My Thoughts on the Passing of Bill Paxton

Howdy people of the internet, this is a blog post I didn’t expect to write any time soon. So yesterday the world was made away about the passing of Bill Paxton and there’s been a lot of condolences and beautiful thoughts shared about him from celebrities and fans alike, so I just wanted to share my own thoughts.

So after I left work yesterday evening and was waiting for some fast food I decided to check the internet for some superhero news and then I saw on Comic Book Movie and saw a headline about Bill Paxton passing away at 61 years old. Honestly I thought it was a joke, so I had to check Google straight after and it was confirmed on multiple sites and honestly I got so frigging sad. Now a number people state that getting sad about celebrities that you don’t know is silly/unnecessary, but screw it I can’t help it. Paxton is one of those actors I’ve been aware since I my childhood and while I never really knew who he was specifically until I was a teenager, he’s always been one of those guys you not only knew by face, but also knew he’d deliver a solid performance as well.

I don’t know if I saw him in Aliens or Twister first, but Twister was the film that put him on my radar, I saw that film a good few times when I was younger and as I got older whenever I watched a film with him in it, I’d be like “Hey it’s that dude from Twister, I like that guy.” It wasn’t until 204 when he made a good few appearances in films and TV that he really started to ascend in my favourite actors. And even now going through his filmography, I’ve seen him in a good number of films that I never even knew he was there, and that doesn’t mean he’s invisible, but it just shows how much work he’s done over the decades. We got films like Weird Science, Predator 2, Titanic, Might Joe Young, and even 2 Guns, a film I enjoyed at the time I forgot about his appearance there too.

But my favourite roles were the punk dude from The Terminator, Bill Harding, the leading man from Twister, the stringer Joe Loder from Nightcrawler and one of my favourites, Master Sergeant Farell from Edge of Tomorrow. And then of course you had his appearance as John Garrett from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., say what you want about the Marvel show especially in season 1 but he brought a lot of fun, humour and badassery to Hydra and the show in general.

What really stung about the news of his passing was the fact that I met him. I got to meet him at London Film & Comic-Con in July 2015 a few years ago and he was the nicest dude ever, so kind, welcoming and funny, and getting my picture taken with him was honestly one of the highlights of my life. I look forward to checking out my of his filmography, and though he’s gone he’ll never be forgotten because he was 100% badass.

 

What I’m Currently Watching #32 – Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is week 32, and I know its been almost a month since my last TV reviews but February’s been a hella busy month for me. So because I’m short for time today I’ll just be talking about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and careful for spoilers…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “Self Control”

Mate! Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. was crazy this week, I wasn’t sure if I’d be fully invested with this body switching robot angle, but Jed Whedon and the rest of the people working on this show did some really interesting and incredible things with the story and characters.

Man I was pretty tense throughout this episode, just seeing Fitz and Simmons trying to figure out how to deal with the LMDs lurking around was intriguing, but then later have to question which of them was the LMD in a secluded location was even worse and yeah the assumption about Fitz being a robot has come to pass although I thought it could go either way during that scene because he was pretty convincing. Aida also had a notable episode with her conversation with the Superior dude in recovery mode only to be cut apart, that was creepy. But I loved the conversation with Radcliffe about why he created the Framework, and how Aida’s logic determined that Radcliffe was a risk and no longer relevant so she cut his wrists and let him bleed out while in the machine? Bad times. I also enjoyed how Daisy and Simmons were the only humans left, how they proved each of them was real and come up with inventive ways to single out the humans from the LMDs and escape. It was some tense and dramatic stuff. Loved the fight between Daisy and the LMDs, when she was powering up her vibration attack it reminded me of the Rasengan from Naruto (just a reference for anime and manga fans).

It was cool to see the LMDs on the base trying to execute their plan for replacing Daisy and Simmons while also trying to round up and exterminate the Inhumans. Thank god LMD May’s corrupted programming allowed her to see sense allow our heroes to escape. Her conversation with LMD Coulson was really thought-provoking, I liked learning about the LMD logic of why being in the Framework would be a good thing and why LMD May was against. When she blew everything away I had to wonder, how big was the explosion? Did it take out a section of the base or the whole thing? Was there any survivors and if not did a good number of agents along with the remaining LMDs get taken out too? I have too many questions! 😛 Oh and that ending when you find out what worlds everyone was in was really interesting. I knew when Daisy stepped into her room that I’d be Ward and not Lincoln just because their history together would make this relationship in an ideal seen more tangible. It was also nice to see Mac living life as a family man and seeing Coulson as a teacher. Fitz’s world went from being pretty cool to pretty dark if I am to believe that he’s a successful person but with someone else and Simmons is dead? Grim. Oh and to see May in that elevator ascending a Hydra building that looked a lot like the Triskelion felt very ominous. The end scene with Aida was fascinating to see what she did to superior was mental. The dude’s just a head! But it’s been preserved so that he can project his consciousness into an LMD body? That’s pretty cool and I guess a more authentic experience than a brain replication? I like how Aida wants to feel emotion, wonder how that’ll play out towards the end of the season.

So have you seen or plan to watch Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #31

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 31st week, and today I’ll be talking about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Lucifer, Grimm and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for spoilers especially for Star Wars Rebels…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “The Patriot”

Now this was a good episode and probably my favourite since the origin of Ghost Rider in “The Good Samaritan” last year. Sometimes AoS fluctuates with the amount of engaging material in the overall story arcs with some episodes being really good, average or dull, but this episode was on the better end of the spectrum and had a lot of the key aspects that make this show worth watching. Straight from the beginning with Mace holding the press conference for Daisy I loved it, the way it was set up and framed with Coulson and Mac undercover, you knew something would go down, you just weren’t shure as to how it’d happen. It felt like a spy thriller set up from a film and more in line with the kind of material I wish this show would do more. Anyway, I enjoyed pretty much everything about this episode, it had action, suspense, mystery, cool reveals and moved at swift pace. There was a lot of really good material in this episode, but the main plot point with Mace and Colonel Talbot was great. Learning about the origin of Mace’s abilities and how Talbot not only had a hand in it, but also that the serum was a modified version of what Daisy’s dad used back in season 2? That was a crazy callback! I liked Talbot’s reasoning for why he did what he did even if his actions resulted in deception, being discovered and heated exchanges with FitzSimmons and Coulson. Plus it was great to get some insight into who Mace is, how he is good guy and has a moral code, but stumbled into a situation which he couldn’t escape from, this episode made me more relatable and human for sure. It was also great to learn more about Dr. Radcliffe and his plans for LMD May, Aida and normal May, oh and seeing Fitz still wanting to fix the other Aida was intriguing but bad as his secret will surely spell the end of the relationship with Simmons, I’m calling it right now (though I hate to). Also the humour was great, AoS has sometimes been hit and miss with its humour, though season 4 has been solid and this episode had some great one-liners from Coulson, Mace, Fitz and Simmons, and of course Colonel Talbot who had some great lines especially with the coffee.

Lucifer (Season 2) “Stewardess Interruptus”

So Lucifer returned this week and it was another really good episode, I’m continuously surprised by how much love this show and its ability to create depth and development for all of the key characters while still offering fun and interesting episodic cases. This episode dealt with some really interesting things like: 1) The people that Lucifer’s slept with: It was funny and interesting to learn of the people that Lucifer bedded and their varying experiences of pleasure but also see that it was just sex for them and witness Lucifer’s happiness turn to sadness because their lack of emotional attachment to him. 2) The killer may return: I found it interesting that the victims were used for drug smuggling and when we were finally introduced to the bad guy, we never see their face and they were able to get away. I’m sure this can’t be over. 3) Seeing Lucifer’s mum and Amenadiel actively try help Lucifer and Chloe’s relationship was fun especially the conversation between Chloe and Lucifer’s mum. And 4) Lucifer and Chloe’s relationship: We almost had a kiss at the end of last episode/this episode yet it was offset by an unexpected guest, and from there Lucifer and Chloe had hilarious/troubled conversations about their “moment” and the state of their relationship. Towards the end of the episode it looked like the people behind this show was gonna put a reset on the Chloe and Lucifer’s relationship, even though these two cared for each other but just weren’t emotionally sure about committing to it. But after Lucifer’s heartfelt speech on the beach Chloe went for the kill, and man it felt nice! I’m curious to see where their relationship goes from next week onwards. Oh and the humour, so much of it was great including stuff with Maze, Dan and of course Lucifer, that “Booties call me” line was frigging awesome! XD

Grimm (Season 6) “Oh Captain, My Captain”

So this is my first Grimm review for a while it feels and it feels good to finally be talking about the show again even though this is the final season 😦 But anyway let’s talk about episode 3 and man it was a doozy. Grimm always finds ways to create interesting storylines, and some of the creative and impossible tasks the creators find for our heroes to try and overcome is fascinating and fun to watch. So this episode dealt with the manhunt for Nick and any of his associates while our heroes tried to come up with a way to stop him and good gravy they came up with a dangerous plan; to turn Nick into Renard with magic and make a public announcement to renounce his candidacy as Mayor and clear Nick as a uncover agent. That was a crazy plan with a lot of humourous and dangerous moments not only with the media attention, but also with the real Renard once he found out as well. Doppelganger episodes are always tricky to pull off because of the stakes and story involved, but I think this was done well and Sasha Roiz did a great job playing himself and Nick. Also I knew that once Nick got stuck in Renard’s body, it would somehow fall to Diana to be the one to turn him back to normal, the moment she saw Nick (as Renard) I knew she’d probably see through it, so yeah Nick’s back to normal again, yay! But that look on Diana’s face was worrisome, she’s had no reason to mistrust Nick before but she does now, oh dear. But that was not the only surprise of this episode, as soon as Renard got home we saw Meisner again, now clearly this must be one of Renard’s visions, however, if that’s not the case then how is he still alive?

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Trials of the Darksaber”

Well I’m calling it now, this might be the best episode of Rebels to date, talk about drama! This kind of emotional depth has been missing from this show for a while now, and when I go on about how great this show is I am talking about episodes like this, where the stories transcend just kid-friendly material, and dive deep into mythology but also present you with character-driven material that older audiences can appreciate as well. Straight from the beginning of the episode this episode felt different with a more somber and serious atmosphere, and that carried on through to the end of the episode. It was fascinating learning about the history of the Darksaber and how it tied into Mandalorian history and the significance/weight it put on Sabine. Since season 2 Sabine became one of my top 3 characters, but this episode really gave us our best look at her when it comes to inner conflict, combat abilities and backstory with the Empire and the Mandalorians. Seeing her train and get frustrated with not only her technique, but also with Kanan’s training methods and dealing with Ezra as a training partner/teacher was interesting and showed her at her most vulnerable. I loved seeing Kanan as the stern master and Sabine as his capable yet unbalanced student, it was handled wonderfully with the dialogue and sword fighting, and it felt like the kind of material you’d see in a classic film (like a martial arts film).

The visual material was superb with great sword stances, fight choreography, rich colours and wonderfully framed shots. I also loved the music as it had such a great sense of presence, drama and had an oriental feel during the training moments. I also liked seeing how everyone reacted to Sabine’s situation with Kanan being frustrated with her because of her Mandalorian tendencies and inner conflict, how Hera could relate to Sabine because of the family issues, and how Ezra, even though he was quite annoying, had a moment to remind Sabine that she at least had family to go back to. And of course I can’t talk about this episode without mentioning Sabine’s heartfelt speech while fighting Kanan, I love how Kana pushed her to the point of an emotional outburst which was raw and intense, and I got flashbacks to Return of the Jedi (Luke vs. Vader). Just hearing Sabine’s lament about how she was responsible for what happened to her people and tried to speak out, but was abandoned by the people she wanted to protect, its gut-punching stuff. And finally to see Fen Rau, Ezra and Kanan kneeling and saying they’d follow Sabine as a leader was beautiful, I really want know where this storyline goes.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #30

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 30th week, and the first set of TV reviews for 2017. I’m hoping I’ll be able to do these reviews a lot more as opposed to last year where things got a little too complicated/busy towards Christmas. Today I’ll be talking about Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “Broken Promises”

So AoS returned last week and after a fairly entertaining first few episodes with Ghost Rider and some interesting developments with the story and characters, the show is moving in the direction I expected it to from the time Aida came to the forefront of season 4, and that is focus on robots turning evil and having Life Model Decoys becoming the next phase of the show. I knew that Aida wouldn’t stay on the side of our heroes for long and I was hoping Mac’s rightful skepticism wouldn’t come to pass, but of course it did as we learnt that Aida has become self-aware, wants the Darkhold and has caused issues for our team. But what I didn’t fully expect was after Aida was beheaded, that it was Dr. Radcliffe behind everything, that he sent that Aida model to retrieve the book for him as a test, but had the May LMD as a back-up to get close to Coulson to eventually get the book later on. I had a feeling that might have some questionable motives, but for him to be lying to the team in quest for ultimate knowledge was pretty intriguing. The other key element of this episode that I enjoyed was seeing Senator Nadeer, I knew she’d be a character to look out for and she’s become more and more intriguing as time has progressed, but this material with her brother has given her the most depth and development so far. It was great to see Vijay out his cocoon and interacting with his sister in a nostalgic manner, but it was also interesting to see her betray him and get the Watchdogs to kill him. I thought it was cool to see him convince her to keep him alive, but once he started showing off those powers I knew his days were numbered. But to see Nadeer shoot her brother and through him from that helicopter really reinforced her resolve about taking out Inhumans even with her brother. Now I’m curious to see how 1) Things play out with Vijay now that he’s in his cocoon again in the ocean. 2) What’ll happen between Coulson and LMD May (I have a feeling and I’m troubled). And 3) How Nadeer and the Watchdogs will advance with their Inhuman plans.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Ghosts of Geonosis Part 1 & 2”

This was pretty solid two-parter and was more in line with what I expect from Rebels on a weekly basis; here we had a story that was unique and intriguing, tied into the live-action films and Clone Wars and but also stood on its own. These episodes had a good balance of adventure, seriousness and humour, darker moments and laid the foundation for interesting things to come in the future. As someone who doesn’t know much about Saw Gerrera beyond what I saw in Rogue One, it was cool get some additional info on him when comes to the people he’s lost, his tactics and the kind of person he was before the events of Rogue One. Saw was a much more interesting and layered character than he was in Rogue One, he’s got not a bad guy, but his life experiences have shaped into being quite ruthless and unpredictable which I liked. Oh and I loved Sabine’s line about sand, I’m sure that must be a reference to Anakin’s now infamous dialogue from Attack of the Clones haha.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #29

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 29th week, and I have to apologise for not being around last week but work got messy, anyway I’ve got a good few shows to cover but it’ll be less than most of the show’s that I’ve watched recently. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for spoilers…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “The Good Samaritan”

AoS continues to deliver some really good TV as we dive deeper into this season’s main plots involving Ghost Rider, the true mystery surrounding the scientists using the Darkhold and the power struggle between Jeffrey Mace and our heroes at SHIELD. I loved that we finally got to see the backstory about not only how Robbie and Gabe got into the accident that left Gabe without the use of his legs, but also find how Robbie got his powers and holy crap was that one heck of a reveal. While not specifically mentioned by name, it pretty much looked like Johnny Blaze was the one who gave Robbie his abilities and I couldn’t help but get really giddy about it, to have what looks like the classic Rider in the MCU was quite a wonderful revelation and I hope this isn’t the last time we see him in this season or on another TV show. This backstory also allowed us to see the guilt Robbie carries with him, but also allowed him to tell Gabe the truth (which he wasn’t too keen on at all). I like how everything is connected like how the Lacos who attacked Robbie and Gabe were because of Joseph trying to stop Eli’s work with the Darkhold or how the Darkhold not only had ties to Agent Carter with Roxxon and Zero Matter. Seems like the knowledge from the Darkhold has corrupted everyone that’s read it including Eli who we learn was the one who actually caused the creation of the ghosts and now has powers of his own too. Plus it was interesting to see Jeffrey use his authority as director to attempt to take in Daisy and Robbie, this definitely created friction between him and our team especially Coulson, and I liked how Jeffrey was no fool and knew about the secret spot where Robbie and Daisy were being held. But to then see Ghost Rider not only break out of the cell, but then see him fight and almost knock out Jeffrey was badass! Ghost Rider don’t play around. All I’m curious about now is 1) Where Simmons was sent off to and what she’ll find. 2) What Senator Nadeer will do once she finds out what happened with Mace’s failure to stop Robbie/Ghost Rider. And 3) How will Robbie and Gabe’s relationship advance in the future now that the truth is out, something tells me Gabe will be Robbie’s tether to his human form when he gets lost in the Rider’s anger.

The Flash (Season 3) “Monster”

This week’s episode of The Flash was pretty decent, not great, but certainly had some good and memorable moments. There were a lot of things of note so let’s go through them point by point. Firstly there’s the new Harrison Wells who is funny, charismatic and totally different from the previous incarnations and he’s a little weird and doesn’t completely click with the Flash team, but to later find out he’s not smart and just an ideas man was surprising, but also quite funny too so I’m curious to see where his story goes. 2) Finally seeing Caitlin explore the nature of her abilities and turning to her mother for help gave us some pretty interesting results learning more about Caitlin’s complicated family history, and seeing a bit of her Killer Frost side when she froze that guy’s arm, and then learning that her power become permanent the more she uses it. 3) Seeing Julian at the forefront of the action with the main plot and then finally change his mind about Barry/Flash and open up about his past was nice and its cool to have him finally bury the beef with Barry and become friendly.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Imperial Supercommandos”

To put it simply, this week’s episode of Rebels was awesome, I really enjoyed this episode. Even though it didn’t connect to the main storyline of season 3 with Thrawn, Maul and the Empire, it was still a really good episode because of the story and character development. So this was another episode that focused on Sabine and the Mandalorians which was great because as a casual fan I’ve only heard about how cool Mandalorians are, so when I see episodes focused on Sabine’s race, backstory and interactions with other Mandalorians I find it fascinating, insightful and just really good material for Rebels. It was great to see Fenn Rau’s arc in this episode from being a man who has no interest in joining the rebel alliance, to wanting to join after seeing the strength and loyalty of Sabine. Also Gar Saxon was a really great threat for our heroes to overcome, and I love that he was left alive, I hope returns later on in this season. I also love these Sabine and Ezra missions, they are a nice pairing because of their not only their skills but their personality differences too. As usual this show’s presentation was on-point, visually the show’s stunning with its use of colour, lighting and overall detail and feels miles ahead of Rebels season 1 and the music was also really good and I definitely got some John Williams prequel vibes (which is a good thing in my book but I feel like those film scores are  bit underappreciated). If I had one negative to put against this episode it would be the handling of Ezra’s abilities. Just at the start of the season we saw that this dude has gotten a heck of a lot stronger and more dangerous, so how comes in this episode he felt so weak and useful as season 2? One could argue that he’s weaker/back to normal because since he’s no longer using the Sith Holocron and tapping into the dark side or the people behind the show wanted to power him down so that the Imperial Mandalorians would be more of a threat, either way it felt inconsistent with what’s come before and I felt like Ezra could have done more considering how far he’s come since last season.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #28

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 28th week and since my week’s not proceeded as expected and I’ve lost a lot of time, I’m only going to be reviewing Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Arrow and Lucifer. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for spoilers…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “Let Me Stand Next to Your Fire”

I like how with this week’s episode of AoS the storylines that were presented at the start of season 4 are starting to converge and some of the mystery is finally being unveiled. Firstly I continue to like how the Watchdogs are a constant threat with means of tracking Inhumans in every conceivable way including hacking into SHIELD monitoring devices and making deals with questionable individuals like JT James (who returns from last season). And can I just say it was nice to see James again, see how life has changed and learn that he’s still just untrustworthy as he was before and I was glad to see him and Ghost Rider duke it out as he was the only fire guy on this show until Robbie showed up. Seeing Coulson and Mac interact with Robbie this week was great too, there was some fun back and forth between them, but it was even cooler for them work together to not only discover more about Robbie’s uncle and the incident that got him incarcerated, but also have Robbie work with SHIELD to help save the day. It was also nice to see Daisy and Simmons hook up as we got to see them not only go off on their own little adventure with varying results of success, but it was just nice to see them interact after so much time and see their different viewpoints on.current events. Then there was some wonderful moments between Radcliffe, AIDA, May and Fitz, May’s reaction to finding out about her brief death was hilarious (and Coulson’s later comment about starting a club for people who have died was great too), Fitz’s constant worry about AIDA’s existence was funny yet warranted and I also liked how AIDA was smart, more humanised and even liked by May, but also questioned why Fitz lied about her heritage and Radcliffe explaining the pros and cons of lying. That kind of artificial intelligence material is delightfully thought-provoking. And finally I loved that car chase between Robbie, Coulson and Mac, it was wonderfully choreographed with parts reminded me of Terminator 2 and it in an unexpectedly cool way with Robbie crashing into an invisible Quinjet. Nice. 🙂

Arrow (Season 5) “A Matter of Trust”

Arrow‘s was another decent episode. Again I wasn’t overly keen on Diggle’s little predicament, but it was great to see Deadshot again as his cellmate.What I did like was how Oliver’s got a lot on his hands both as Arrow and as mayor with 1) More trust issues between Oliver and his team and the creation of a new bad guy and 2) The media coverage on Quentin Lance being made deputy mayor and Thea’s work to try and make things better only to make the situation worse. I appreciate how this show is still building up the team and creating this new team dynamic which is shaping up nicely, plus each of the characters had more moments to shine, but it was Curtis that stole the show for me with his humour and especially with his specific lines about “Returning to the scene of the crimes” and saying “Suit up!” 😛 I was also glad that the show didn’t drag out the story with Felicity’s guilt about her involvement in Havenrock and told Rory about it which makes me curious about how this will affect not only their involvement together but the whole Team Arrow dynamic.

Lucifer (Season 2) “Lady Parts”

This week’s Lucifer was a solid episode with a decent main story, but it mainly worked because of the character interaction and humour which was on-point. Firstly I adored how much fun this episode was with all of the characters having great lines of dialogue, banter and individual moments to shine. Lucifer was as fun and charismatic as ever, but this was also a great episode for Chloe and minor characters like Ella and Dr. Martin that got some spotlight too. Seeing Maze, Dr. Martin, Ella and Chloe on a makeshift girls night out was so delightful, it was cute and fun to see them share life experiences, form a bond and then start a bar fight was hilarious and badass especially with Maze beating everyone up. 🙂 But the men also had an unexpected fun session with Lucifer, Dan and Amenadiel infiltrating the sex party and getting up to all sorts of fun situations, it felt so random for those guys to be together but it worked because of their different personalities, Amenadiel’s hilarious drunk shenanigans and the brothers making jokes about Dan looking like anything but a cop. But wow, I did not expect that revelation at the end about Lucifer making a deal with God with him sending his mum back to hell exchange for Chloe’s life. That not only makes Chloe much more important than before, but it also means that Lucifer’s put her life in severe danger as seen by that last scene of her in that car crash (poor Chloe I really like her). I find it insane that Lucifer’s never had a phone before, and yes it was primarily used as a means to keep him busy from his personal issues but it led to some funny moments with him playing games or doing face time with Maze. And though Lucifer’s mum wasn’t the focus of the recent episode she still had some fun scenes dealing with human life and still having some tension with Maze too.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #27

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 27th week and I’ve got a good few shows to cover,  but since I’m feeling a little tired this week I’ll be focusing on Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., The  Flash, Arrow, South Park and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4) “Uprising”

This episode was pretty intense, for the first time in a while this show presented a threat that had a some stakes, danger and potential no-win scenarios for everyone involved. This revolved around the Watchdogs attempt to create chaos and control by posing as Inhumans, creating blackouts and taking over several key locations across the world in a short space of time. For the first time in a while the Watchdogs felt like a threat, for a while now we’ve known they’ve existed, but they’re primarily a faceless enemy that felt was all talk and no action, but this episode did well to illustrate how formidable, strategic and dangerous they can be when required. I also loved how the blackout created several interesting scenarios like: 1) Yo-Yo being at her friend’s party and being forced to use her powers. 2) Coulson, Mac and Fitz attempting to stop the Watchdogs without their convention electronic equipment. 3) Having Simmons and Radcliffe attempt to save May without electricity to power the defibrillator. All of these situations were pretty handled well and required the characters to make think on-the-spot and make tough decisions. I really enjoyed how this episode addressed the prejudice towards Inhumans, how it was still very fresh in the minds of many humans and how some just weren’t ready to trust those who were different, and this created some create/uncomfortable moments between Yo-Yo and her friend and Daisy and Gabe. The action in this episode was also pretty good with two especially fun sequences involving Mac, Coulson and Yo-Yo taking out the bad guys. But my favourite sequence was when they went into that one room, Yo-Yo took all the weapons and everyone just wrecked shop on those Watchdogs dudes, it was wonderfully choreographed and the lights going on and off in between the action scenes was great. Finally it was also great to see Radcliffe and Simmons bring May back to normal (though I thought that AIDA may have been discovered by Simmons) and seeing SHIELD finally back in an official capacity makes me happy and intrigued for what comes next for the organisation especially considering the reveal Senator Parminder Nagra been in cahoots with the Watchdogs (she’s gonna be someone to look out for).

The Flash (Season 3) “Paradox”

This week The Flash kept its momentum going, and this whole tampering with the timeline stuff created some really interesting changes for what both Barry and us as the viewers know to be reality, all this crazy stuff with Cisco mourning the loss of his brother, Iris being at odds with Joe because the situation with her mother and other minor/notable characters either being alive or totally new altogether makes me say “Huh?” in the best and most curious of ways. And I liked how things started with Barry talking to Felicity about what he did in the timeline and what’s changed for him in this variation of his normal reality, that was fun and quirky and just highlights how important their connection still is. And I couldn’t help but shake my head at Barry’s poor attempts at understanding what’s changed in his life and how he interacted with those close to him with the worst kind of responses. That conversation Barry had with Earth-2 Flash was very important and beautifully worded as it not only gave a good account about what happens when you tamper with time travel but also how in life certain things happen that can’t/shouldn’t be changed and one can only learn from the experience rather than trying to go back and fix them. I also enjoyed seeing Tom Felton as Julian Albert, this guy is a bit of a snobby douche, but in some ways I like his attitude and distrust of Barry, feels like he’ll discover Barry’s secrets if he gets too sloppy. And while it was nice how Barry’s close friends and family forgave him, at the same time I felt like some of the issues in this world were resolved in too much a happy-go-lucky neat bow. But hell it doesn’t matter as the action was solid with the return of Clarence, plus Alchemy seems to be setting up some interesting events for the future which I’m down for.

Arrow (Season 5) “The Recruits”

Arrow was. As the title of this episode suggested it was all about Oliver getting his new crew together and having a new threat in Star City which causes some trouble for Oliver not only as the mayor but also as Arrow too. The episode wasn’t even 10 minutes in and Oliver as his alter-ego was schooling the new recruits, beating them up as they tried to ring the bell behind him. I can see how some would view his methods as harsh/unfair, but this is classic training 101; train your newbies by dishing out the pain in the most brutal way without killing them to toughen them up for the road ahead. But it was interesting to see Felicity and Oliver butt heads over his training methods, and it really came to a head when Curt gave that tough yet truth about Oliver’s trust and leadership skills, it was a good scene, and then it led to another great scene about why Oliver acts like he does, because of his training in Russia and the losses he’s had over the last few seasons of the show. I love this retrospective/personal material, it really hammers home how difficult it can be to be hero, to build a crew and have trust, and have them follow you with death being a possibility at any point. But I was happy that Oliver revealed himself to the team and that we’re getting the origins of the new team Arrow! And there’s a few other things of note like: 1) I also liked how the flashbacks were relevant to what was happening in the present. 2) While Diggle’s side mission got interest towards the end, I wasn’t overly engaged since he’s not longer part of the Arrow crew, so whatever’s going on with him felt irrelevant. 3) The introduction of the dark archer known as Prometheus attacking Church was cool and I’m curious to see how close he gets to killing Arrow himself.

South Park (Season 20) “Wieners Out”

This week’s episode was decent one, nothing overly hilarious, but it certainly had its moments. So this episode was all about the uprising of Butters and his campaign to make boys to pride in their manhood, while Gerald felt the pressure and paranoia of his online trolling as he was contacted by a fellow troll about the upcoming plans coming from the Danish to take out trolls permanently. I liked how this episode focus on gender equality, the complications/loopholes in modern political correctness and trolling and internet anonymity. Can I just say that I love how this episode opened with the narration, wonderful cinematic visuals and the Danish views on traditional trolls and how they basically became questionable human beings behind computer screens. I also loved seeing the progression of Cartman and Heidi, how they’re going out and show all the horribly cheesy elements of a modern PC relationship and I didn’t expect to see Butters start a revolution in school but that was pretty funny/amazing. Oh and seeing the mess Gerald had to go through trying to distance himself from the troll stocking him, then trying to stay away from electronics and then lying to his wife about porn that lead him to get peed on, that was some bizarre/funny stuff too. I think my only major gripe with this episode was the lack of super funny jokes, I don’t mind smiling or chuckling at stuff in South Park, but I do miss laughing my ass off on a consistent basis or at least having one major LOL moment.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Hera’s Heroes”

So this episode dealt with Hera teaming up with her father and the Ghost team to go back to her home world to save her family heirloom. I like how this episode started out with an action scene, it was pretty cool to see the Stormtroopers chasing after Cham Syndulla and his companion across the lovely desert scenery. Just like with season 2 it was nice to have another character-driven episode where the Jedi and Sith weren’t the primary storyline. And then bloody Grand Admiral Thrawn comes into play and that’s when things got really interesting. I liked how in this episode was got to see much more of him in terms of his overall demeanour and learning about how dangerous a man like him can be to the Rebel Alliance. Thrawn was calculated, classy and chilled out, but how he was also was a good few steps ahead of our heroes and knew who Hera was and the significance of her family heirloom too. You don’t mess around with this guy. I also enjoyed how he let the heroes escape saying that he found the overall experience enlightening, so this clearly shows that 1) He learns from the people he encounters. And more importantly 2) He’s playing the long game so he’ll probably come back a lot harder down the road. Now I will admit that I though more would have been done on this mission, there could have been more than Hera and crew could have taken maybe with supplies or maybe take down a calculated amount of the Empire’s forces on the planet, but alas that wasn’t the case. Even though in the grand scheme of things the episode felt a little inconsequential by the end, the episode had some good character moments and Thrawn’s appearance definitely made this episode more a highlight than I expected.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #25

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 25th week and I’m a little behind with a few episodes, but I’m getting there. This week I’ll be covering Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., South Park and Star Wars Rebels. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Agents of SHIELD (Season 4) “Meet the New Boss”

So we’re back with AoS and the follow-up episode to the great season premiere was pretty damn solid. This episode did a good job of answering a goof few questions presented in the previous episode regarding: 1) Seeing the new director of SHIELD in the flesh, 2) Finding out what was going on with the ghost woman and 3) Seeing how integral Ghost Rider would be to the plot going forward. I really enjoyed the scenes between Daisy and Robbie with Daisy being pushy and trying to get information from Robbie, and Robbie being uncooperative/hostile. I’m also just loving how much Ghost Rider we’re getting at the moment whether Robbie’s getting into scuffles with Daisy or transforming and burning his enemies to the ground (which was awesome by the way), it’s always fun when he’s on-screen. It was also interesting to learn about the ghost lady and how she and her other colleagues were part of some incident that was her fault, I’m curious to see where their story goes whether we’ll learn what happened to them in flashbacks and whether it was science-based or something supernatural, I’m hoping for the latter or possibly a but of both if compromise is required. There were some nice moments with Mac and Fitz, Coulson and May too, but the most intriguing element of the show was the new director of SHIELD, Jeffrey. Finally we got to see this guy in the flesh and he was so nice, friendly and upbeat, but we also learnt that he’s not only got plans to bring SHIELD back into the public eye, but also to keep Coulson away from people he can’t be objective about. Oh, and he’s an Inhuman! That was totally unexpected, and to see him take all that damage from May and shut her down so quickly was cold and badass. Oh and Melinda May had one heck of a day, feeling uneasy and delusional because of the touch of the ghost lady, to see her being paranoid and attacking everyone,it was fascinating to see her outside of her normal demeanour and with her left strapped down all panicky it makes me wonder what Jeffrey’s people will do to May to make her “better”.

South Park (Season 20) “Skank Hunt”

I always love how South Park can take something so simple in its plot, blow it out proportion and make it funny and that’s what happened in this episode. Seeing more of Kyle’s work as Skankhunt42 was funny during his trolling montages, but to find out his reasoning being why he does what he does was interesting; he just thought being a troll was funny and he wanted to cause chaos just because he could. I also loved how everyone reacted to Heidi Turner leaving Twitter, it was hilarious how everyone treated her like she was dead and the kids started writing nice memories about her in class even though she was still right there. Oh and when the boys tricked Cartman into coming into the woods and then smashed his electronics, only to find out that he wasn’t Skankhunt42, that stuff was funny too. But the icing on the cake was when all the girls broke up with the guys in that awesome sequence towards the end, it was so dramatic, over-the-top and it was interesting to learn how many guys in that school actually had girlfriends haha.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3) “Steps Into Shadow”

Star Wars Rebels has come back and I loved the first episode of season 3. It had some minor tonal and story issues, but overall it did ell to show how much had changed since last season with the Ghost team, and what’s been going on with the Empire. I like how we got to see the new Ghost team with Ezra as the leader, clearly they’ve been working this way for a while and have an efficient dynamic with their different skills. Clearly Ezra a lot stronger, more confident and reckless, but in an exciting and captivating way, his lightsaber and Force abilities are miles beyond what they were before, but it was that scene when he controlled that Imperial walker, shot down those Stormtroopers and then made the Walker go off the edge, I was like “Damn, this dude ain’t playing around!” Clearly the time he sent with that Sith Holocron has taught him a lot, but has been corrupting him. I also loved seeing Kanan’s arc in this episode, he’s still been deeply affected by the events of the season 2’s finale and he’s separated himself from the Ghost team, but he at least got to confront Ezra about the Holocron and then go on a journey himself with the Bendu teaching him about his own fear and how to use the Force to see without his sight. That was some thought-provoking and beautiful material. Plus the addition of Grand Admiral Thrawn was very enticing to me, I only know of the character’s significance through fan discussion online, but from what I’ve seen so far is that he comes across as very smart, methodical and cool character, clearly he’s got long-term plans for the Rebels. The overall tone of the show was a little darker and more serious than before (probably thanks to the new later time slot) and I’m liking where this show is heading so far.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

What I’m Currently Watching #24

Howdy ladies and gents, and welcome to What I’m Currently Watching where I give you a tiny update on what TV-based stuff I’m watching and give mini reviews/impressions on them. This is the 24th week and with the summer over and TV season back in full swing again, its time for the weekly TV reviews to come back, and this week I’ll be talking about Blindspot, Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Lucifer and South Park. With that out of the way let’s talk about some TV! 😀 Oh and careful for minor spoilers…

Blindspot (Season 2) “In Night So Ransomed Rogue”

Ah Blindspot, its good to see you again. What was nice was that the tone, plot and characters felt in line with what’s come before, but the new plot involving the NSA working with the FBI to get Sandstorm (the same enemy that messed with Jane) creates a new dynamic that’ll be fun to explore over the course of the season. It’s interesting to see how things had initially changed for not only Jane but Weller and his team too with Jane being incarcerated and physically tortured, while Weller and his crew miss working on Jane’s tattoos. But what captured my attention more was how the events surrounding Jane from last season finally came to light and how it affected Weller, Reade, Zapata and Patterson’s relationship with Jane. Emotions were clearly running high not only with the FBI’s crew’s feelings towards Jane, but also the relationship between Jane and Weller, but then there’s all the stuff with Jane especially towards the end of the episode, with all those revelations about her past and the tie-ins to the beginning of the show, it just adds so much layers to the overall story, and the new characters Jane’s interacted with. I also liked seeing all of the actors back in their roles especially with Jaimie Alexander and Sullivan Stapleton, but it was also great to see newcomers Archie Panjabi, Michelle Hurd and Luke Mitchell (my man from Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.) establish themselves well in this show.

Agents of SHIELD (Season 4) “The Ghost”

So S.H.I.E.L.D. is back on TV again and its nice to see how things have progressed since last season and all the new elements introduced. I like how the episode didn’t waste time and started with an action sequence which not only gave us a look at Daisy/Quake in action but also showed us glimpses of Ghost Rider as he drove his flaming car and took dudes out in a gruesome manner off-screen. I also like how Mac and Coulson are a new pairing, while several of the old members of the SHIELD team are off in different departments. Crazy to see how divide of all the characters has created not only a shift in power/authority but also trust issues as well, some of my favourites being with Simmons and May or Yo-Yo and Daisy. It was also great to see the return of Dr. Radcliffe and his Life Model Decoy (AIDA played wonderfully by Mallory Jansen) in action and the conversation he had with Fitz about the codes and ethics of what he can and can’t do in SHIELD and Radcliffe’s reasoning behind wanting to create the LMD was really fascinating. Gabriel Luna is doing a great job as Robbie Reyes/Ghost Rider so far, he’s mysterious, intimidating and cool, and I love his reasoning for doing what he does not only as Robbie, but as Ghost Rider too. Plus how sweet was that reveal of the Rider in action? So cool, the VFX were on-point! The episode was pretty good with the addition of supernatural elements not only with the unexplained origins of Ghost Rider, but also of that strange ghost lady that made those guys kill each other and infected May’s mind. Finally I also liked the theme of attachment and how it applied to several of the main characters including Daisy, Robbie, Fitz and Yo-Yo. Can’t wait to see how this season progresses.

Lucifer (Season 2) “Everything Comes Up Lucifer”

Lucifer has returned and it feels like nothing has changed and that is both a good and bad thing for me. On the one hand the show’s still the same with the humour, style, characters and cop drama cases, and that’s good stuff. But at the same time there wasn’t too much change between the end of season 1 and the start of season 2, I guess that’s due to the short amount of time passed between episodes. All in all it was a funny episode with Lucifer being his funny, charismatic and egocentric self, but it was also interesting learn details about Lucifer’s mother, his history with her and how Maze and Amenadiel felt about it too. But what was even more intriguing was Decker’s feelings about Lucifer’s abilities and how Amenadiel explained it to her to keep her away from the truth. I’m definitely curious to see where the show goes from here, but the first episode for season 2 wasn’t as impressive as I wanted.

South Park (Season 20) “Member Berries”

So here we are with season 20 of South Park and it was fine, had some fun moments, but nothing super funny. The episode was topical, covered a lot of stuff that’s happened in the world recently, but also covered certain things that’s happened in South Park history too. I did like how the episode started with the Volleyball match, that was pretty funny especially after everyone left after the national anthem. The Cartman thing with him talking about girls being funny and talking about their virginas was kind of funny, but the best line was when one of the girls called Cartman and a “fat fuck” and Butters laughed, that was perfect. The whole Member Berries thing was just a little weird and dull, but the thing with J.J. Abrams rebooting the natural anthem was fun, if a little anti-climatic, and while I loved Mr. Mackey’s rise to power for the position of President, in this episode I found him a lot less compelling and funny than before, I hope he gets better. The end reveal that Kyle’s dad was skankhunt42 was great and I can see that this being one of the key elements that will continue of the course of the season.

Well that’s what I’ve been watching. So have you seen or plan to watch any of these shows? If you have any thoughts be sure to drop a comment below and let me know what TV shows you’re currently watching  too. Until next time, laters! 😀

 

Fall/Autumn TV I’m Gonna Be Watching!

Howdy people of the internet and fellow subscribers, its September and TV season is starting up again soon and I just wanted to update y’all on the stuff I’ll be checking out. Now for those who have been following me since last year you’ll know I started up a series called “What I’ve Been Watching” where I reviewed the TV I’d watched during that week, and while I wasn’t always consistent from week to week, it was a lot of fun to talk about TV and get some responses. Now there are some shows I’ve dropped or don’t care for as much as I used like The Walking Dead, Gotham and possibly some others, so yeah just thought I’d put that out there.

Anyway with all that out of the way here’s me preview:

Luke Cage (Season 1)

This show is just shy of two weeks away and I swear this wait has been almost as difficult as Daredevil season 2. Luke Cage went from being a show I was intrigued about to being something I was super hyped for, I think its been thanks to the great trailers and interviews about the way the showrunner and actors approached this show that got me so giddy. I’ve never been a big Luke Cage fan, but Marvel’s Netflix shows have made care for characters in an in-depth manner and I assume that’ll be the case for this show too. I want this show to be badass, I need to be, if it isn’t then I’ll be gutted. But I hope the show will work out.

Marvel’s Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (Season 4)

I know a lot of people have given up on this show, but there’s a still a good few people that have a lot of love for Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. and that’s one of the key reasons it’s survived despite the low viewership and less than stellar perception from an outsiders perspective. AoS has been improving with each season and while not all of the stories and characters are great, it can definitely make for some entertaining TV. So now we have season 4 with a totally different landscape for all of our main characters and the introduction of frigging GHOST RIDER! Something I thought would never happen, and while it’s not the OG Johnny Blaze incarnation, I’m still hyped to see what they do with the character, and where things will go with the use of Inhumans, Coulson and company and Quake on her own solo adventures.

South Park (Season 20)

It is crazy to think that South Park is in its 20th season, man, just thinking about it makes me feel a lot older that I am. Anyway, even though the show’s already started, I haven’t checked out the first episode yet. I am curious to see what Matt Stone and Try Parker bring to the show this time around as season 19 had so many intriguing and refreshing changes to the basic formula to the show while still being as funny and as relevant as ever. So here’s hoping season 20 is a good one.

Star Wars Rebels (Season 3)

I love how Star Wars Rebels went from being a show I liked watched to being quintessential TV. Season 1 introduced some great new characters, story and mythology, while season 2 built upon that foundation and expanded it to a whole new level with more episodes, more character-driven stories, darker elements and ties to previous Star Wars film and TV material. And after the conclusion of season 2, I am more hyped than ever to see how this season unfolds with the introduction of Grand Admiral Thrawn into the world SW canon, getting more Maul, seeing more of Sabine and the Mandalorians and discovering what will become of Ezra as his Force abilities grow stronger.

The Flash (Season 3)

The Flash has been on of the most consistent TV shows in the superhero genre in recent memory and it went from strength to strength from season 1 to 2 to give audiences compelling and intriguing stories, characters, action and drama that was easily accessible and yet true to its source material. Season 2 was certainly more ambitious with the time travel material, doppelgänger characters and supernatural elements with the Speed Force and Zoom. And while The Flash some weak episodes around 2/3’s of the way into the show overall it was a stronger season and because of the way it ended, The Flash can now go anywhere and I’m curious to se if this show’s season 3 will be good or will be the start of a decline in quality like with what happened to Arrow‘s third season.

Lucifer (Season 2)

Ah Lucifer, what a crazy journey we went on last year. It is crazy how this show went from something I had no interest in, to being around 3 to 5 episodes in and really getting into. The show had an interesting balance of supernatural material mixed in with the standard police procedural genre, and while seeing certain common elements of the police drama side of things got a little tiresome, there was enough unique material to keep me watching. Plus it was the characters that was the main selling point of this show and the cast all did very well with a fabulous central performance from Tom Ellis as the charismatic and ever so charming title character. I’m really hyped to see where this next season goes especially with the introduction of Lucifer’s mother played by Tricia Helfer.

Blindspot (Season 2)

Blindspot ended up being one of my favourite new shows of last year and while each weekly episode was not always as captivating as it could be, it had an interesting story with characters I liked and a level of mystery, intrigue and surprise that made the show worth watching. I’ve just seen the first episode of season 2 and I’m liking what I’m seeing so far.

Arrow (Season 5)

With Arrow I’m almost ready to say taht I’m done with it considering how questionable the show’s gotten over the last two seasons with all the inconsistent, dull and uninteresting storylines, flashbacks and new characters I’ve had to endure. But it hasn’t been all bad and since I started thisshow back when it was good, I feel compelled to see it through to the end. I just hope that the showrunners can some new life into this show, but also get back to the core elements which made the show entertaining the first two seasons, because I do want to see this show bounce back.

Supergirl (Season 2)

At this point in time I haven’t finished Supergirl‘s first season because it was constantly a mixed bag of stuff I liked and things that irritated me. I found the show too similar to The Flash in tone, use of the soundtrack and overall format (probably the Greg Berlanti touch) but in addition to that the CGI was choppy, the fight scenes had no oomph or good choreography and the stories weren’t always too engaging. That being said I loved Melissa Benoist as Supergirl, most of the main cast are good, thee’s good world building and some cool reveals and the world the show inhabits has potential to grow and become even better. Season 2 seems to be delivering a lot of new material, most notably including Superman, so I’ll be curious to see how this show moves forward but also ties into the other CW DC shows.

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (Season 2)

I’m not gonna lie, I don’t love this show, but there’s enough redeeming qualities about it that makes me want to keep watching. While some of the repetition in the story and character relationships and personalities got a little annoying, I did really get attached to the characters (mainly the already established ones) and it was the actors/actresses that kept me coming back more than the stories. I hope that season 2 will have a more compelling central story, less annoying character and better fight scenes too.

So that’s my list, expect the reviews to start coming in as of next week I think possibly on Wednesdays or Fridays. I’d love to know what TV you’ll be watching from now until Christmas and if you have shows you’d like to recommend me then be sure comment below and let me know okay? Until next time, laters! 😀