'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.