'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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