Arrow SN4 EP15 – ‘ Taken’

So it’s time for my latest review on Arrow so in this episode we carry on from where we left off in the last episode with Damien Darhk having taken Oliver’s son William. We also see Vixen make her live action debut to help Oliver and the team fight magic with magic.

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So we at the start of the episode we see Felicity at a rehab center with Curtis’s boyfriend trying out the implant that he gave her in the last episode, she attempts to take her first step and unfortunately buckles and is caught by Oliver.  We see the pair leaving the rehab center and who should arrive in the car park but none other than Damien Darhk, Oliver attempts to run up to confront him but of course Darhk uses his powers to hold him back, he taunts Felicity by apologizing about what happened over Christmas and offers her some advice that she may want to think about a motorized chair.

Oliver then receives a message on his phone and Darhk advises him that he is going to want to see it, Oliver takes his phone out and is confronted by a video message showing William playing in front of a fire place. Darhk advises Oliver that he has until tomorrow night to formally pull out of the race for mayor and give his support to Ruve Adams, Felicity asks Oliver who the child was and Oliver is forced to tell her that it is his son.

Felicity and Oliver arrive back at HQ and start to argue about why he did not tell her he had a son to which Oliver replies that Williams mother said the only way he could have contact with William was if he promised to not tell anyone. Felicity cannot believe that she would be that evil about him keeping him a secret just as the rest of the team arrive, Felicity tells him as William was living in Central city he should tell Barry and ask for his help but the look on Oliver’s face tells Felicity that Barry already knew about William. Felicity then asks the team if any of them knew about William and Thea is forced to admit that she found out a few weeks ago but none of the others knew.

Oliver then receives a call from his campaign manager advising him that a Samantha Clayton is in his office demanding to see him, Oliver tells the team that Williams mother is here and that he has to go meet her. Oliver goes upstairs to meet her and straight away she blames Oliver and wishes he had never found out about William, Oliver decides that it’s time to tell the truth and admits to Samantha that he is the Green Arrow and that is why William has been taken. We see Oliver take Samantha down to the HQ to show her he is not lying and to introduce her to the team including Felicity who is not looking impressed to say the least.

The team discuss a plan to try and find out where Darhk is keeping William, Oliver tasks Thea with speaking to Malcolm as he also knew about William and has an axe to grind with Oliver after what happened between them. We also hear Oliver mention someone who he thinks can help by the name of Vixen and just like that we are taken to another city too see three armed men running from what sounds like a wolf. After one of the guards is taken out by an invisible force the other two stop to face there attacker and are greeted by Vixen she knocks both men on the floor and as she is finishing off one of them the other is about to attack from behind cue Oliver turning up and putting an arrow through his arm to stop the attack. Vixen explains to Oliver that she had that under control and Oliver explains that he knows but he needs her help.

Oliver takes Vixen back to HQ to meet the team and Samantha it appears that Vixen can harness the abilities of animals through a mystic charm that she wears around her neck meaning she may be able to help track the location of William. Vixen asks Samantha if she has anything that belongs to William and she hands over a Flash action figure to her, she begins to sniff the toy and warns Oliver that Barry must never hear about this and then that she has picked up Williams scent. The team head off to a hotel and we see Vixen sawing through the sky of the form of an Eagle checking to see how many guards Darhk has guarding William. Oliver is on the roof across from the hotel with Diggle and he apologizes for not telling him about William, Diggle says he understands why he kept it a secret as he is constantly worried about his own child Sara and that is why he knows where Sara is every moment of the day.

Oliver swings from the building and smashes through the window of the hotel only to be confronted by Darhk and William is nowhere in sight, Oliver draws and arrow and Darhk reminds him that he played that game before and he knows who wins. The pair begin to fight each other and Darhk gets the better of Oliver and puts him through a table, Vixen arrives to help Oliver and unleashes a wolf and starts to fight with Darhk he also manages to get the better of her and holds her in place with his powers and makes a comment that he knows where her charm comes from and when he kills her he will put it to better use. Oliver gets back to his feet and is about to attack but Darhk uses his powers to push Oliver out of a window, luckily he manages to grab the ledge and Vixen rushes to help him back in and it appears that Vixen has lost the scent of William and Darhk has vanished.

The team regroup back at HQ to discuss what they will do next to save William but as they are discussing this Oliver receives a call from Darhk to advise him he should not have gotten the Arrow involved in there deal and he has to get himself in front of the camera now and step down from the mayoral race. Oliver decides that he has not other choice but to step down despite the teams advice that he should not give in that easily but all he wants to do is get William back safe and he calls a press conference to step down and give his support to Ruve Adams. Vixen speaks to Oliver privately after the press conference and advises him that when they they get William back he should keep his distance from him to save anyone else using him against him in the future.

The team meet back at HQ to try and figure out the source of Darhk’s power as Vixen has never come across someone this powerful before and she brings up the fact that his must be using some sort of mystical artifact to draw his power from. Captain Lance tells the team that he thinks he has seen this artifact when he went to see Darhk and it was kept in a cabinet, Vixen asks Captain Lance if he can describe the artifact to her and she will try and draw a picture to help them figure out how it is powered he says he thinks he can and the pair go off to put the sketch together. The rest of the team head off to comb the street to see if they can track Darhk down in the mean time and Oliver asks Felicity if he can keep Samantha company while they do this.

Samantha and Felicity have a chat about the situation they are in and Samantha backs Oliver’s story up that she was the one who asked him to keep William a secret despite him telling her there was someone special in his life that he would like to tell. Evetually the team meet back at HQ and Vixen knows the exact artifact that Darhk is drawing his powers from and that it is powered by using lay lines and Felicity sets to work tracking the lay lines against the places they have faced Darhk. Felicity manages to pin point the nearest location that is central from there meeting with Darhk and the team head off to the mansion to save William and finally stop Darhk.

The team arrive at the mansion which is heavily guarded the team take up there positions as Vixen soars over head to give the team a birds eye view of what is going on. Oliver moves in and engages the guards and while Darhk is distracted by the noise outside Vixen swoops in through the window and before Darhk can grab her she flies off with the artifact. Just as the guards are defeated Darhk appears and grabs Oliver, Thea and Laurel in a choke and starts to squeeze the life from them, William comes out from behind him and Oliver tells him through gasped breathe to back inside. Darhk tells William to stay where he is and that he wants him to see this.

Meanwhile Vixen has met up with Diggle on the edge of the mansion grounds and she summons the strength of a Gorilla and starts smashing the artifact against a rock to try and destroy it. Vixen struggles at first but Diggle wills her to continue to try as he does not think the other three have much time left finally with one last almighty smash she destroys it and Oliver, Thea and Laurel drop to the ground. He looks concerned and tries to regain his control over them but this does not work and it appears his powers are now gone. Olive and Darhk begin to fight and Oliver manages to get a shot off with a trick arrow that ties Darhk up just before Oliver punches him unconscious.

The police SCPD turn up and place Darhk under arrest for the kidnap of William who is then reunited with his mum back at the police station she goes to give him his Flash action figure and the boy announces he would now like an Arrow action figure instead. Oliver leaves to say goodbye to Vixen who advises him maybe she was wrong about him keeping his distance from his son.

We then cut to a scene back at Oliver’s apartment of him filming a message to William explaining everything and that he has asked his mum to take him away and not tell anyone including him where they are going and that he asked his mum to only show him this when he turns 18 so he can make his own decision on if he wants to know Oliver. Felicity comes in and Oliver asks her how much she heard of that to which she replies all of it and that she cant believe he has made yet another big decision without her. Oliver tries to explain but Felicity has had enough and puts her engagement ring on the table and says she needs some time away from him as he is still keeping secrets from the one person he should tell everything. We then see Felicity’s foot move and she then takes her feet off her chair foot rests and stands for the first time after the accident she then turns and walks out on Oliver with the episode coming to an end.

As always for all your vigilante needs stick with Deadpool_1984 only at skatronixxx.com

 

 

 

 

March Reading Wrap Up!

Hey guys! So here is what I read in the month of March! Let me know what you guys read in March and what was your favorite!

Goosebumps Alive!

Audience beware…you’re in for a scare.

Most of you will remember the Goosebumps books by R.L. Stine. You know, the ones with the scary yet bright covers with the dripping font, the ones that no matter where you got them from they always looked tattered and old, and the ones that perhaps your parents shouldn’t have let you read.

Or at the very least, you remember the TV series? The one with the terrifying theme song featuring the man with the briefcase, that flies open and pages and pages fly out, one becoming the ominous and always recognisable “G” floating across an unsuspecting town, revealing the horrors in wait there.

If you do, you probably also remember being utterly terrified of them – of the PlantHuman hybrid living in the basement, of the scarecrow walking the fields at night, and especially of Slappy, the living ventriloquist doll.

Well, here’s some fantastic news; Goosebumps is back, and it’s taken the form of an interactive theatre experience under the streets of Waterloo inside The Vaults – and it’s awesome.

Goosebumps Alive opened April 6th 2016, and I was very lucky to be able to attend as a guest for the show. I was incredibly excited – I’ve been completely in love with the Goosebumps books since I was a child. They were the books that got me into reading and into the horror genre in general, and they’re a huge HUGE part of my childhood. So the thought of an interactive theatre experience based on those books was incredibly exciting to me.

Just a pointer – unless you know London super well, this is fairly difficult to find. I’ve lived here my whole life and yet ended up walking in a big circle around it – so I implore you to follow the instructions on the website, and maybe put some Google Maps in there too. (Though Google Maps does get confused and seems to think you’ve arrived when you’re actually around the corner from it.) The hint you’re getting close is a HUGE graffiti-ed tunnel – you’ll know it when you see it.

When you arrive, you’re greeted by very friendly staff who take your name, tickets and explain the next process for you – to please proceed to the waiting area, complete with gift shop, bar/food, toilets and a wall of masks from Ministry of Masks. This is your chance to grab a drink/food/potty break before the show, which you will need to do – you can’t stop or go to the toilets during the show, and it lasts for an hour and a half, so do take the chance to get that out of the way and be comfortable in the show!

You’ll also be handed a card with an animal on it – this animal will represent which group you’re part of and which tour guide you should follow. Each animal will get a different route, and different rooms – this is a good way to split out the massive groups as most of the rooms are really tiny, and it also means if you enjoyed one tour, you’ll most likely come back and try another. I got a Crow.

Then after a brief and wonderful introduction to the tour featuring the theme song and very sneaky actors, your tour will begin, and so will the reliving your childhood and the horrifying things these books inserted into those precious, impressionable years.

The tour is really great – the atmosphere of the show is absolutely wonderful. Everything is extremely creepy, but with a touch of playfulness that really captures the books. Some of the rooms are only a little creepy, while a couple absolutely nail it on the “Oh Jesus Christ No.” scale. There were a few rooms on my tour that stood out; I’ll try not to give too much away, but one involved being in a tiny dark tent with only one actor and her tiny lantern – the atmosphere was absolutely perfect, and the set and sounds combined so incredibly well to give the aura that you really are in a tent in the middle of no where.

Another personal favourite set, if just for the sheer imagination and ingenuity of it, involved two floors – one floor was the kitchen of a young couples home, and the other was the basement beneath. It was a really refreshing way to watch the show, and watch the events of this particular story unfold.

The costumes and set designs are absolutely out of this world. They’re all so intricately designed, and a tonne of work has gone into them – even the seemingly simple sets like the inside of a tent or an unnervingly average apartment room.

The acting is fantastic – they’re clearly enjoying themselves, playing up into their roles with a tonne of enthusiasm and eagerness. They make the loud, eccentric moments very boisterous, and the quiet, creepy moments incredibly intense. They’re obviously a huge, huge part of the show, and they all fit their characters beautifully.

I feel like some stories could have been a bit longer or more intense – a few had some missed potential or felt a little bit short here and there. For the majority though, I really enjoyed it.

Overall, Goosebumps Alive has a tonne of heart. You can tell it was created and executed by people who loved the books, who loved the shows and who just loved bringing all this to life. It’s an exceedingly fun night out, with jump-scares, imaginative sets and a lot of surprises. And, of course, the overwhelming, nightmare inducing nostalgia for the thrill and excitement of a good old tattered copy of a Goosebumps book.

Aly Visits Wizard World Con 2016

What happened what our resident vlogger Aly visited Wizard World Con 2016 ? Find out below!

The Flash SN2 EP15 – ‘ King Shark ‘

So it’s time once again for my review of The Flash and in this weeks episode we see Barry struggle with what happened on Earth-2, the return of King Shark, guest appearances from Diggle and Lyla and we the identity of Zoom is finally revealed.

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So after Jay Garrick was killed at the end of the last episode we see the team looking visibly shaken by what was just at the beginning of the episode, Barry decides to concentrate on running around the city looking for other meta human threats while Caitlin struggles to come to terms with losing yet another love interest. Barry wants to go back to Earth-2 as he feels that he has left the whole planet at the mercy of Zoom now they have  closed all the portals. Dr Wells explains to Barry that it is impossible to go back as all the portals have now been closed and there is no way of reopening them.

We then go off to a secret Argus facility where is appears they have been holding King Shark prisoner in a large tank with a laser grid over the top of to stop him from escaping. He appears to have gone belly up so the guards decide to shut down the laser grid, cue the scene cutting to Lyla and Diggle arriving at the facility and we find out that Lyla has been promoted to the new head of Argus and has been tasked with cleaning up Wallers mess. The alarm sounds and the pair arrive to see all the guards dead and King Shark having a snack on them as he sees the Lyla and Diggle appear he makes a break for it and escapes.

Diggle and Lyla pay Barry and team a visit to advise them that King Shark has escaped from the Argus facility as it appears that Amanda Waller had captured him and were experimenting on him to see if they could use his genetic make up to make weapons. Barry is frustrated by this and is not going to wait around for King Shark to find him and that he is going to take the fight to him instead. Barry, Diggle, Lyla and the Argus team take off to track him down by searching the nearest bodies of water next to Central City. The group eventually find him but are unable to capture him and he makes a meal out of another two Argus agents.

During the episode we see Dr Wells warn Barry and Cisco that they must not tell the others about there Earth-2 counter parts, the pair agree to not tell them anything but we see Caitlin’s attitude change towards people. Cisco begins to worry that she is becoming exactly like Killer Frost after she the pair pay King Sharks Earth-1 wife and Caitlin becomes inpatient after they ask for a look at her research. She also snaps at Cisco later on for trying to help her go through the research and find a way to track King Sharks movements.

We also see some issues arise between Barry and Wally during a family game night at the West household, Wally beats Barry’s cup stacking record and makes the claim that no-one is faster than him. Barry is offered the chance to regain his title but he doesn’t seem interesting in having fun with the rest of the West family, Wally seems to be a bit put out by this and decides to head off as he has plans. Joe and Iris pick up on something not being right but there unable to get it out of Barry at this point in time. Joe later arranges for Barry and Wally to meet up at the house to help Wally with his project to get into a engineering college programme, Barry reluctantly agrees to come along and help him out as he knows he needs to take his mind off King Shark.

The pair meet up and at first it takes them sometime to warm up to each other as Barry goes straight into nerd mode and starts telling Wally where he needs to improve his engine designs and Wally states that he asked for his help and not for him to do the work for him. The pair then get down to work and seem to be working well together until Barry gets ahead of his self again and states to Wally that he is trying to help and doesn’t want the college to have a reason to say no to him. Wally takes offence to this and goes to storm out Barry goes after him to ask what his problem is only for Wally to tell him that he has had enough of hearing how amazing and perfect Barry is from Joe and Iris. Just as the pair are arguing King Shark arrives by tearing the roof of the house looking for The Flash as he can smell that he is there. Barry makes sure that Wally is not looking and rushes outside to confront Killer Shark, the fight is short lived with Barry being thrown against a car but before King Shark can finish the job Argus arrive on the scene and scare him off.

Barry arrives back in the house as the West’s are tidying up the mess and Wally turns to Barry and asks if he has been hiding under his bed he had heard he was meant to be this amazing person and he didn’t take him for a coward this causes Joe to snap at Wally before he leaves the house looking annoyed that his father has taken Barry’s side. Barry tries to defend Wally but Iris and Joe know there is something else wrong with him, Barry comes clean and tells him all about there Earth-2 counter parts and what happened to Joe and that even though it was not his Joe that died it was still just as painful. Barry also admits that he feels like it is his fault that Jay was killed due to him being the one who opened the breaches, Joe and Iris advise him that it is not his fault and that he needs to move past this if he is ever going to be happy.

We go back to Star labs and Cisco confronts Caitlin about her behaviour and accidentally lets slip that she is acting like she was over there. Caitlin manages to get out of Cisco about meeting her Earth-2 counter park and what she was like and is a little shocked to think Cisco would think she could turn into that sort of person and that she just needs time to get over losing Jay. Eventually Caitlin manages to find out that King Shark uses Barry’s electric charge in order to track him giving the group the idea to reverse this process to track him instead. Barry, Caitlin, Diggle, Lyla and the Argus team head off to the river to try and lure King Shark out with a decoy of Barry giving out an electric pulse.

King Shark takes the bait but the tranquillisers that Cisco has planted in the decoy have had not effect and he ends up on land and it appears that bullets don’t do any good against him so Barry takes off over the water and King Shark gives chase. Barry uses his electric charge to send shocks through the water harming King Shark before sprinting around in a whirlwind and eventually hitting him with his now trademark lightening bolt rendering him unconscious. Argus reel him in and place in him an impenetrable holding cell so that he can be transferred back to the facility, Lyla promises Barry that they won’t be experimenting on him like Waller was. We also see Diggle give Barry some advice as he has noticed that Barry has been struggling and it’s around how to losing people that are close to you and using his experience of when he was in Afghanistan and lost his friends.

We see Caitlin catch Cisco out by touching her with her cold hands and when he calls he Caitlin she asks why she is calling her that and she hates that name before laughing at him, Cisco obviously doesn’t find it very funny but is glad to see her a bit happier.

At the end of the episode we see Barry call everyone together and advise them that he is not ready to give up on Jay and that they will find a way to get back to Earth-2 and also that he plans on stopping Zoom once and for all when he gets there revealing Jay’s helmet in a case to honour his memory. We see a cut scene to Earth-2 and Zoom holding the body of Jay he drops him on the floor and the prisoner with the metal mask looks distraught, we then finally see Zoom remove his mask only to reveal the face of Jay Garrick and says “Well this is a complication”.

As always for all your Scarlett speedster needs stick with Deadpool_1984 only on skatronixxx.com you can also follow me on Twitter @deadpool_1984

 

 

Anime Mystery Figure, Pocky Tasting & Bean Boozled Challenge!

What’s our resident vlogger Aly up to in the latest video? Find out below!

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow SN1 EP9 – ‘ Left Behind ‘

Welcome back!  Today I am reviewing Legends of Tomorrow SN1 EP9 – ‘Left Behind’.  In this episode, there is a surprise return of a cast member, and an appearance by  Ra’s al Ghul, reprised by Matt Nable.

It is the year 1958, and Sara, Ray and Kendra have been left standing in a field outside of Harmony, Oregon, unaware that Chronos has broken into the Waverider.  They are not sure of what to do. Ray’s Eagle Scout training dictates that they should stay put, but Sara’s League training says they need to keep moving.  Time passes.  Sara wins, because they don’t know where Vandal Savage currently is. They don’t know why the Waverider left, but can only assume that something bad has happened.

They appropriate a car (ah, the joys of a misspent youth, Sara) and go to Hub City where they rent an apartment.  So what do you do when you are stranded in 1958?  Linear time dictates that you move forward, of course.  Ray busies himself building a time beacon, and becomes a college physics professor, Kendra becomes a librarian,  because there really isn’t much in the way of employment opportunites for women in the late 50’s and angst ridden Sara leaves to find someplace where she can belong.

Plus there is the whole awkward third wheel dynamic going on, since Ray and Kendra are developing their relationship.  And time passes.  It is now the year 1960, and Ray is teaching Bill Gates’ father, who sees the potential for miniaturization in Ray’s theories.  After class, Ray and Kendra are picnicking in the park.  It is the anniversary of the Waverider’s disappearance.  Ray has finally given up on ever being rescued, and is about to ask Kendra to marry him with a terrific proposal speech, when the time beacon activates, and the Waverider appears.

Rip opens the door and says sorry they are late.  Understatement of the year!  Kendra gets on the ship, seemingly without a regret or a care for life over the past two years.  Ray is bewildered and hurt, sensitive guy that he is.  Oh, that adorable whipped puppy face!  I would just love to SQUEEZE it!

So where and when was the Waverider? And what exactly were Rip, Leonard, Martin and Jax doing?  For them time has not passed, since they have been outside of time struggling to wrest control of the Waverider from Chronos.  Chronos has fought them off the bridge.  Rip sends Martin and Jax to the jumpship, while he and Len go back to the bridge to stop Chronos.  Martin and Jax hear the resulting carnage, and so Martin decides that danger to the Waverider be damned, they have to merge to save their friends.

Firestorm burns through the bridge door to find Rip lying on the floor unconscious.  There is no sign of Chronos or Len.  Gideon informs them that Chronos has taken both Len and the jumpship.   Excuse me?  And here we thought Rip was the intended target.  Rip realizes that Gideon can’t get control of the Waverider, and must be rebooted.  Rough ride!  Gideon is then able to lock onto Ray’s time beacon signal and voila!  Ray and Kendra are recovered.  Ray has to go back to the apartment to pick up the Atom suit, and is devastated when Kendra tells him that she doesn’t want any of their ‘old junk’ from the apartment where they lived just that morning.

Now to recover Sara.  During a conversation between Ray and Kendra, where Ray persistently misunderstands Kendra’s feelings, Kendra realizes that Sara has probably gone to the one place she always felt she belonged, Nanda Parbat.  It turns out very conveniently that Rip’s graduate thesis for the Academy was on the League, which gives him a fairly in depth knowledge.

Gideon pulls up the Shadow Log, and they discover that Sara has joined (rejoined??) the League in 1958.  The team travels to Nanda Parbat, 1960.  Leaving the rest of the team to guard the entrance, Rip enters Nanda Parbat to find Sara.  She raises the alarm, which results in all of them being captured and imprisoned, to await execution for trespassing.  And of course, Sara has relieved Ray of his suit, and has instructed the guards to keep Martin and Jax separated.  Rip thinks that Sara is suffering from time drift, which essentially means that she has spent so much time in this alien time line that she has lost touch with her former life.

Kendra realizes that this is probably why her powers have gone dormant.  Ray wonders why she hadn’t told him that.  Rip demands an audience with Ra’s al Ghul, intending to avoid execution by demanding trial by combat.  Ra’s chooses Sara to be his champion, since she is important to Rip and the team.  Ray volunteers, but Rip chooses Kendra, over Ray’s objections. Kendra knows why, and tells Ray she’s got this.  Sara and Kendra battle with swords,  Kendra recovers her wings and reaches Sara by reminding her that she is White Canary.  Chronos blasts his way into Nanda Parbat.

So why did Chronos take Len instead of Rip?  On the jumpship, a handcuffed-to-the-railing Len wants the answer to that very question.  Chronos tells him that he should have figured it out already, since Chronos is supposed to be the dumb one.  He takes his helmet off to reveal Mick Rory.

Mick tells him he should have killed him.  Len says that he was always coming back for him.  Mick notes that he took too long.  When the Time Masters found him, he was nearly out of his mind and becoming more animalistic, surviving by eating rats.  YUCKKK!!  The Time Masters had taken him to the Vanishing Point, restored him to mental and physical health, trained him and given him the chance to become Chronos, which he had jumped at.    Len wonders why he hasn’t killed him yet, so Mick tells him vengeance is a much better fit for him than arson.

He plans to get his vengeance by going back in time to kill Len’s sister Lisa in front of Len , over and over again.  Thankfully the jumpship interrupts, telling Mick that Waverider has landed at Nanda Parbat in 1960, which puts him back on task as Chronos.   Once Chronos has left the jumpship, Len manages to free himself in a particularly gruesome method.  He works his way to his cold gun, freezes his hand and smashes it on the floor (OWWW), thereby getting out of the handcuffs.

Inside Nanda Parbat, Chronos is wreaking  havoc on the Assassins.  Rip, with Sara’s help, convinces Ra’s that the only way to defeat Chronos is to release them. A firefight ensues.  Firestorm and Atom are instrumental in taking Chronos down.  Atom is about to end Chronos when Snart staggers in and stops him.  The team are understandably shocked to learn that Chronos is Mick.

They put him in the Waverider’s brig for safe keeping.  Ra’s now understands why Sara had done so well in her training over the past two years.  He tells Sara that there is no place within the league for someone who is conflicted between her ability to kill and her desire to show compassion, and releases her to reclaim her past life and name.  Sara asks him to make certain to send his daughter to the coast of the island of Lian Yu in October of 2008. He is curious as to why he would send Talia, so Sara tells him that it will be his as yet unborn daughter, whom she is pretty sure he will name Nyssa.  

The team demands an explanation from Leonard. Len points out that he never actually said that he had killed Mick, but that he didn’t have to try too hard to let them think he had.  Rip sees this as a unique opportunity to reform Rory.  Kendra objects because he killed her son.  Martin points out that Chronos killed her son, but Rory was fighting on their side that day.

Sara points out that she knows about being trained by an organization to kill, and that she needs to know for her own sake that Rory can be reached.  Martin says that the Time Masters took one of their own and turned him against them.  He wants to undo their handiwork.  Ray remembers that Mick saved his life in the gulag, and feels that he is more than a criminal and arsonist.  Jax agrees that Mick is a member of the team, but Len thinks he is a lost cause. Rip says that miracles abound on the timeship.

In the medlab, we see one of these miracles occur. Rip has Gideon regenerate Len’s hand using genetic samples that he took from each team member at the beginning of the journey for exactly this purpose.  Meanwhile, in Ray’s quarters, he is looking at the ring he bought for Kendra, which he then hides as Kendra enters.  Ray is still misunderstanding Kendra’s point of view, but she finally clears up his confusion by telling him that it was just being stuck in the 1950’s that she wasn’t happy with.  For the first time in centuries, she is able to choose who she is with, and she chooses him.

Rip tells the team that they now need to go to 2147, mere decades before Savage conquers the world.  The team is confused, because they were told that Savage had disappeared from history.  Rip says that he has always known that Savage could be found in 2147. They have not gone there yet because that time is fraught with more peril than he was willing to risk, but now they have no choice.  They must stop Savage in 2147 or die trying.

My Favorite Moments:

Call me sentimental, but I just KNEW that Len could not possibly have killed his long time partner, protector and friend, Mick.

Ray is just so darn cute with that disappointed, bewildered look on his face.  For a smart man though, he really isn’t very bright when it comes to figuring out women, lol.

Jax’s unexpected but totally cool KO of the sentry at Nanda Parbat.

Ra’s has a heart!  Who knew?

 

 

 

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow SN1 EP8 – ‘ Night Of The Hawk ‘

In Episode 8 – Night of the Hawk – we are back to hunting Vandal Savage who is trying to build an army of Hawk-like creatures, and we experience the small mindedness and prejudices of the 1950’s.

The Waverider lands in Harmony Falls, Oregon in 1958, where a hot rod race is taking place on a deserted road.  One of the rods blows a tire and crashes, leaving the driver’s girlfriend semi conscious.  The driver of the crashed rod and the pair from the other car see a mysteriously glowing rock a few yards a way from the crash and examine it, wondering if it is some kind of comet.   Vandal Savage appears from the undergrowth, and tells them it is actually a meteorite that he too was drawn to.  He says that he was not expecting to find them, but that he considers finding them to be destiny.

On the Waverider, everyone is shaking off the effects of time travel, which apparently increase with the length of each jaunt.  Gideon produces the information that Harmony Falls has been the scene of some grisly murders while other people have gone missing.

They quickly set plans to find Savage.  Kendra and Ray are to pose as married, Martin will be a Doctor filling a vacancy at the Asylum created by the untimely death of Dr. Miller, Sara will be a nurse and assistant to Martin.  Leonard and Rip will be federal agents, and Jax will be the new kid in town.

Problem is Kendra and Ray are an interracial couple,  Jax is black, and Sara is gay, none of which, is ideal for Small Town, let alone anywhere in the 1950’s. This becomes apparent when Kendra and Ray are talking to the real estate agent about a house, and she offers to find them a place in a more forward thinking town.  While Martin and Sara are being welcomed to their new positions, the Head of the Asylum, Dr. Hannah (Ben Wilkinson) leers at Sara.  Snart and Rip  introduce themselves to Sheriff Ellison ( Darryl Shuttleworth) to examine police files relating to the case.  Sheriff Ellison insists that there is no serial killer, just some unexplained accidents. Snart tough talks him into giving them the files.

Sara, Martin and Jax meet at the local soda shop where Martin waxes nostalgic about the idyllic scene they find themselves in.  Jax points out that it is only idyllic if you are white, and Sara adds “and straight, and a man”.  Martin gets the point.  They notice that the girl from the crash, Betty Seaver (Melissa Roxborough), is sitting by herself in a melancholy state at the counter.  Jax introduces himself, causing shock from other girls sitting at the counter.  Betty apologizes for them, saying that they had never seen…., and Jax interrupts with “a guy dipping his french fries in his milkshake?”.  Betty laughs and they chat until some jocks try to intimidate Jax by telling Betty that she doesn’t hang around with losers.  Jax offers to fight, and they back down, telling Jax that it isn’t over as the soda shop owner shakes his head at them.  Betty invites Jax to hang out.

Back at the Asylum, while Sara is tracking down files of violent patients for Martin, she sees Dr Hannah sexually harassing Nurse Carlisle (Ali Liebert).  She bumps into him causing his coffee to spill on him.  Sara asks Nurse Carlisle for a tour, during which Sara sees a wing that Nurse Carlisle is not taking her to and asks about it.  This mysterious wing is Hall H, and is where Dr. Knox works with the most violent of the inmates.

At Kendra and Ray’s house, a neighbor has come by with a tuna casserole and an invite to their house party.  The neighbour introduces herself as Mrs. Knox, and her husband as Dr. Knox.  As Dr. Knox comes into view, Kendra is shocked to see that he is Vandal Savage, but manages to cover up.  Ray comes to the door to see who Kendra is talking to, and is also shocked, but covers up in a stumbling tongue-tied way.  They accept the invite.

The team meets at the Waverider to analyze the police files.  Snart observes that Savage is very good at making people disappear.  Jax snarks “something you have in common”.  Jax is forced to admit his concern that if Leonard had no problem making his best friend disappear what would he do to the rest of them?  They decide that since Savage will be busy with the party, it will be a good opportunity for Sara to search his office.  Kendra and Ray are tasked with finding out whatever they can at the house party.

Nurse Carlisle catches Sara searching Knox’s office, and wrongly assumes that she is looking for booze.  They go to the cafeteria together, where Sara lets her know that she is gay too.  Alarm bells start going off in the Asylum in Hall H.

Kendra and Ray enter the house party, where Kendra is mistaken for a waitress by one of the guests.  Ray and Kendra split up, with Kendra keeping Savage busy, while Ray checks the rest of the house.  He finds a locked room.  Savage puts moves on Kendra until he is called back to the Asylum, but promises her that they will talk more.

It seems that Tommy Fuller (Levi Meaden) has been a very bad transformed monster.  He has killed an orderly.  Savage is not pleased.

The next day, Carlisle works up the nerve to kiss Sara, but Sara pulls away and rushes out.  She later confesses to Martin that it terrified her, because it opened up previously dead feelings.

Kendra stands guard while Ray breaks into Savage’s locked room.  The search produces Kendra’s dagger.

Jax and Betty hang out on Lover’s Lane, in her Dad’s car.  Jax wants to talk about the disappearances and what happened to Tommy the night of the crash, but Betty wants to make out with him. The jocks from the soda shop show up, wanting to fight. Suddenly Tommy appears and knocks the stuffing out of the jocks, destroys the roof of the car and slashes Betty’s neck with a talon.

Jax jumps back into the drivers seat and tries to get Betty to medical attention at the ship, leaving the wounded jocks behind.   He is pulled over by Sheriff Ellison for speeding, who pays no attention to the wounded Betty, or to Jax’s story about the attack and other victims needing help, focusing instead on Jax being on Lovers Lane with a white girl.  He knocks Jax out and drags him to the cruiser, leaving Betty to bleed out in the car.  Luckily, Snart and Rip have been tracking Jax through his bio signature and find Betty in time get her to the medical bay on the ship.

Betty tells them what happened the night of the crash. Gideon finds silicate materials in her bloodstream which brings them to the conclusion that the meteorite Savage found is the same type of meteorite that transformed Kendra and Carter, and that Savage is trying to create an army of mutated versions of Hawkgirl.  Gideon and Martin build a serum that will hopefully cure anyone transformed by this particular meteorite.

Kendra meets with Savage at the asylum, in hope of getting close enough to him to use the dagger.  However, Savage turns the tables on her, and reclaims the dagger.  Savage doesn’t buy that she is there alone, and pushes a button to release his army. Kendra and Savage battle for the dagger. Meanwhile, the rest of the team have infiltrated the Asylum.  Rip and Ray are caught snooping by Sheriff Ellison who works with Savage, and Martin and Snart are checking out Hall H when the test subjects are released.

Sara has been making amends to Carlisle when they are interrupted by one of the nasties.  Sara gets medieval on its ass, Ray and Rip get away from the Sheriff, and Ray rescues Kendra from Savage, who disappears.  A transformed Jax appears in Hall H, where Snart is busily stopping the other nasties with his cold gun.  He fires at an overhanging pipe to disorient Jax, and Sara arrives in time to knock Jax out.

Back at the ship, the serum is administered to Jax, curing him. The team returns the others to normal. Sara goes back to the Asylum to say goodbye to Carlisle, Jax gives Betty  a new car, and Kendra and Ray pack up the house. Back at the Waverider Jax apologizes to Leonard.   Chronos attacks and gains entry to the Waverider, and episode ends as the ship pulls away, leaving Sara, Kendra and Ray standing in the field.

My Favorite Moments:

Martin’s realization that back in the day really wasn’t the ideal that he remembered

Sara spilling coffee on Dr. Hannah, stopping the harassment of Nurse Carlisle

Jax dunking his french fries as a way out of a potentially awkward line of conversation

Jax’s apology to Leonard, and his acceptance of Leonard as a team member

Martin praising Leonard for his restraint and quick thinking

 

DC’s Legends of Tomorrow SN1 EP7 – ‘ Marooned ‘

In Episode 7 – Marooned – Dr Stein fulfills his childhood dream of being an heroic space ranger, and we meet another Time-Master.

Gideon needs an upgrade, because his database is out of date.  He has run out of clues as to where Savage might be found next.  In the normal course of events, this upgrade would happen automatically whenever the Waverider returned to home base.  Gideon receives a distress call from another Time-Ship in the vicinity, the Acheron.  The team points out to Rip that it is too coincidental to be anything other than a trap, but our fearless leader insists that this is the only way that Gideon can get his upgrade, and so they rush to the rescue.

Upon boarding the Acheron, Rip, Jax and Mick are captured by ‘Captain’ Valor (Callum Keith Rennie) and his crew, who Rip realizes are space pirates.  Acheron’s time drive has been destroyed per Time-Master protocol, and Valor wants the Waverider.  Rip tries to defuse the situation, claiming they are all on the same side for once because of the danger posed by Savage.

Valor doesn’t give two rips for the danger, and sends a message to Ray at the Waverider’s helm demanding that he allow the pirates to board and take the Waverider over.  Rip slips a codeword in which executes one of Gideon’s emergency protocols, causing the Waverider to fire a shot and take evasive action.  Valor orders pursuit and fires a shot in return, blowing a hole in the Waverider’s hull. Valor then warns Ray that he has 10 seconds to comply or he starts shooting prisoners.

Rip manages to slip another codeword in to deactivate the holographic Waverider that Acheron has been chasing, but now Valor catches on and throws the three into the brig.  Sara and Len try to fix the breach,  but Captain Cold’s gun runs out of steam before it can be completely sealed, causing the bulkhead doors to close which traps them inside the engine room.

Atom dons his suit and goes outside to finish sealing the breach.  While Sara and Len are slowly freezing to death in the engine room, Sara tells Len that there is no way that Rory will ever return from the dark, but Len reminisces about meeting Rory in juvie, where Rory first saved him and says that Rory has had his back ever since.

Len gets existential and wants Sara to tell him from her unique perspective what it is like to die. Meanwhile, Professor Stein has realized that something is up and leaves the jumpship to find and disarm the Acheron’s targeting system and weapons array . Sneaking through the Acheron, and managing to avoid all but one of the pirates,  he does just that, and then goes on to release Rip, Jax and the oh so judgmental Time-Master Captain Eve Baxter (Stephanie Cleough) .

Rory has already been released from the brig because he wants to make a deal with the pirates.  Rip has told him that he was never part of the plan, and that he was only along because he and Snart were a package deal.  Awwww, Rip hurt his widdle feewings. Rory’s deal with the pirates includes being taken back to the moment of meeting Rip, so that he can tell him to shove the mission, thereby getting his partner Leonard back.

Rory and some of the pirates take the jumpship back to the Waverider, where Atom has succeeded in sealing the breach, nearly killing himself in the process, but releasing Snart and Sara from the engine room.  As the pirates follow Rory onto the Waverider, Snart realizes that it is time to choose a side, and fires at Rory, while Atom, Sara and Kendra take on the rest of the pirates.

Back on the Acheron, Rip has come up with a plan to rid themselves of Valor and the remaining pirates.  His plan is based on his memory of a training simulation where his illicit girlfriend uses explosive decompression to great effect.  After a rip-snorting fight with Valor and just in the nick of time, Rip shoots Valor and opens the hull doors, sucking the remaining pirates out into space.  Captain Baxter is grateful, (and now considerably less judgmental) and gives Rip the update that Gideon needs before returning to the Vanishing Point.

Back on the Waverider, the team has a discussion about Rory’s fate.  His betrayal was not part of any larger plan, which means they are not able to trust him again.  The brig is not built for long term incarceration. They can’t release him in 2016 because the team has too much family there, so what to do?  Leonard makes the clearly difficult decision that he needs to take care of it.

The Waverider lands somewhere, somewhen; Leonard takes Mick outside.  Mick realizes that this is the end for their partnership, and quite probably for him.  He wants to know what happened to Snart, the punk kid he saved in Juvie, and the partner he has had since.  He says that only one of them can leave this spot alive.  Leonard agrees and shoots him with the cold gun.

My Favorite Moments:

Rip’s facility to baffle ’em with BS. “You don’t know my crew, iron-willed and battle-hardened.  The most formidable warriors to navigate time and space.”

How Rip’s girlfriend became his wife, when the Time-Masters expressly forbid relationships.

Rip telling Captain Baxter that he doesn’t regret betraying his oath to the Time Council, because he is following a higher calling.

Stein on being a space ranger:  “I’ll teach you to mess with a nuclear physicist”

The kiss – Kendra and Ray FINALLY !

The entire conversation between Sara and Len while they are trapped in the engine room, where Sara admits that at least if they die they won’t die alone, followed by Len knocking Mick out to save Sara, all of which points towards the potential for a romantic relationship between the two.

Stay tuned for my reviews of Episode 8 & 9, and remember to follow skatronixxx.com!

A Recap Of DC’s ‘Legends of Tomorrow’ First Six Episodes

Hi All!  I’m the new reviewer for Legends of Tomorrow, the newest addition to DC’s universe.  As the show has not yet been reviewed at Skatronnixx.com since @mitch_rated wrote about it coming to Sky1 in Britain, I thought I would start with a catch-up of the story from pilot to episode 6.  But first, the credits.

Legends debuted on The CW on January 21, 2016, in Canada also on CTV and airs on Thursdays.  It was renewed for a second season on March 11.

The Characters:

Rip Hunter – Arthur Darvill

Atom – Brandon Routh

Firestorm (the brains)/Professor Martin Stein – Victor Garber

Firestorm (the brawn)/Jefferson Jackson – Franz Drameh

White Canary/Sara Lance – Caity Lotz

Hawkman/Khufu/Carter Hall – Falk Henschel

Hawkgirl/Chay-Ara/Kendra Saunders – Ciara Renée

Captain Cold/ Leonard Snart – Wentworth Miller

Heatwave/Mick Rory/Chronos- Dominic Purcell

Gideon – WaveRider’s AI voiced by Amy Pemberton

Vandal Savage/Hath-Set – Casper Crump

The Story So Far:

In the first episode, we meet Rip Hunter, Time-Master and Captain of the timeship Waverider, in the year 2166.  The world has been basically laid waste to by the immortal baddie, Vandal Savage.  Rip,  a flawed Time-Master, wants to go back in time to stop Savage before he gets started: in effect to re-write the future.

Having had a personal run-in with Savage, he knows that he can’t go it alone.  He presents his plan to the Time-Council, and it goes pretty much as expected, a big fat NO. He and Gideon get the hay out of Dodge and go back in time anyway to collect a team to help him.

The Waverider lands in Star City, in the Arrowverse, where all of his potential crew are currently in the middle of their own battles.  Now Rip doesn’t much believe in explaining himself more than once, so he collects each member by zapping them with his space ray gun just as each of them triumph in their missions.

When they wake up he tells them who he is,  what his mission is, and indulges in some ego stroking to get them to agree to join him.  Some of the members don’t want to go, notably Rory, Jax and HawkGirl.  Professor Stein hijacks Jax by means of drugging and kidnapping, because after all, heroes – nay, Legends – are required and Stein alone cannot be a hero, Snart convinces Rory by pointing out that they can steal the most valuable treasures in history, and Hawkman and Hawkgirl settle it like warriors.

The team assembles, and leaves 2016 to track down their first lead, Professor Boardman in 1975.  Meanwhile, the bounty hunter Chronos arrives in Star City and informs his employers that he is closing in on Rip.  Professor Boardman turns out to be not only an expert on Vandal Savage, but is also Kendra and Carter’s son from their just previous lives.  Although he dies because of a stray bullet in a firefight between our heroes and Chronos, he provides them with their next clue contained within his journal.  And now the truth begins to emerge.

Rip tells them that he has quit the Time-Masters because they did nothing about Savage killing his wife and child, but that he has not lied about the rest of it.  He has allowed them to think that they are heroes in their futures, but that he took them because they are actually insignificant to the time-line.

They want to make their own fates, so they all agree to continue with the mission.  In succeeding episodes, they romp through the time-line in hot pursuit of Vandal Savage, while being chased themselves by Chronos.  Along the way, they lose and recover a piece of the Atom’s suit, stop Savage from selling a nuke – cameo by Damien Darhk (Neil McDonogh), discover the one weapon that can end Savage forever, get Hawkman killed, nearly lose Kendra and are captured by the Russians who are trying to build their own Firestorm.

And we get a little of Snart’s history, when he tries to change his father’s fate.  In  episode 6 they travel to a ravaged Star City in 2046 where they talk Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell) out of retirement to join Diggle’s son Connor Hawke (Joseph David-Jones) who has taken up the Green Arrow mantle.  DeathStroke (Jamie Andrew Cutler) makes a cameo appearance.  Captain Cold and Heatwave have a “difference of opinion” when Heatwave realizes that he is losing Captain Cold to the team and wants to stay in 2046.

My Favorite Moments:

Pretty much anytime Snart opens his mouth.  What comes out is always humorously dry, witty and sarcastic, and I am really enjoying this character’s development.

Jax tells Professor Stein that he thinks Stein still has plenty of adventure left in him, and that he wants to be part of the team because in his high school football days, when he felt safest was when his teammates were looking out for him.

Rip’s memories.  They make him who he is – a “flawed” but very human time master- and are the driving force behind his self imposed mission to end Savage.

My reviews of Episodes 7, 8 and 9 will be coming at you in the next couple of days.  Stay tuned and don’t forget to follow skatronixxx.com!