DC’s Legends Of Tomorrow SN1 EP10 – Progeny

Episode 10 ‘Progeny; examines the question “If you could go back in time and kill Hitler before he rose to power, should you?’

In the WaveRider  our heroes are faced with a similar dilemma in the year 2147, in the Conglomerate of Kasnia.  Their despot is young Per Degaton played by Cory Gruter-Andrew, who will in 5 years release the Armageddon Virus which provides the springboard Vandal Savage needs to achieve world domination. Once he has released the virus, Savage will kill him.

The episode opens with Rip apologizing to Mick for enlisting him under false pretenses and in denial of Mick’s true nature.  He confesses that he was the one that asked Leonard to deal with him, and that Mick’s quarrel should be with him, not Len.  Mick tells Rip he wants to kill them both.  Rip feels that he has failed Mick.  He mentions that they need Mick’s help, but what form that help will take is never really explained.

On the bridge, Rip explains that the only way to stop Savage in this time is to make Per Degaton useless to Savage.  Snart catches on very quickly that Rip is talking about killing a child, and offers to do it. The rest of the team are aghast at the thought.  Stein is especially eloquent, presenting the argument that if they do this, it makes them no better than Savage.   They decide that perhaps taking Per Degaton from the timeline will be enough to disrupt Savage’s plans. Ray notes that they have gone from killing to kidnapping, and dryly comments that this is progress.  Kendra must stay with the ship, as her presence could alert Savage that the team is about to interfere with his plans. The rest of the team leave the ship to scout the Conglomerate HQ. Ray is shocked to see that the Atom suit technology has been adapted to autonomous robots that are being used as the peacekeepers of the police state, and not in a good way. He needs to sabotage the robots, not wanting to be the Werner Von Braun of Robotics.

The team is split up into Team Kidnapping and Team Robot Sabotage.  Team Kidnapping consists of Rip, Sara and Len; Team Robot Sabotage is made up of Ray, Stein and Jax.

The conglomerate tracks and monitors all of its citizens through bio metrics.  Rip wears a pair of contacts that allows him to enter a shareholders only meeting at the Conglomerate headquarters. While in the meeting, he discovers that Savage is a shareholder who espouses culling the population outside of the Conglomerate’s borders.  Tor Degaton, (Matthew Harrison), Per Degaton’s father and the CEO of the conglomerate flatly refuses to consider this plan.

Rip covertly follows Savage and discovers that Savage is also Per Degaton’s tutor.  He overhears Savage telling Per Degaton that his father refuses to make the hard decisions. Per Degaton has the idea, actively fostered by Savage, that his father is weak.  Team Kidnapping decides where and how to kidnap Per.  When the child leaves HQ to go to his gymnastics lesson accompanied by a squad of  very Nazi looking bodyguards, Sara snipes the rear guard, which gives Rip the opportunity to disguise himself and join the squad.  Len hits the rest of the squad with his cold gun, and Rip grabs the child.  Surprisingly enough, the gunplay does not attract the attention of the peacekeeper robots.

Meanwhile Ray, Stein and Jax have met with Dr. Bryce, the head of the Robotics Department at Conglomerate HQ.  Dr. Bryce is played by Jewel Staite, the Canadian born actress (woot, woot!) whose previous works include The Killing, Firefly, Serenity, Supernatural and Warehouse 13.  Dr. Bryce is giving them a tour of the department when they round a corner and Ray discovers to his shock that her many greats grandfather, is not only the father of the autonomous robots, but is also a dead ringer for him.  Which leads him to the conclusion that he had a child that he didn’t know about when he left 2016.  They return to the ship, not having accomplished any sabotage.  Kendra senses that there is something wrong, but Ray is not ready to tell her about his descendants.

Kendra, having nothing else to do except stay on the ship, has been having flashbacks of her life with Carter and their son Aldus.  Specifically of an instance where they are having to move again because she has sensed that Savage was close.  These flashbacks serve to remind her that Carter is the only great love she has ever known, and make her feel that she is cheating on Carter with Ray.  She struggles with the question of whether to share these memories with Ray.  It occurred to me that this might be an opportune time for Carter to reappear and rejoin the team.

Per is sedated in the med bay.  Sara is watching him, and wonders out loud what genocidal maniacs would dream about. Gideon tells her.  Sara is surprised and chagrined to discover that Gideon can monitor their dreams. Rip asks Gideon if the kidnapping has had the desired effect on the future.  Unfortunately not as Savage will still rise to power.  Rip reconsiders Plan A.  Stein questions Rip as to whether he thought he would be able to look his son in the eyes if he carries out Plan A.  Jax suggests that just talking to Per might do the trick.

A troubled Sara goes to the brig to talk to Mick.  She tells him that they are considering killing a child to save the future.  She tells Mick that Len doesn’t think he can change, but she hopes that he can.  Mick observes that Len doesn’t really care one way or the other about him.  Sara tells him about the conversation she and Len had when they were trapped in the engine room and thought they were about to die.  She says that she thought he ought to know that Len is loyal to him.  As she leaves the brig, Mick tells her that killing a kid is not very heroic.

At the Conglomerate HQ, Tor Degaton is going over the video footage of the kidnapping. He remarks that for the past 50 years, everyone from the conglomerate has submitted bio samples so that they can be tracked and monitored, but that the three people who kidnapped him cannot be.  Savage tells him that this is because they are not from the conglomerate, or even from the last 50 years.  He knows that they will not kill Per Degaton because he knows them, and so he can get Per Degaton back.

Rip leaves the WaveRider in the jumpship, taking Per Degaton with him.  He turns the jumpship’s transponder off so that the team will be unable to stop him from doing what he feels he must do.

Kendra finally tells Ray about the flashbacks she has been having.  She says they are more than memories, they are feelings.  She feels like she is cheating on Carter.  Ray proves once more that he is her future with his understanding and that adorable puppy dog face. Ray tells Kendra it was his many times great granddaughter who created the robot army, which means that he had a child that he did not know about.

Sara advises Len that it is obvious to her that marooning Mick is weighing heavily on his mind, and that he should stop being an ass and go deal with it.

Rip and Per Degaton have landed at the river.  Rip tells Per that his son never got the chance to learn to swim, because he was killed by Savage.  Per Degaton asks Rip  if he is going to kill him.  Rip says he is not killing him but saving his son. Semantics!   But Per Degaton has been an apt pupil.  Savage has taught him what killers look like. He believes that Rip is weak like Tor Degaton, and is not a killer. Rip tells him that Savage will ultimately betray him.  Per will not believe this.  Rip goes on to say that his reticence to kill is not weakness, it is goodness. Since he has found that there are things he will not do to save his son, there is yet hope of a shred of goodness in Per Degaton.  He urges Per to become the man that his father wants him to be, not the man Savage wants him to be.

Kendra senses Savages’ presence outside the ship, just as the ship comes under fire.  Our heroes suit up and engage the enemy.  Ray unsuccessfully tries to draw the robots away.  Firestorm takes the robots on while Ray and Kendra head for the command centre at HQ.    Dr. Bryce  catches them in the act of trying to override the robots.  Ray tells her that he is her grandfather.  She is understandably surprised to find Sidney Palmer in her command centre.  Ray realizes that it was his “stupid” brother who allowed the tech to be perverted, and that he is not a father after all.  Kendra encourages Dr. Bryce to listen to her Palmer blood and do what is right.  She shuts the robots down.

At the fight scene, Savage has Sara at knifepoint.  HUH?  Okay then.  Rip proposes an exchange; Per Degaton for Sara and the safety of his team.  Per tells his father not to do it, but Tor Degaton pulls the knife away from Sara’s neck and agrees.

Len goes to the brig and tells Mick that people think they should have a heart to heart. Mick points out that they don’t have hearts so where does that leave them?  Len says that they each have reasons for killing the other, so the deal is he will open the cell, they will fight to the death and if Mick wins he can take the jumpship and go.  If he loses, he dies, which Mick decides is ultimately better than being locked up.  They have a bare knuckle fight in the cell which Mick handily wins, but cannot bring himself to finish Len off.

Savage tells Per Degaton the myth of Oedipus Rex, and gives Per his knife.   Per Degaton, now convinced that his father is weak beyond redemption, kills Tor Degaton in his sleep.

Gideon breaks the news to the team that nothing has been accomplished by this venture. In fact, the virus that was to be released in 5 years will now be released within days.  At an emergency shareholder’s meeting, Savage announces that he will be acting as Per Degaton’s proxy, and that population control will proceed.

Rip meanwhile is wondering if he did the right thing?  Gideon assures him that not killing is generally considered the right thing.

Mick tells the team that nothing matters now anyway.  The truth is that they are all dead, himself included.  He failed to bring them in, so now the Time-Masters have sent mercenaries after them.  They have even less humanity than Mick and they will not stop until the team has been wiped entirely from the face of history.

My Favorite Moments:

Professor Steins eloquent speech against killing Per Degaton.  Some days the man could sell ice to the Inuit!

Sara’s discomfiture at being told what her dream last night was about.  Naughty girl!

The fist fight between Mick and Len.  A good brawl always clears the air.

Ray understands Kendra’s position, but he will not give up them, even though the math is against him.  And that whipped puppy face!  Have I mentioned that I would just like to squeeze it?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Catch SN1 EP3 – ‘ The Trial ‘

In which Alice takes a trip. We find out Christopher‘s real name; from that point on, I will be referring to him by that name, wherever possible.  Christopher‘s new con proceeds with some twists, and Agent Dao is still after Alice to share information.  We meet Val‘s cheating and soon to be ex-husband Gordon (Alan Ruck) and his sister Susan (Amanda Foreman).

Christopher and his new mark, the Princess Zara, are enjoying a cocktail in the lounge, chatting like old friends, while Qasim and the bodyguards are keeping a close eye from the bar.  The Princess wants one last round, but Qasim tries to break it up, explaining that his job is to see to it that the Princess is not taken advantage of, all the while giving Christopher some serious stink eye.  The Princess orders the round anyway, and Christopher throws down one of his credit cards so as to not take advantage.  Qasim goes back to the bar, and the Princess insists on paying.

Sophie has been tracking the Micheal Thorne name and social security number and has found out that 3 credit cards have been opened in that name.  She calls Alice at home to tell her.  Now all they have to do is wait for activity on any of the cards.  Agent Dao is still camped outside of Alice’s house and is listening in. He has his contacts run the name for bank and card activity.

Gordon, Val’s husband and also a lawyer, shows up at the firm with a case.  The case involves his sister Susan who has MS. The normal medications for MS were not helping Susan, so she had signed up for a clinical trial sponsored by pharmaceutical company Medgenix.  She and 16 other participants had ended up in the ICU after taking the test drug, but Medgenix is claiming no fault because they all signed waivers.  Susan says she signed the waiver based on the claims that there were no adverse effects in the previous trial; and believes that Medgenix has misrepresented those results.  The firm takes the case on.

Meanwhile, the con is on.  Reggie poses as a real estate photographer, and shows up at the Brandeis Properties satellite office overlooking the construction of the Runyon Towers. One thing leads to another, and Reggie steams up the office windows by seducing the real estate agent, thereby getting her access card.

Later, in a conversation between Margot, Reggie and Christopher, Christopher warns that a man like Qasim will require much more detail to convince him.  Reggie thinks he is just jealous that he is not running point on this one.  Margot says neither of them are running point – she is, and tells Ben to stop micromanaging.  AHA!!!  Reggie insists that he is up on the details, so Ben gives him a fun fact to chew on.  Qasim, former Kuroq Major General, beheaded 18 dissidents last year while protecting the Royal Family.

Ben returns to his hotel room where he finds it trashed and Qasim and bodyguards waiting for him.  Qasim has checked up on Micheal Thorne.. He can’t find any record of him anywhere, including at the front desk, online or even in his own wallet, which only contains 3 suspiciously new credit cards. He threatens to find out who Micheal really is, and expose him.  He suggests that Micheal might want to disappear before Qasim sees to it himself.

Alice and Gordon speak after the meeting;  Gordon takes all the blame for his and Val’s breakup. He wants to know how Christopher is and says they should get together.  Alice remembers a dinner party when Susan had told them she was going for an interview at a new job.  Christopher said he would call the boss and tell him to hire her.

Alice’s team discusses how best to proceed with the case.  They decide they need to see the raw data collected by the head of the clinical trials, to compare it with the published data. Sophie and Danny attend a lecture on MS and the clinical trials given by Dr. Watkins (Derek Webster). During the lecture,  and thanks to some quick thinking by Danny, Sophie is able to hack the Doctor’s laptop and downloads the raw data.  It turns out that the raw data and the published data are exactly the same, which means that the drug batch  used in the second trial has possibly been tampered with.  Now they need to figure out who could possibly have tampered with it. Security is tight where the trial is going on, and the only way to get in to obtain a sample of the drug is for Alice to go undercover as a patient.

Sophie has received notice of activity on one of Micheal Thorne’s cards, and gives Alice the address.  Alice runs into Agent Dao on her way to the elevator. Dao wants to share the truth about Christopher Hall, who murdered someone.  That stops her in her tracks.  She sits down with Agent Dao to listen to his story.  It seems that during a previous con, a woman named Natalie was shot in the back on her way home from her job at a flower shop.  Christopher was a regular at that shop.  Dao had convinced Natalie to help him because he had a personal connection with her, so he too has a personal reason to catch Christopher.  The feds do not know this.  Alice considers.  She remembers Susan coming to the door with a bottle, announcing that she got the job.

Meanwhile, Ben is taking the Princess to see the investment property.  The con is being set up in the satellite office of Brandeis Properties, complete with people being brought in to play potential investors.  Ben is also playing the part of a potential investor.  They all listen to Reggie’s spiel, Ben asks questions, Margot turns to Qasim and wishes she could make that idiot go away.  She says that she will take the South Tower, and Qasim jumps in to speak for the other two towers, cutting Ben/Micheal out.

The Princess and Ben have another friendly conversation, during which it becomes apparent to Ben that Qasim is skimming.  The down was $5 million per tower, Qasim has told the Princess it is $8 million per tower.

This could be a way to get rid of Qasim and con the Princess further to pay off all their debts to their mysterious backer.  However, Ben can’t be the one to spill the beans, it has to be Margot.

Alice is at the clinical trial, and signs the waiver to get into the secure patient area.  Dr Watkins informs them that once they have received the drug, they will need crackers or cookies, and juice before they are allowed to leave.  Alice tries to get the drug prior to being hooked up to an IV, but fails.  The nurse hooks her up, Alice pinches the line so that she doesn’t get much of the drug. She receives another card activity alert from Sophie.  Once the nurse leaves, Alice unhooks herself from the IV, grabs the bag and tries to leave.  Dr Watkins catches her, and insists she have juice before leaving.  Outside the clinic, she passes the bag to Val and Danny, and takes off for the restaurant that the credit card has been flagged at.  Meanwhile, Agent Dao is in traffic when he receives the activity alert from his people.

While Alice is busy at the clinic, Ben and the Princess walk into the lobby of the Brandeis satellite office in time to overhear a distraught Margot on the phone, allegedly with her lawyer.  Margot tells them that the real estate agent who took their money doesn’t work for Brandeis Properties, the property company has never heard of him, and they are all out $5 million per tower.

The Princess summons Qasim to meet with her in the hotel lobby.  She confronts him with bank statements and contracts, and tells him he can explain his actions to her brothers when he gets back to Kuroq.  His services are no longer required, and her men will see him to his room.

Alice gets to the restaurant, and sees Ben with the Princess, having dinner at a window table.  She covertly takes pictures with her cell phone, but all is not right. She is experiencing MS like symptoms, complete with limbs not working properly, blurred vision and dizziness.  She drops her phone, but when she retrieves it, Ben has disappeared.  We find him in the bathroom, washing his hands when Qasim enters with a gun, telling him he will now confess to the Princess.  Ben and Qasim fight.  Margot busts in and shoots Qasim.  Reggie and Margot handle the cleanup, Ben needs to get the Princess out of the restaurant.  On the way back to the Princess, Ben sees Alice, and calls her on her phone.  He tells her to leave, it’s not safe in the restaurant.  She runs to the back of the restaurant, and slips in the blood trail left behind by Qasim’s body as Margot and Reggie drag him out to their car, which is parked in the alley.  Alice sees a body being loaded into the trunk of a car.  She rushes back to the front of the restaurant in time to see the Princess and Ben driving away.  She loses consciousness and falls to the ground.  Agent Dao catches her before she hits. When Alice is feeling better, and they are talking- WHY wasn’t she taken to a hospital? – she decides it may be time to compare notes.

Cut to Margot, Ben and Reggie.  Reggie is packing to go to Mexico under the name of Qasim Halabi, wondering how his part of the con could have ended with him burying his mark’s body and having to leave the country.  Using Qasim’s credentials will make the Royal Family think that Qasim has run, diverting attention from their con.

At the firm of Alice and Company, the test results of the IV bag show that it is completely clean, no drugs, no toxic substances.  Alice realizes that the substance she was drugged with had to be in the juice.  They get the police involved, and the samples of the juice turn out to have been doctored with Belladonna, which in small doses will mimic the symptoms of MS.  This means that Dr. Watkins tanked his own trials, because the drug wasn’t working.  Susan and the 16 other participants have a case for a class action suit.

Val excuses herself, not having looked at or talked to Gordon throughout the whole case.  Gordon gives Alice the divorce papers, signed.  And tells her that he will assign an associate to work with them in the future.  Alice gives the papers to Val.  Val is upset, and Alice asks her if this is really what she wants.  Val wonders how she could even wonder after what Christopher has done to her.  Alice says that she needs to believe love is possible especially after what Christopher has done.

Later that night, Alice is in bed, looking at couples pictures of her and Christopher. Ben is in bed looking at couples pictures of them as well.  He calls her to ask if she is alright.  She wants to know who he is, but he tells her she knows who he is. She asks him if he killed Natalie. He tells her not to trust Dao.   She wants to know why he got Susan the job.  He begs her not to come looking for him for her own safety.  She says she won’t.  They hang up, and then she adds that she won’t come looking because she has already found him.

My Favorite Moments:

Surprisingly, my favorite moment this week was all Margot.  This is a character that I would have liked to get to know more about.

That’s it.  That is the only favorite moment I have.  Although this show has so much potential, it just isn’t living up to it, and I am disappointed. There are too many characters running around doing too much stuff that is absolutely not important, and are nothing more than distractions. Regular characters should be developing each and every episode. For instance, Val as partner, going through her own marital difficulties should be more than a by the way type of character. The Danny character also feels totally wasted, in this episode especially.  I had hoped that this episode would change my mind from last week, but it has not.  I will most likely watch it through to the end of season, but I will not continue to review it. There are too many other shows out there that I would rather spend the time on.

Thanks for reading!  And if you enjoy The Catch, it airs on Thursdays.

Bates Motel SN4 EP5 – ‘ Refraction ‘

It’s that time of the week again, but I swear the weeks are getting longer waiting for “Bates Day” to roll around how about you guys? You can never have too much Bates. So let’s do a quick recap of episode 4 before we kick off “Refraction”.

‘Lights of Winter’ SN4 EP4

Norman has an adventure with his new friend Julian to a strip club. Norma get her first real taste of happiness at the White Pine Bay annual winter festival, and Romero finds himself in an awkward situation. Dylan finds himself caught between two families, when Emma asks him to move to Seattle with her and her dad.

‘Refraction’ SN4 EP5

Norma doesn’t understand why or who would break in and trash her home and her favorite stained glass window, she has kept a pretty low profile and believes she hasn’t pissed anyone off lately and thinks it could possibly be Bob Paris’s doing, Romero reassures Norma its wasn’t Paris’s doing but someone in the drug trade that has it in for him. Norma heads into town to find someone who can fix her favorite stained glass windows and is being followed by a brown car but who could it be? The beat up brown car belongs to Chick who follows Norma into the hardware store where he hears she needs a window fixed and now also has her address.
Norman realises after the adventure he and Julian had, that he indeed needs help and perhaps he is in the right place for that after all, he seems more willing in therapy now, but I can’t help thinking he is just playing the game to be released sooner or is that just me being overly suspicious? Norman tells Dr Edwards that he and his mother have close bond, he goes on to explain why their bond is so close but you can see Dr Edwards is suspicious and is starting to realize that Norman’s problem is actually his mother, with the session over Norman asks to make a call to his sick friend Emma but instead he calls mummy dearest but little does he know all calls are monitored and numbers checked. Dr Edwards receives a call back from the police regarding Norman’s accusations about Norma are unfounded and have not found any evidence supporting the accusations.

Chick who followed Norma to the hardware store pays her a visit, claiming he is from the hardware store and here look at the broken window. Norma is unsure of him but lets him in any way to look at the window, Chick has an agenda but not sure what is just yet and when he is asked what happened to him, he tells her that he swerved to miss a dog and rolled his car a few times. With Julian back at Pineview Norman rushes over to greet him only to realize that Julian has undergone a lobotomy, frightened he runs outside to compose himself while sitting on the bench he hear’s a familiar voice and sees his mother, she asks him how therapy is going and that he doesn’t have to talk about anything that upsets him. Dylan goes for his job interview but it’s not going to plan so he tells them his last job was in the drug trade and that he was very good at what he did and he thinks he would be great at the job he is applying for. Chick returns to the motel at an odd hour with plans for the new window and he mentions he knows Caleb is her brother, Norma is clearly creeped out excuses herself for the situation and head for the house.

Norman is in a good mood at therapy because Norma come to visit, Dr Edwards asks Norman if it was possible that he had imagined his mother visiting but Norman is adamant that the visit was real. Dr Edwards tells Norman he knows he spoke to his mother and not Emma and he also knows that Norman wasn’t on the visitors list, that’s when you can see Norman’s mood change, he is upset and feels he is being checked up on and he starts to flip out. The good Dr manages to calm him down but quickly realizes that Norman has slipped into his “Mothers” persona and that “She” thinks Norman “is a weak boy who is easy to take advantage of”, but I’m not sure the good Dr is ready or equipped for all the crazy thats about to follow.

Romero knows Rebecca trashed Norma’s house looking for the second safe deposit box key, so he confronts her at the dinner and tells her he doesn’t have the key and she has crossed the line. When he gets home Norma says she has found someone to fix the window then goes on to ask if he killed Bob Paris, Romero doesn’t answer but she knows and asks why, he tells her he had no choice. Chick calls in to talk to Norma and admits to her he lied about what happened to him, it was actually her brother Caleb that beat him and left him for dead then took off with his family, Norma is visibly upset and scared and asks him what he wants from her and tells her he wants justice and to know where he is.

Was yet another great episode, starting to see Romero and Norma becoming comfortable with each other, they actually make a great couple. We see Norman starting to show the “Norma” side of his personality a little more and I don’t think we have seen the last of Chick or the jealousy of Rebecca.

This weeks episode rating: 🎬 🎬 🎬 🎬 🎬

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. SN3 EP14 – ‘ Watchdogs ‘

This review contains spoilers. 

Last episode saw the team say a tearful goodbye to two of their most loyal and longstanding friends, and the precarious position S.H.I.E.L.D. is in politically.

This episode featured the Watchdogs, the online hate group Daisy mentions, that want to take out Inhumans – and now they’re finally on their way to making that happen. This episode also included a look into Mack’s background – at long last! He’s an incredibly mysterious character and I’m glad we get to know more about him.

The kickass stuff;

Once again, fight scenes. I can’t fault them at all. Not only was the choreography great, but there was this really amazing action scene that took place in the Mack household that I just loved. It mostly involved them walking around a dark house, being stealthy and kick-ass, but it was a great scene.

The Agent Carter reference – hell yes! The Nitramene weapon used by the Watchdogs is very much the same weapon Howard Stark designed, and the weapon that appeared in season one of Agent Carter.  I’m so glad to see more references to Peggy and the good ol’ days of SHIELD – I hope they do that more, with more nods to the things we’ve learned from Agent Carter.

Also, Fitz and Daisy team up! Their friendship was so special in Season 2, so I’m glad they’re still showing them as friends, even if Fitz nearly got imploded in the process. Though really, I knew this show probably wouldn’t let that bomb go off on Fitz neck – it isn’t his time. (I refuse to put a “yet” here because I swear to God, I’ll never forgive Marvel if they kill Fitz.)

I loved seeing the two sides of the Inhuman argument meet in the form of family – Mack’s little brother and Mack himself at odds with each other, Mack firmly (and obviously) on the side of “Do Not Murder Inhumans” and Ruben sharing the same fear-mongering view that the Inhumans will cause nothing but death.

Further to that, I loved the different way that people deal with that hatred – because Daisy is all for the SHIELD method of scaring someone into telling you what they need, whereas Mack points out that using fear for answers will only ignite further fires. I think they’re both right, in a way – of course Mack is right, that proving them right by going after them and spreading fear isn’t the way to go, but on the flipside, this group have gone from Trolls to Terrorists real quick, and there needs to be a way to stop them planting more imploding bombs.

Family moments;

Obviously, Mack and his brother were the outstanding Family Moment of the episode, what with them being brothers. It was really good to not only see a SHIELD agent with regular family (something we haven’t seen before) but also to see how Mack’s involvement with SHIELD touches his relationship with his brother. It’s good to see how he hides who he is, and how is brother is so un-trusting and angry towards him for that. I also just, in general, like knowing more about Mack, where he came from, and how it’s shaped him today.

I loved seeing May and Simmons together – it’s not a usual combo for this show, but after the events of Andrew/Lash, it’s not all that surprising they would come together to help each other. I’m hoping they build on this particular relationship, because it’s mad adorable.

I also really liked Lincoln this episode – his whole life’s been changed so it’s about time he reacted with some anger and got treated like a part of his team, even if Phil’s introduction was…unorthodox. I also appreciated that he’s still furious, still so full of anger – but when push came to shove, he wasn’t happy to outright kill someone.

And speaking of someone…Agent Blake is back! And he’s against SHIELD now? And unwittingly working with Hydra/Malick so that’s super awkward. And also really stupid of him. But I hope they explore his feelings on Inhuman’s a little more rather than just leaving it at “He is ANGRY” – of course he’s angry, for good reason, but his anger might not necessarily be directed entirely at Inhuman’s and I’d like a good arc for him.

Finally, I really loved how this episode ended with Ruben and Daisy coming to an understanding. It seemed corny, but I liked seeing them bond over how much they love Mack, and watching as Ruben started to shift his stand on Inhumans slightly from talking to her – and Daisy had this little look of realisation that maybe it isn’t about scaring people, but about trying to talk and show them what the good Inhumans are really about.

The meh;

I’m not so sure how I felt about this episode in terms of plot development. Or much of a development really. It shuffled some pieces along, but it didn’t feel like we made any significant jumps at all. We made little improvements, and it was nice to see certain interactions I mention about, but overall, I just want something to happen. Top it off with the fact there was hardly any actual progress in the realm of HiveWard, and Malick’s plan (other than one moment at the end which felt so out of place after this episode, involving Blake and Mr. Giyera chit-chatting over a missile). I just want to see this show kick it up like a thousand notches, and I really hope episode 15 blows my freakin’ mind.

Overall, I didn’t hate the episode – it had enjoyable moments, and a nice look at our own Mack’s (Alfie’s) background! However, I feel like I’m just waiting and waiting for something bigger to happen, and the two-hour season finale is ever approaching.

Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D. SN3E15 – ‘Spacetime’

This post contains spoilers.

This weeks episode leads off from “Watchdogs”, where we got an inside look on how Maleck is turning Trolls to Terrorists and investing in weapons on a mass scale, while simultaneously we get introduced to Mack’s Inhuman fearing brother, Ruben.

“Spacetime” begins with a homeless man carving a small bird outside the back of a restaurant, and he’s then asked to please leave by the owner because him sleeping out there has put off customers coming in. The owner, realising what’s asking is harsh and unfair, reaches out to give the man some money for a hot meal. The homeless man freaks out and tries to move away – understandably, because when he touches the own, he writhes in pain, staring at the sky and choking, seeming to have some kind of seizure.

After the title card, we are then led to a 911 call recording, in which the attacked owner asks for Daisy Johnson. Understandly, the team are more than confused, especially as this person has zero involvement with SHIELD or any other government body. They get to the scene, to find this owner narrating a sequence of events; then, we watch as the next five minutes play out a horrific massacre – a massacre the owner saw coming. And as Daisy races to catch the homeless man they’ve established as an Inhuman, her fingers brush his – and a horrifying series of events that SHIELD must prevent are shown to her.

This episode was off the chain amazing. For the past few episodes, the audience has been waiting for something to happen – and episode fifteen took us there.

The kickass stuff;

Man, where to begin.

I’ll kick off with this weeks Inhuman – I really enjoyed it. I know the “tortured powered person who can’t touch others” thing has been done a lot, but this was portrayed really well. His power wasn’t just hurting people – it was revealing terrible futures to them. Not only that, but the whole process was excruciatingly painful.

Then, as his past comes out, we find out he was a happy man named Charles, with a wife and a little daughter. After he went through the transition, he left, because not only could he never touch his child again, but if he did ever touch her it gave her nothing but absolute pain, and visions of death. The writing of this episode, combined with the acting of both Bjorn Johnson and Lola Glaudini (Charles’s wife) really portrayed this as absolutely agonising and a heart-wrenching decision he had to make.

Once again, fight scene choreography. I mention this every single review, but hey, when this show stops giving good fight scene, I’ll stop mentioning them. But, seeing as the fight scenes were all wonderfully executed, with gorgeous cinematography and fluid, violent motions, I’m going to keep mentioning that they were great.

Speaking of awesome scenes, I really loved the whole, rushing to change the future stuff – I know, again, it’s done a lot in sci-fi TV shows, where somehow the future is shown to them and the future is awful, so they rush to change it – and they either change it, or the exact same outcome comes about but just in a different way they expect. Watching them rush to change fate, and then how everything falls into place and comes around exactly as Daisy saw, is absolutely amazing. I love putting the pieces together, such as when Daisy thinks Phil is shooting at her and it turns out she’s looking at him in a one-way mirror. This show executed this racing against the future plotline really well, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching it all unfold.

HiveWard is back and goddamn, Brett Dalton, can I get a round of applause for you? His acting this episode (as it has been the entire time he’s been in this show) was out of this world. No pun intended, I guess. Seriously, though, he’s kicked it up into damn good villain notch – again. He looks fearsome, he’s quiet and incredibly formidable. He’s so calm and absolute, and is so all knowing whilst being so new to the Earth. His intelligence and calmness is so measured and easy, that it’s terrifying to watch him, never knowing what he’s going to do next.

What makes HiveWard so much worse is the calmness in which he executes everything. At least with Malick, you can read his emotions – he’s happy, or lying, or angered. For a villain, he was fairly easy to read for an audience; he was generic bad guy 101, here to take over the world.

Hive is an entirely different ball park because he gives away absolutely nothing. He tells people what to do, with no rhyme or reason, he just asks that they do it. He’s calculated and completely devoid of emotion; that is a million times worse than any crazed man looking to take over the world, because this is someone who can, and will, calmly strip human beings down to bits of flesh on a skeleton, and then carry on a conversation as if all he did was bump their arm a bit. That is the sign of something ultimately horrifying.

Finally, I just want to throw out here how goddamn violent this episode was. Like, there was a moment in this episode that made me scream “HE MOUNTAINED HIM!” – Game of Thrones fans, you know what I mean.

Yeah. I’ve mentioned before that Agents of SHIELD, whilst having some gross moments, was never overly violent. It rarely crosses particular lines, especially not the lines its more violent friend Daredevil tends to take – so when it does cross over into violent, bloody territory, it’s always all the more shocking and engaging. The whole episode was full of a lot of blood, death and really graphic imagery that most Agents of SHIELD fans won’t be used to. I mean, not only did that poor schmuck have his entire head crushed, there were other moments, including the pure beating Daisy took. It was so drawn out and aggressive, and it genuinely made you feel like there was a rock in your stomach, watching her suffer that way.

The “Family SHIELD Team Moments;

This episode was not only ripe with kickass stuff – this was such a great episode for character bonding time.

Phil Coulson, back with the quips as always;
“I haven’t seen the original Terminator.”

“…You are off the team.”

And also – “Yeah. Day got weirder.”

I am also completely and utterly here for the “Papa Phil” thing – I don’t care, Phil looking out for Daisy, struggling to cope with her name change and slipping up, and oh the look on his face as he tells her to, “Just come back safe” – it melted me. It’s been a while since we saw Phil care for Daisy the way he seemed to fret about her 24/7, and I’ve missed that dynamic. Now, if we can bring back “A.C.”, please.

I really loved the scenes where they try and re-create the vision Daisy had so they can stop it happening – by sending May instead, and walking her through every single moment. Obviously, this was an important sequence, but it was really good to see them all working so hard together, to watch them try so hard to pull this all together. They looked adorably goofy doing it too.

Final family moment, and this one really broke me, starting with a line from Phil Coulson – “If you don’t go and be with him right now, you’re gonna regret that for the rest of your life.” Andrew, seconds before they get May ready to leave to face Malick and HYDRA, is brought into their base after surrendering himself. He’s about to change for the last time, and he wants to say goodbye.

This whole sequence was pretty awful – May was throwing her all into finding Lash so she could put him down, and then Andrew came to her, calm and knowing, and needing to say goodbye to her. It was a really awful scene, after everything they’d been through and their incredibly rocky relationship, to watch as May witnessed the destruction of the man she loved. It was brutal.

The “meh” stuff;

Honestly, I loved this entire episode. I had but one fault – why did Charles die? Like, I mean, I know he got grabbed by the throat and all by RoboMalick but…nothing, seemed to happen except he got gripped a bit hard? And given the tonne of bloodshed and the crushing of a mans skull that took place not even fifteen minutes prior, you’d think they wouldn’t have an issue being a bit more graphic and clear on why Charles just decided to die then and there. But as I said, this is my one gripe.

Overall, this was such a solid episode. Finally, it’s moved things forward, and not only has it moved them forward, it’s moved in significant and engaging steps. This episode was action-packed, with emotional moments, wonderful characters and fantastic writing. Top it off with the fact Hive has very clearly become the head villain to deal with as the season finale creeps upon us, I’m really excited to see what this show is going to throw at us next. I’m also very interested to see what Malick’s death vision was, and what it is that’s got him so shaken up.

My prediction so far, is that Malick has waded into something way bigger than himself that he cannot hope to control – but I think we all saw that coming after two seconds of HiveWard. I also have a very big feeling that Lash is going to become part of the plan of dealing with Hive – he’s an Inhuman who has a primal urge to murder other Inhumans. And Andrew did say he felt like he had a purpose – so I think this will be it.

I’m also really interested to see what this recurring vision of the view from space, with the cross necklace and the SHIELD logo burning up horrendously – because this isn’t the first we’ve seen of that, and I doubt it will be the last. I’m hoping it’s not a horrific sad sacrifice but when has this show ever been afraid of killing someone?

Also, I’m anticipating perhaps Hive gathering them all in one room under Guest Right then stabbing them in front of their parents. No, just me?

Next episode will be Paradise Lost, airing on Tuesday 12th April.

Casting News & Director For ‘ Captain Marvel ‘ To Be Announced This Summer

Move Over Guardians of the Galaxy, the Marvel Cinematic Universe is about to get that much more busier when Captain Marvel arrives on the scene.

News of a Captain Marvel film has been public knowledge since Marvel’s press-event in October 2014, showcasing their upcoming Cinematic slate . What has remained tight-lipped however has been exactly who will portray the popular heroine and the Director that will helm the ambitious project.

In an interview with Fandango, Marvel Studio’s President Kevin Feige revealed that fans guessing game as to the identity of the lucky actress that will embodied Captain Marvel’s alter ego Carol Danvers will soon be over. “I think we’ll be announcing a filmmaker in the next month or two, and probably some cast members later in the summer, at the end of the summer.“

From Sci-Fi icons such as BattleStar Galactica’s Katee Sackhoff to Buffy The Vampire Slayer’s own Eliza Dusku – and even UFC Megastar Rhonda Rousey – fan speculation has been rife as to who should be awarded the role.

Feige also hinted as the nature of the standalone Captain Marvel film, revealing that it will serve as an origin story “about Carol Danvers and that journey to being Captain Marvel.“

Captain Marvel is currently slated to hit theaters on March 8, 2019.

For all your Marvel-Cinematic-Guessing-Game-News, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx

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

 

 

 

 

Ian Somerhalder Says Eight Is Enough

At the Walker Stalker Con in Nashville, Tennessee on Sunday, Ian Somerhalder announced that The Vampire Diaries will end after season 8.  Somerhalder says that they want to give it their all in Season 8 and with this last season, “To really do the story justice.”

As sad as I am to see the show end, I’m glad that they’re not going to drive it into the ground before calling it quits.  With Nina Dobrev already gone, and Kat Graham and Somerhalder announcing that next season (S8) would be their last, it was time.

The CW has not officially announced the end of the show… they only just announced last month that it had been renewed for Season 8.

For the S8 finale, I think they need to do what Jensen Ackles has stated would be his desired ending for the show.  He has always said that he thinks they should end it with Sam and Dean driving through Mystic Falls in the Impala.

No matter how the show ends, I’ll be there for the finale.  I love the Salvatore Brothers (they’re my second favorite TV brothers)… and they are by far the sexist vampire brothers EVER, hands down.

Klaus and Elijah are a close … and I mean VERY close second.

Kong: Skull Island Preview

Over the weekend, Legendary revealed new details regarding their Universe building Monster flick Kong: Skull Island.

In an exclusive sneak peak for MTV, Skull Island’s cast elaborated on the story – set during the Vietnam era – following “a group of explorers who set off on an adventure to a previously uncharted island.” After setting foot on the infamous isle, “mythic beasts – come into their midsts” resulting in the explorers fighting “to get off the island alive.“

The King Kong reboot features a stellar cast lead by Academy Award Winner Brie Larson (Room) as peace activist and photojournalist named Weaver, Tom Hiddleston as former British SAS Officer Captain James Conrad and Jason Mitchell as a helicopter pilot named Glenn Mill. The film will also feature Samuel L. Jackson, John Goodman and Thomas Mann alongside Straight Outta Compton star Corey Hawkins, who will soon lead an ensemble cast in Fox’s 24:Legacy.

The Jordan Vogt-Roberts directed film will lay groundwork for a shared Universe with Gareth Edwards’ Godzilla (2014) after Kong: Skull Island left Universal for Warner Bros late last year. In a joint press release following the move, both companies explained that “Monarch, the human organization that uncovered Godzilla in the 2014 film,” would link the two Monster franchises together starting in Skull Island and 2018’s Godzilla 2. Before both cinematic legends clash on the big screen in Godzilla vs. Kong in 2020.

Kong: Skull Island will smash into theatres March 10, 2017.

For all your Monster-Universe-Building-News, stick with @mitch_rated only on Skatronixxx

The Originals SN3 EP17 – ‘Behind The Black Horizon’ Star Joseph Morgan Directs S3E17

SN3 EP17: Behind The Black Horizon

Written By:  Declan De Barra & Diane Ademu-John

Directed By:  Joseph Morgan

I must admit that I didn’t get the memo that Joseph Morgan was directing this episode, so it was a complete surprise when  the opening credits told me so.  He did an excellent job.  I especially liked the shots of Freya’s (Riley Voelkel) face when she was on the ground and the shot of Vincent (Yusuf Gatewood) practically bending over backwards (literally) when The Ancestors were forcing him to help Lucien.

Last episode was all about sibling rivalry, but in this one we learned that even though they may fight among themselves, they’ll band together to fight FOR each other.  It’s that whole ‘I can pick on my little brother all day long, but you better not touch him’ thing that is so very contradictory, but we all feel it.  When Lucien and The Ancestors made Vincent kidnap Freya, all of the Mikaelson Brothers came together to save her.  Even Finn was working with Elijah!  I know!  I’m sure that’s one of the first signs of the apocalypse.

So, while Klaus and Hayley were on a mission to find out what Lucien was up to, searching all of his business holdings, the other Mikaelsons were searching for where Lucien and Vincent had taken Freya (which bt-dubbs was MYSTIC FALLS!  Loved the scenes with Deputy Donovan… and that Matt helped them save Freya).  During Klaus and Hayley’s search is where we got the best line of the episode.  Klaus saying…”Ladies first” right before all Hell and Hayley broke loose was just great.  Hayley and Klaus decimated a whole security detail.  It was awesome.  I love Hayley… she’s the badassiest of all the badasses.  And, you definitely do NOT wanna piss her off.  Nope.

And all along, Lucien was wanting to become an Original.  Well, not exactly an Original, he wanted to be the Windows 10 of Originals.  He said an upgrade… but basically what he did was become that annoying upgrade that nobody wanted but is being forced down our throats.  He wanted to be a hybrid… like Klaus.  Only where Klaus’ bite will not kill an Original, Lucien’s will now.  Finn found that out the hard way.

In this episode, we all found out that “Always and forever” applies to all the Mikaelson siblings.  Even the one that they kept ‘daggered in a box’ for 900 years.  At the end of the episode, there was a touching scene where Finn’s siblings were throwing his ashes into the river after each saying a few touching words about their brother.  Even Kol said something nice.  But, in typical Klaus fashion, his words were merely “Just know that you will be avenged”  That’s Klaus for you.

And see, that’s why today when I saw that meme on Facebook … ya know, the one that says “You’ve been kidnapped and the star of the last show you watched is coming to save you… how screwed are you?”  I was very happy to get to say that Klaus Mikaelson was coming for me.  I’m pretty sure I’m good.

And, if not, I will be avenged.