her own past to Luke's situation and her intentions are good, but at the same time, some of her ideas don't hold water.  I mean, the distance eating Luke from the inside could be true for some, but it hasn't really come up until now, so I don't really see it.  

As if that weren't enough, she's also concerned that Luke is going too far and following too closely in Matt's footsteps.  She's just very concerned this episode and it's enough to drive a wedge between the two, which I have to imagine is very concerning.

Luke does seem to prove Claire right in the final fight against Cockroach.  It was partially satisfying, given that it's established that Cockroach is a domestic abuser, but the more the fight goes on, the more you can see that Luke is slipping to the dark side and it starts to become a tad unsettling.  Even he's appalled by what he did by the episode's end.

Even though this season's story line is standing on its own, I did enjoy the nods to the other heroes.  There was even a mention of the Incident. You'd think that they could throw some allusions to more current events in, but still continuity references are continuity references.  I'll take them where I can get them.

Bushmaster gets some more screen time and some more development.  He doesn't quite have Stokes' charm and personability, but he has a fair share of it.  He gets on well with neighborhood kids and leaves a generous tip for a shopkeep who provides him with some medicinal supplies.  Speaking of the Stokes', Moriah seems to be the object of his ire.  He is made aware of Luke Cage, but doesn't really seem to have any serious beef with him.  He scoffs at Luke's reputation, but that's about it.  I got Clubber Lang vibes from the way his grudge is being developed.  Whether it goes deeper than that as the season unfolds remains to be seen.

Moriah herself is still intent on going legit by selling off her cache of guns.  Her club is pretty packed, so I don't know why it would be that hard for her.  The musical act seen here was quite good.  Just keep doing that, but apparently, that's not an option.

Instead, she reaches out to her estranged daughter...for PR reasons?  You'd think that they would make some parallel with Luke and his estranged parent, but the script mostly dodged that. It might come up later, but so far, no real connection has been made between the two character plots..  Said daughter does eventually come around to the idea, so we'll see how that plays out.  Maybe the reconnection will prove to make things worse, proving Luke's point, or go the opposite way and show how Claire's analysis was astute.  It's too soon to say.

All in all, this episode was solid.  It wasn't quite as good as the one that came before it, but there's still quite a bit to enjoy.

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'Spoony: The Motion Picture?': A Retrospective

 

It's interesting going back and watching this video years later.  I was excited when this first got posted.  Being a fan of the site, I was hyped to see what was going to come next.  As a creator, I also got a nice dose of motivation, which made for a nice bonus.

Alas, a good chunk of what he talks about doing did not come to pass.  An interesting side-effect is that the video is a lot funnier in hindsight.  His talk of leaving Twitter and not being lazy are especially notable moments.  Oddly enough, actually dropping off from social media the way he talked about probably would have worked out better for him, but that's neither here nor there.

To be fair, though, when his patreon dropped below the $5,000/month mark; he was no longer obligated to make the movie.   People didn't seem to get that about the site's setup.  It isn't like a stretch goal on a one-off crowd-funding endeavor like Indiegogo or Kickstarter.  It's a moot point now, but it still seems like it was worth pointing out.

While there are indeed lols to be had, the video still resonates with me.  As a creator who piles too much on himself, succumbs to schedule slip (different factors are involved, but schedule slip is still schedule slip regardless,) and is perpetually behind schedule as a result; a lot of what he talks about still rings true to me.  Even though he didn't actually make the progress he talks about here, hearing him talk about it still gets me into a more motivated mindset.

Would the video have the same effect for someone who didn't have the nostalgic connection that I do? Hmmm, hard to say.  The aforementioned lols wouldn't be there, even knowing the story isn't quite the same as having been through it more directly; but I think the portion where he talks about coming up with a formalized schedule and pulling away from those distraction time-sinks would still apply to a lot of creators, aspiring or otherwise.

Considering the fact that a lot of the Channel Awesome productions didn't really withstand the test of time (I never actually got around to watching the AVGN movie so I can't comment on that one way or the other,) one could argue that not getting the movie made ended up working in his favor. Or maybe he could have bucked the trend, we'll never know.  It was a lofty aspiration though, ties back into the motivation factor I talked about earlier.  

'Castle Rock' Season 2, Episode 5: 'The Laughing Place'

This episode takes us back to the past; not to play bad video games, but instead to show us how this iteration of Annie Wilkes came to be.

Her upbringing was less than ideal, but not quite as dire as one might think.  Her parents are lower income, and they clearly resent the hell out of each other, but they do both seem to be on good terms with Annie and want what's best for her. I was a bit worried when her dad started complaining about political correctness in schools. I was certain he was going to end up a strawman, but the episode did a good job of fleshing him out.

It's true, he does take her out of school to teach her himself.  It doesn't work too well, mostly because he's using his own (in fairness, well written) novel in progress as a guide.  It makes for a great bonding tool for the two and their relationship is quite heartwarming.  It also makes the collapse that much more tragic.

This does allow for another subtle call back to the book, where Annie is able to provide cogent criticism of a work and how its plot flows.  It's a small, but welcome touch to this depiction of the character. 

Interestingly enough, Annie's psychological issues are downplayed for a majority of the episode.  There's one scene where she attacks a girl at school, who to be fair was one of many who picked on her.  Other than that, though she comes off as a sweet kid, especially when she gets a tutor who helps her get her development back on track.  She's happy and pretty well adjusted and it just makes the fall that much harder.

We do, again, see Annie's psyche spiraling downward.  Oddly enough, it doesn't feel like a rehash.  The circumstances are different enough and, given what we see, we can certainly understand why Annie is as off as she is.

Being the survivor of an attempted murder-suicide by your own mother (who actually did die) is bad enough, but finding out soon after that your father had an affair with your tutor and now has a new child.  Yeah, it's no wonder that Annie went to dark (very dark) places soon after.

There wasn't too much plot progression as far as the present goes.  Joy does attempt to get some information from Annie to no avail and finds a new information source after reading Annie's father's manuscript.  Annie herself is approached by Ace, though she hasn't noticed it yet.  It's not that big a fault, all things considered, as the flashbacks were more than compelling enough to carry the episode.

This was another very strong episode.  The writing was strong, it was well paced, and the acting was also on point.  It doesn't top "Ties That Bind", but I'd rank it as a very close second.  It's a very good hour of television.  

We're coming into the second half of the season, it'll definitely be interesting to see how things play out.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 4, Episode 8: 'Legends of To-Meow-Meow'

 While the last episode was fairly weak and the title is...well, stupid, this episode is a blast.  

Not surprisingly, the episode focuses on Charlie's and John's efforts to restore the timeline after John broke it.  Interestingly enough, neither of these two characters really want to restore the status quo. As such, rather than just undo what they did, they try to "patch things" to a point where the Legends are restored to the way they were.

It turns out that the timeline change turned the somewhat idealistic team into stone cold killers of magical creatures and it is this, more than anything else, that sets Charlie on the path to restore things.  Yeah, she was willing to leave Zari as a cat (though to be fair, that turned out to be a surprisingly easy fix all things considered.)

The task turns out to be more difficult than one would think, as the butterfly effect kicks in hard here.  It was interesting to see how things could have gone very differently for the team with a slight change of circumstance.  Team members die at the hands (or horns) of previous foes and Mick even partners up with the fairy godmother.  It also gives the episode a chance to revisit some scenes from earlier in the season.  Combine this with some bizarre, but not out of place, TV show parodies, and you have a pretty bonkers episode to say the least.

After having several episodes try to juggle several subplots, it was nice to have an episode focus on just one.  There's a lot of crazy stuff going on, but keeping the narrative on Charlie and John keeps you engaged and grounded...for the most part.

The humor was on point.  The episode goes off the wall and revels in the craziness that the plot allows it to.  There are times when I miss this being a more straight forward super-hero team show, but this shows you why the later tone is so loved and revered.    

The big cliffhanger reveal is a bit lackluster. It does tie John's Neron big bad with the whole Time Bureau gathering magical creatures sub-plot that has been on the back-burner lately, but it didn't really have the sort of kick that a mid-season finale ending should theoretically have.

Still, though, the episode is on such a constant high that one small con is really not that much of a hindrance.  It's good to see the show rebound and regain its footing. It'll be interesting to see how the second half of the season plays out.

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'Luke Cage' Season 2, Episode 1: 'Soul Brother #1'

 The second season of 'Luke Cage' kicks off on a high note, picking up where the last season left off, but also setting the stage for what's to come.  

Unlike 'Jessica Jones', we actually see reference to the events of 'The Defenders', this largely comes from Misty's presence as she still comes to grips with the loss of her arm.  This does give her character a bit of a mini-arc, as she starts off wanting to back off from crime fighting, but decides to get her job back when she learns that Scarfe's corruption has resulted in the release of several criminals.  

For Luke's part, he is still Harlem's hero and is becoming something of a local figurehead.  People come out to get selfies with him and there is even Luke Cage merchandise, both mundane and illegal.  On more than one occasion, Luke is told to try to monetize his herodom.  He (again) declines, but valid arguments are made for it.  The barbershop is struggling and he could also put the money to good use.  Claire also points out that cops and firefighters get paid, there's no reason he shouldn't.

On that note, it kind of sounded like the police chief was offering him a job.  His speech started off like an anti-vigilante tirade, but the "you should do what you're doing legally" part gave me that impression.  Granted, Luke throws it back in the guy's face, but assuming that was his intent, it was an interesting curve ball to throw the street level hero.

The bit with Luke's reverend father was an odd addition.  His "sermon" lost some of its kick due to the fact that he was just rehearsing.  One also can't help but wonder how well it would have been received seeing as everybody seems to like Luke.  He also has a quick run in with Luke.  Maybe more will be made of it later in the season, but it seemed oddly out of place and didn't really add a whole lot to the plot.

It does seem like the fame is getting to Luke's head.  He's still likable and charismatic as ever, but the unbreakable skin and the constant attention are subtly starting to have an effect.  At one point in the episode, he challenges Harlem's underworld to come at him.  Given that he survived an explosion and even managed to shrug off a Judas bullet, I understand the rush, but the scene also gave me flashbacks to Iron Man 3 when Tony called out the Mandarin in a similar fashion.  As I recall, that didn't end well.  Whether this is setting up a "pride comes before the fall" thing remains to be seen.  It's still early in the season.

While drug dealers make for the episode's primary antagonist, the end of the episode does mark the arrival of what appears to be the new "big bad", a martial artist crime lord who goes by the name of Bushmaster.  His hand to hand combat skills are impressive, but I was very perplexed as to how the gangsters he was attacking kept missing when they were trying to shoot him.  Even stormtroopers would have been able to hit a target from that distance.  Come to find out, the bullets did hit, they just don't hurt him.  It'll give the season a figure who can fight Luke on that level.  Mariah makes a play to get Luke off her back by threatening Claire, but even that doesn't end up working as well as you'd think it would.  

Speaking of, it looks like Mariah wants to retire.  She is presented with the opportunity to get controlling interest in a successful plastics company and give her family name a rebranding.  It does require quite a bit of capital.  Why she doesn't just invest what she can, I don't know, but that appears to be her arc so far.  

Like I said at the top, this was a strong start.  The main characters are all given something to work with.  The episode's well written and paced well.  You're never bored.  There's a healthy dose of humor to keep things from feeling "grimdark" and the fights are still entertaining, even if they are all fairly one sided.  I wasn't expecting Lucy Liu's name to pop up as director, but she did a good job; so there you go. 

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'Castle Rock' Season 2, Episode 4: 'Restore Hope'

 Yeah, I don't have any punny turn of phrase to open this article.  It's unfortunate, but what can you do?  Hopefully, future episodes will present more opportunities, but I can't promise anything.

After the powerhouse that was the last episode, this episode acts as more of a breather.  I get the logic, but it would have been nice to see the momentum put to better use.

Not that this episode is bad, there's quite a lot to like, but it doesn't have the same impact that the preceding episode did.

Annie herself takes a backseat this time around.  She tries to reconnect with Joy to no avail.  When we last see her, she's curled up on the couch, eating ice cream in a bit of depression.  You can't really blame her.  Joy wants nothing to do with her, Nadia steps in and not only enforces the separation, but tells Annie that she can't work at the hospital anymore, which I assume cuts her off from her medication supply (though seeing as she stopped taking them anyway, that might be a moot point.)  On top of that, Annie comes out the loser in two major confrontations. Abdi getting the upper hand, I understand.  He's more seasoned and has a tougher background, but even Joy's friend Chance mouths off to Annie and shoves her with no repercussions.  Not exactly a proud moment for Annie Wilkes.

Instead, the episode shifts its focus to Pop Merrill, as he learns that his chemo isn't working.  While Nadia does present him with possibilities beyond that, he chooses to accept his fate.  The scenes with him are well done and Robbins does a good job making it count.  The Irish wake that he decides to throw is one of the highlights of the episode, bringing both a bit of humor and pathos to Pop, as well as his family.

Speaking of family, a bombshell is dropped as Nadia learns the real reason why Pop adopted them in the first place.  It had been hinted at, but it's made clear here that he was the one who killed their parents and took them in due to what he saw as a debt.Suffice it to say, Nadia doesn't take it well.  Her storm off was well deserved, but I'm not sure why that was the note the writers decided to end it on.

I would've thought that the scene with Ace taking his brother to the church to be "converted" would have been the way to go. It was the most intense scene in the episode and, despite being fairly brief, did a lot to set up what is to be the arc for the remainder of the season.  Ace's speech to Chris is a bit of an exposition dump, but at the same time, it's a milder example as Ace is speaking rather casually about what had happened before.  

Credit to Chris, even after being stabbed in the stomach, he puts up a decent fight.  His response was both a highlight and oddly humorous.  Things don't end well for him, but he went out on a high note. 

One quick follow up, apparently it was Greg Grunberg who played the cop.  Neither his Wikipedia nor his IMDB page said anything about it, which is why I concluded that it wasn't him.  After seeing him again here, I became even more convinced it was him and did some more digging.  On the plus side, I was right, so that's good. It would have driven me nuts if I had remained under the impression that it wasn't him, but just someone who looked almost exactly like him.  

In any event, this episode was solid.  It doesn't leave as lasting an impression as its predecessor, but it does what it does well and while it isn't quite as tense, it's never boring.  It's sad to see Annie sidelined, but there's still plenty of good character and story arc material to keep the viewer happy.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 4, Episode 7: 'Hell No, Dolly"

 This episode doesn't really have a central plot per se.  Instead, it juggles three story lines.  Other episodes have done this but this one doesn't do quite as good a job.  It results in an episode that feels more like wheel spinning and filler for a good majority of it.

The Constantine plot has the most going for it.  Not only does it have the biggest ramifications, but it was also the strongest just from a character perspective.  Ryan's fantastic, as usual, but we get to see John's past come back to haunt him and him respond by taking measures to undo it.    This also plants a potential seed as far as the season's big bad goes.  Neron is only mentioned, but he is a heavy hitter in the comics; it makes sense that he could be the one going after John.  We'll have to see how that plays out, though.

Another sub-plot has Sara trying to act as mediator after Ava and Mick have something of a falling out.  You can't really fault Ava for taking the magical diary.  Even if Mick was able to have it without any serious negative ramifications, the possibility of somebody else coming in and swiping it (whether they knew about its power or not) is too great a risk. I can kind of see why Mick was miffed, but he should have been smart enough to get her reasoning.  

The Mona plot was...strange.  I mean, Mona is odd enough where her falling in love with the Kaupe would make sense, but at the same time...it's odd.  Maybe they were trying to parody the trope, but at the same time, the episode plays a lot of those scenes perfectly straight. 

It does result in an amusing identity mix up when Nate goes to talk to Mona on Gary's behalf only to be met by ambiguous dialogue that Nate assumes is in reference to Gary.

Oddly enough, the plot that inspires the title is the most blase and is even an afterthought as far as the episode goes.  The killer doll thing has been done a lot, but you'd think that they could have done more.  It doesn't help that "Mike the Spike" is a pretty weaksauce villain.  There are one or two creepy moments, but he's pretty underwhelming and his dialogue isn't menacing in the slightest.

Overall, this was one of the weaker episodes for the show.  It has moments, but it never really gains momentum due to having too many things going on.  Some of the gags and jokes work, but some are fairly cringe inducing.

Really, the episode's big saving grace is the cliffhanger, where John's attempt to change the past has huge ramifications for the timeline.  It's not quite as bad as the team breaking time back in season 2, but about on par with Barry and the whole Flashpoint fiasco.  We don't get a full glimpse of the ramifications, but Zari is a cat, and an adorable one at that.

After a pretty strong string of episodes, this one was a let down.  I mean, nobody bats 1000, but it's still a shame to see.

'Castle Rock' Season 2, Episode 3: 'Ties That Bind'

It appears as though Annie no longer has her ace in the hole.  I mean, of course, Ace Merrill's corpse being buried.  Man, my wordplay is on point with this season.  The fact that it all seems to be centered around holes is a little weird, but whatever.

Anyway,  Annie's encounter with a seemingly revived Ace Merrill has her a little spooked.  To her credit, Annie is aware of her condition; thus takes into account the possibility that it's all in her head.  The first thing she does is try to go back to where she left the body to confirm that it's still there.  Unfortunately, she's unable to, so there was no closure on that front. 

Even with that, though, she later comes to the conclusion that her new batch of medication was altered and that she's suffering from side effects.  It's a logical conclusion to come to, though really it seems like it's more there to give Annie a reason not to take her meds when Joy is brought into the fold and starts to think that her mother is spiraling.  

You can't fault Joy for coming to the conclusion that she does.  The apparent reveal that Ace is alive and well only lends credence to it.  All in all, she acts very intelligently throughout the episode.  She still doesn't have the whole picture, but you can see that she's putting pieces together.

Speaking of Ace's state, he's in surprisingly good condition given what happened to him.  Joy may think that Ace's murder was a hallucination or an outright lie, but this is one instance where we know better.  Besides, it would be a shame to negate that awesome moment.   You'd think that other characters seeing Ace alive would confirm that Annie is right, but given his aforementioned state and the fact that she was the only one who was ever aware of the murder, it still leaves the option for his never being killed in the first place.

The episode manages to have its cake and eat it too.  It's a very well done psychological drama, but it also does a great job of integrating more supernatural elements into the plot.  It's compelling as all get out and it keeps you gripped for pretty much the entire run time.

Lizzy Caplan has been doing a great job as Wilkes, but she really gets a chance to up her game here. The opening sequence where we see her running around from the perspective of a camera right up in her face was a bit gimmicky, but you get what they were trying to go for.  Other than that, though, she's nailing it.  Her psychological issues coming to the forefront allows her to be at her most chilling, but her love for Joy is still apparent and genuine.  That speech she gives to Joy about having done bad things to ensure her happiness was chilling in its own right, but also moving in that she really means it.  

Her escape also gives the character another highlight moment.  It doubles as a nod to Gerald's Game, but even ignoring that, it was jaw droppingly impressive.

Speaking of nods, I'm surprised that the episode didn't do more with the 'Stand by Me' shout-out.  I figured Joy and her friends looking for Ace's dead body would have been a whole sub-plot, but it gets wrapped up surprisingly quick.  The stuff with Annie and Joy was amazing, so I get it, but if you're going to do the homage, why not go all the way through with it?

While Abdi and his sister don't get a whole lot to do, what screen time they have is well used.  Abdi admits that he didn't save Pop for Pop's sake, but because Nadia cares for him and he didn't want to see her hit with another tragic loss.  It was a good moment between the two.  On Nadia's front, she does come to check on Annie after getting a frantic call.  Joy sends her off, but the fact that she went through the trouble to come offer help was still pretty nice.

The episode also ends with one hell of a wham note, as a mysterious figure warns Annie that the story is going to end with her having to kill Joy.  

This episode was really good.  It made all of the elements work in its favor.  The character stuff was very well done, the acting and writing were top notch, it was suspenseful and built up both atmosphere and tension as things progressed.  Really, my only two quibbles are Annie bouncing back and forth between "the drugs are making me see things" and "Ace is really back for the dead and he's coming for us".  You'd think that she'd play up the prior, especially when Joy starts to question Annie's sanity, but she sticks to the latter. I was also disappointed to find out that the cop who approaches Ace wasn't Greg Grunberg.  It really looked like him. 

All in all, though, this raised the bar for the season. There's plenty of momentum to go forward so I'm excited to see where the season goes.  I'd hate to think that the season peaks this early, but this did set a pretty high precedent.  I'll just have to see how things work out.

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'The Punisher' Episode 13: 'Memento Mori'

 At looong last, we wrap up the first season of this series.  It's had its ups and downs and this episode is, fittingly enough, a mixed bag.

There's a lot of great character moments to be had.  While Frank and Micro don't share too many scenes together, the ones they do make an impact.  The two have clearly become quite tight.  Even though it seems like Micro's story is done and he is free to ride off into the metaphorical sunset happily reunited with his family, I kind of hope they find a way to keep him in the fold for the second season.  The two play very well off each other and it was a consistent highlight throughout the season.

The confrontation that ensues when Billy brings Curtis into the fold is also a major highlight.  As is the case with Frank, the dialogue between the two shows that Russo still holds their "band of brothers" bond in high regard.  Despite holding the man at gunpoint, Russo acknowledges that he really has no quarrel with Curtis and is quite reasonable given the circumstances.

It's a shame we didn't get to see more of these three together.  It would have had to be through flashbacks for narrative purposes, but it still would have been great to see more of it.  Speaking of more flashbacks, this episode gives us one that shows that Billy was something of an honorary uncle to the Castle kids and was a close friend to the whole family.  It's a great scene, but there should have been more of that throughout the season.  I think it would have given even more weight to the conflict between the two.

I'm not sure what was making Russo so unhinged.  He never went full Rawlins, but it was clear that his mind was getting away from him.  The shot to his cheek seems a little flimsy as far as motivation goes.  There is the fact that Curtis knew that Frank was still alive.  On the one hand, Billy does say that another brother betrayed him, but the way the line was delivered it seemed more comedic than anything else. It does give Russo some wiggle room to be more overtly villainous as the episode reaches its final stages, but it was strange.

Also strange was the opening sequences.  Billy goes on a killing spree to escape the cops.  It's done somewhat well, especially considering Billy is so nonchalant about headshotting multiple cops.  The slow motion walk away as he blows up the building behind him was a bit much, though. 

Frank's medical treatment was also a bit of a stretch.  After the severe wounds that he suffered, Madani's parents are able to bring him back with surprisingly little trouble.  I remind you, they're not at a hospital at this point, but Madani's house.  They just happened to have what they needed.  I'm not sure how else you could have done it, but that seemed ridiculous to me.

As for the long awaited showdown between Russo and Castle, it's pretty well done.  The carousel thing seems out of place at first, more like a Joker thing, but given Frank's history it makes sense.  Billy isn't going for "carnivals are creepy", but dredging up painful memories for Frank to throw him off his game.  Seems to work pretty well too from what we see. 

The confrontation itself is also pretty intense.  The gunfight didn't impress too much,though Russo does avert Stormtrooper marksmanship by actually hitting Frank a couple of times.  Frank launching mortar shells to draw out his enemy was also a small highlight.  The subsequent look on Billy's face as he hears them launch is pretty priceless.

Where the climax really kicks into high gear is when the two ditch the guns and put up their dukes.  It's a well choreographed fight and Billy holds his own very well.  It makes for a brutal and exciting final fight.  Honestly, you could have taken the teen hostages out of the equation and it still would have had plenty of tension to spare.  

It would have been a shame to kill off Russo just when he found his grove as an adversary. Thankfully, the episode splits the difference and leaves him in a coma.  This way the writers can decide that his story is  done if they want to do something else next season, or they can bring him back to keep the rivalry alive.

The episode ends with Frank going to a support group meeting and revealing that he's scared of the prospect of not having a war to fight.

It's funny, I thought that was going to be the driving force of this season's arc.  It seemed like Frank had gotten his vengeance and we were going to see him find a new reason to keep fighting.  Instead, the plot kind of backpedaled and brought back the conspiracy so that Frank could remain focused on avenging his family.  It was one of the weaker aspects of the season as a whole.

In some ways, I get why the line is a wham moment.  Frank is the type who needs a target.  I'm sure a lot of vets have a similar mindset when coming back. The problem is that this is the MCU; there's plenty of things to fight.  Even if there are no more ninjas, Hydra has a knack for popping up and I'm pretty sure Thanos is on the horizon; to say nothing of that whole "Endgame" war for Earth.  There are a whole lot of aliens coming so I'm sure Frank'll be just fine.  Even if he stayed street level, it isn't like there's any shortage of criminals.  Of course, with the CIA agreeing to let him go back to his old alias, donning the vigilante attire might not be the best move; we'll have to see how the second season plays this. 

Before that, though, we have a few other seasons to watch.  Up next, I believe, is the second season of Luke Cage; I'm looking forward to getting into that.  There's still quite a bit of Netflix MCU to cover, and it should have been covered already, but progress on getting caught up is being made.  This is one to check off the list.

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'Legends of Tomorrow' Season 4, Episode 6: 'Tender is the Nate'

 The Legends travel to 1920's Paris to confront a Minotaur, which has been lurking in the catacombs under the city.  It seems like pretty standard "Legends" fare, except that Nate's dad decides to tag along to see where those hard earned tax payer dollars are going.

It turns out that, along with the Bureau now being government funded, so too are the endeavors of the titular team.  On the one hand, he does raise some good points, on the other, it was established that Gideon made the food and costumes, so why would taxes be needed for that?   Of course, one could also make the point that the federal government never takes this much of an interest in fiscal accountability.  Monsters, clones, and time travel are one thing, but let's keep it realistic, am I right?  Besides, the numbers Hank cites are "small" enough where I could see many arguing that cutting it wouldn't make a difference, so we should just increase it.  

It's a pretense to get Nate and his dad on the ship and the payoff is worth it.  Not only is it nice to have Nate back as part of the crew, but seeing said crew try to keep his dad happy does make for some pretty funny bits throughout the episode.

You can understand why Hank would be skeptical of the "put the beast to sleep with lute music" plan.  Given common sense and what they had seen of the creature previously, his skepticism was justified.  I'm a bit surprised that nobody invoked the "bard" concept.  I mean, there are a few mentions of D&D, it seems like it would have fit in quite naturally.  

Still, props to him for nailing it in the end.  Even Constantine and Sara are flabbergasted at the Heywood patriarch's musical skills.  I imagine many a viewer was as well, I know I was.  

The episode also features a sub-plot where Ava, Nora, and Mona get stuck in a cell together.  It's a simple premise, but it worked really well.  The three characters play well off each other and the bond formed seems genuine.  It's really quite cute. The fact that all three have a sort of arc of their own is also impressive.

Mona could have fallen in to the "trying too hard" trap.  I know that Gary can sometimes be grating, but the episode managed to still make her work, especially playing off the other two.  You can see how she is able to soften the other two up, even if she does seem way too eager at points.  Not sure if the three will be spending more time together on a regular basis, but it was still a strong aspect of the episode.

This was a fun one and done episode.  There was just enough humor, the Minotaur proved to be a formidable adversary, and several characters got moments to shine and grow.  I'm surprised there was no mention of "Project Hades", but that could come up later.  The season seems to be going pretty well so far, hopefully the momentum can continue.

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'Castle Rock' Season 2, Episode 2: 'New Jerusalem'

 When last we met, Annie Wilkes had gone to a very dark place and was falling fast.  I mean that literally, as she was falling into a hole.  Considering the height of the fall, she's actually in pretty good shape.  Even a second fall after a failed attempt to climb out doesn't seem to do too much.  She has a slight limp, but is still able to jog with little trouble.  Then again, Wilkes was incredibly resilient in the original novel, so that could be a bit of subtly consistent writing.

It turns out that Ace isn't the only corpse down there.  This convinces Annie to change her mind about staying, though Joy is reluctant to leave this time around.  On the one hand, yes she's made friends, but she did see Ace making molotov cocktails, you'd think that she'd be able to figure out why Annie suddenly wants to book it.  

Speaking of Ace, the family doesn't take his disappearance too kindly.  Despite the fact that he hasn't been gone that long, Pop uses every resource he has (which is surprisingly considerable) to try to figure out what happened.

This prompts flashbacks that show us how Pop came to adopt the two into his own family.  It does allow Pop to show a softer side, but we also see that the family tension predates the mall shenanigans. We also see that the adoption may not have been as altruistic as many would be lead to believe.  

This aspect of the plot remains a bit cumbersome, but this does flesh out the characters to give them a bit more depth.

Even with this, though, Annie remains the main draw.  Caplan continues to shine and her devotion to her daughter remains a highlight.  Even with the rising tension between the two, especially as Joy starts to put pieces together, the bond is a very strong one.

Abdi gets a decent showing too, especially when Pop abducts him after Annie leads him to believe that it was Abdi, and not her, who killed him.  It was pretty convenient that Annie had a second prime suspect to disperse suspicion.  At first, I thought that she was going to come clean and argue self defense when Pop confronted her, but she used what she had to present a credible alternate take on events.  

I did find it odd that Abdi decided to goad his adopted father during the interrogation.  He didn't do it. You'd think a straight forward acknowledgement of that would have been more effective than trying to provoke Pop to violence.  He doesn't even try, it was very bizarre.  It would be one thing if Pop just ignored it, but there's no attempt to be upfront about how things played out.

The episode ends on one doozy of a cliffhanger, as Annie turns around to find none other than Ace Merrill standing outside her car.

This episode fleshed out the season on both a character and setting front.  It also opened up new plot lines so that things can move forward.  The first episode was pretty self-contained, which was nice, but I think this gives the viewer more reason to keep watching.  It'll be interesting to see how things play out.

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