Steven Universe Summer Adventures Week 1

One week down and three more to go!

This is a recap of all the events that took place during the first week of the Summer of Steven event. So, let us break this recap down by episode shall we?

Not Every Review Is A Butterfly A Review Of ’12 Monkeys – Season 2′

It’s tricky for a show that has a specific mission statement to run for multiple seasons. You can squeeze out so many episodes let alone seasons worth of show before an audiences patience wears out if you don’t reveal who the murderer was, or why are they on the damn island, or who is the double crossing agent that executed a terrorist attack. And once you do get to the reveal then what? Do you go into the same direction with few changes a la 24, because you can never get enough of Jack Bauer punching and shooting terrorist. Or do you flip the script and hope the direction change works. 12 Monkeys in their second season decided to flip the script.

In the first season they stuck close to the movie plot the show is based off of. Season 1 mission statement – stop the release of the virus that wipes out most of mankind by going back to different places in time and try to locate the virus or the people behind the release of it. The end of the first season didn’t conclude with the completion of that mission so one was left to wonder if they were going to extend the search of the virus for a whole other season. As much as I enjoy watching these characters do their thing, you can only take so much of Cole and Dr. Jones failing at their mission before you say, ok just quit already, everyone dies, get over it. One resolution we got was that Ramse is not the mysterious Witness who is in control of the 12 monkeys. They were setting him up as such since he was giving the Monkeys all kinds of information to stop Cole on the different missions he went on because he had “witnessed” all this stuff go down. But it turns out that Ramse is known as “the traveler” not the dastardly Witness.

The team does face interesting situations at the beginning of Season 2. Cole and Ramse are on the run from the Monkeys while doing their own guerilla style attacks on them in 2016 like pesky flies in the ointment. Cassie and Jones are under siege in 2043. Turns out Cole picked the right time to send Cassie into the future just as the lab is being attacked by Deacon and a group of the Monkey army called Messengers who then take over the time machine and send 6 of their Messengers to different time periods. With the team stuck between a rock and a hard place in two different places in time they are need of a win, and they get a big one from Dr. Kalman who turns out is still helping the monkeys even though Cole had given him a second chance to right his wrongs. He’s completed the virus and delivered it to the monkeys but he knows who and when it’s going to be released, which means Cole can complete his mission. Turns out its Jennifer Goines, after being manipulated by Olivia the Witnesses’ right hand lady, to do the monkeys dirty work so that Jennifer can have a purpose and play an important role in history. Also she’s releasing it on Chinese New Year because it’s the year of the monkey; see the 12 Monkeys aren’t without a sense of humor or irony.

Cole tracks down Jennifer and tries to stop her from releasing the virus. When agents for the Monkeys almost get the drop on him Cassie shows up badder than ever and guns down the agents. Cole surprised by the badder and more readily to kill Cassie asks her what happened and she said that she’s been in Cole’s time for 8 months. And any stretch of time in Coles world changes you man. Cole manages to talk down Jennifer from releasing the virus and also manages to talk down Cassie from killing Jennifer and Ramse. The role reversal of Cole being the pacifist and Cassie being the shoot first asks questions later added a great dynamic to the show and showed just how much they influence each other.

Cole can now complete his mission. He gets Jennifer to take him where all the samples of the virus are being stored and then destroy it, every last drop. World is saved, shows over folks, have a good night. Since Cole doesn’t disappear as soon as the virus is destroyed that must mean that Cole’s future is still in existence. Because if Cole had truly stopped the virus from wiping out mankind then the time machine would have never been used which would mean Cole would have never been recruited for the mission, which in turn means post apocalypse Cole doesn’t exist. But since he’s still there after the virus is destroyed we get to the part in the show where we ask, now what? Season 1 mission statement is complete, does that mean that Season 2 will reset the clock and go back to square one. At least this time our team has more experience with managing time travel.

And here we come to the script flip. When Cole finally makes it back to 2044 we find out that the virus is still released but at a later time and since Cassie had more time to prepare the world for a massive epidemic more people were saved than before and we get new scientists on the time travel team along with some dearly departed members from last season that are alive because of the altered timeline. Script flip #1 the altered timeline has brought back dead characters and introduced new ones, one of which is married to Jones who she has no recollection of because timeline alterations don’t affect her. She remembers the old timeline but none of the new one, so we get some funny interactions between Jones and her new love interest. Script flip #2 and this is what the season focuses on, the Messengers that managed to go back in time before Cassie managed to get Deacon to help her stop them have started to cause paradoxes that are ripping the fabric of time in 2044. Here’s where the show introduces a new element to time travel and a good plot line for the second season, the general idea is that time works like a literal clock, its composed of different moving parts that are kept in synch by connecting to humans that work like anchors or gears if we stick with the clock analogy. If someone were to paradox those human time gears then that throws time out of balance. Disrupt enough human time gears and you create a massive paradox where there is no beginning and no end. A perpetual state of limbo where nothing is dead but nothing is alive. The Witness isn’t content with wiping out humanity, he wants to wipe out time itself. So Mission Statement for season 2 – stop the Messengers from creating paradoxes by killing the human time gears which are called Primaries.

This plot line made the second season feel fresh but also feel familiar in a good way. Like your favorite jacket that never goes out of style and always fits right. There weren’t really any weak link episodes in the season. Each one had its own twist or revealed a new detail on a character or showed some kind of character development. There was a Groundhog Day from hell type episode that had a happy ending for Jones. You got the backstory for the Pallid Man and Olivia, who were born from the Messengers even though they came from the future and they technically were born after their children but hey its time travel so it works. They show the rift that is starting to form within the 12 Monkeys. Olivia starts to lose faith in the Witness because things have not been going according to plan. Ramse is still a little bit shady, in a few instances he still seems willing to sell his friends out if it means he gets what he wants, which again revolves around his son. Due to the altered timeline his son is still with him but during an episode where Cassie gets possessed by the Witness and she sabotages the time machine a burst of time machine energy shoots out and zaps Ramse’s son to some unknown time. And there’s also that episode where Cassie gets possessed by the Witness and she sees a small house plus some weird looking factory of doom with matching symbols called Titan. These things among other developments, like Jennifer starting to form her woman army that develops into the Daughters in the post apocalypse future, are a lead up to the team coming closer to a confrontation with the Witness.

A major step to get closer to the Witness ends up being that Cole and Cassie finally hook up, which the amazing chemistry between Aaron Stanford and Amanda Schull is utilized well to create the necessary tension between their characters without dragging it out to soap opera extremes. You had the right amount of will they, wont they without it eclipsing the main focus of the show. Although the moment that they finally reveal their true feelings for each other and the obvious demonstration to each other of said feelings was edited in an odd fashion. With the team not being able to stop the necessary amount of Primary paradoxes to stop the destruction of time they’re left with two options, stop the last Primary paradox that would bring everything back to normal or head to Titan and launch an attack on the Witness that would bring the war with the 12 Monkeys to an end. The team decides to do both, this is after Ramse and Cassie mount a coup and take over the lab by the way. Cole and Cassie are going to go back to 1957 and stop the last Primary paradox while Ramse and the Daughters go to Titan to take on the Witness. Cole and Cassie fail in their mission which results in Cassie ending up in a coma. Cole leaves her so that they can both live their own lives. Cassie ends up finding Cole at the house from her visions and when the Witness possessed. Uh-oh, that can’t be a good sign. To emphasize this point you start to hear Olivia speak the words that she told Cassie when she gave her the tea that took her to the red forest. That definitely can not be good when what the crazy chick said starts coming true. Once inside the house they get into an argument about why Cole left and finally they admit to each other how much they love each other. It’s been two seasons coming and we’re finally here. But just as their going to get down to business we flash forward to Ramse’s attack on Titan. As things get hot and heavy with Cole and Cassie we cut to the future as things are getting hot for Ramse too but in a totally different way. As Cole and Cassie are getting some Ramse and his team are surrounded by the followers of the Witness about to get theirs too. They’re all wearing black plague masks that look like birds with long beaks and wearing hooded robes. Cole and Cassie are finally together while Ramse and his team get slaughtered. So that means that them two hooking up was a bad thing, right.

And with the finale of season 2 the show faces the question of how to continue a show that has a specific mission statement. Cole and Cassie are living their life together and you can really feel their happiness, but since this is 12 Monkeys and not a Nicholas Sparks production you know their bliss will only last until the next commercial break. Pretty much as soon as Cole gets the wonderful news that Cassie is pregnant he gets a visit from a Primary in a cool time freeze sequence. He tracks down the Primary to an insane asylum and he’s informed that the future is destroyed because Ramse was ambushed at Titan but that destruction will also reach him in the past unless he goes back and stops the Primary death he failed to prevent a few years ago. But you may be wondering how is Cole going to travel back in time if the machine in the future is destroyed. Well since he’s untethered to time, which is why paradoxes and alterations to the timeline don’t affect him or any time traveller, he needs to drink the tea the Monkeys use to transport his consciousness to the points in time where he’s been before. And sure enough out in the woods where he lives theres a tree that has started to turn red, the effects of time collapsing on itself where there is no beginning or end. He takes a couple leaves from the tree so he can make his time trip tea. But doing this will undo the life he had with Cassie, but the words of Jones, thats its better to experience a moment of happiness than a lifetime without, help him make the decision to take the tea and go back to 1957.

His attempt to get back there aren’t so easy, he starts out inside the time machine lab and he walks through the corridors hearing himself from different parts in time. The witness is also in his consciousness, stalking him from a distance. Cole ends up going into different parts in time, when he first meets Cassie, when he’s talking to Ramse about her, until he finally zeroes in on 1957. Once he’s back he stops the Messenger from paradoxing the Primary and time goes back to normal. Cole and Cassie return to 2044 where they find Jones who has defended the lab from scavengers alone. The three decide to catch up with Ramse to warn them of the slaughter that awaits them on Titan. They get their in time to save Ramse’s team and take out the followers of the Messenger. The few survivors are “interrogated” by Ramse which really only consists of asking where the Witness is and when they only reply that he’s safe Ramse kills them. Jones figures out that Titan is a facility that has the same tech to power a time machine, so if they find the machine they will more than likely find the Witness. As they search the facility an alarm rings out and the whole facility starts to power up. Turns out the entire facility is the time machine. As the team is making their exit from Titan they get split up. Ramse ends up going with a follower of the Witness after he promised he would taken him to the Witness. A group of followers ends up snatching Cassie and taking her into Titan. Deacon sacrifices himself so that Jennifer and the Daughters can escape, but while Jennifer is trying to make her way out she gets into a shootout with some followers and ends up breaking a container that houses time travel energy and she gets zapped back to France during WWI. When the facility disappears Cole makes Jones track it back at the lab and they find out that Titan has gone into the future to 2163.

Ramse ends up in the woods with the follower from Titan and Olivia shows up to tell him that she’s going to take him to his son. His son has been taken care of by a group of followers that are no longer loyal to the Witness. Cassie ends up in a room filled with followers of the Witness all dressed in hooded robes with bird masks. The Pallid Man shows up and Cassie believes that he’s the Witness. Turns out that the Witness is, cue the reveal music, her unborn child from the timeline Cole altered. But if Cole altered that timeline how is it that the Witness is still born? Cassie started to remember parts of that altered timeline when Cole comments that he can’t believe that Jones is packing heat, he says that not all caterpillars turn to and Cassie says butterflies, when she told Cole that she was pregnant Cole had gifted her a butterfly hair pin and she remembers that moment. They also say that the Witness was born of two travelers that were outside of time, so then the baby is also untethered to time and can be born in altered timelines? We see now that Cole has the same ability as the Witness in traveling through time without a machine, plus Cassie remembering the altered timeline might mean that her child would have that ability too of accessing altered timelines. And if Cassie is the mom can’t she just give him a timeout for trying to destroy time? Plus the fact that the Witness possessed her and drove her to the small house where she and Cole hooked up is all kinds of Freudian. The Witness needs to get his act together though because daddy is coming home soon. Cole makes Jones setup the machine so that he can travel to the future. So the question comes up again of now what? Well it looks like season 3 will be more of a family affair. Cole and Cassie are going to have to come to terms with their child being the harbinger of death.

The second season of 12 monkeys showed a series that runs like a well oiled machine and demonstrated great character growth while deepening the mythology of the 12 Monkeys universe and adding new elements to the time travel narrative. It answered several questions while posing new and exciting ones that I’m waiting to dive into in the third season.

 

First Official Wonder Woman Poster Released, And It’s Magnificent!

To coincide with Wonder Woman’s 75th anniversary, Gal Gadot who plays the superheroine, has released the first official poster for her upcoming film, Wonder Woman. The poster is one of the best I’ve seen for a superhero movie, if not the best. It’s filled with vibrant colors and it’s clearly brighter than the one seen in Batman V Superman: Dawn Of Justice. It also has a great tagline which reads” Power, Grace, Wisdom, and Wonder.” We’ll be expecting some kind of a teaser for Wonder Woman from tomorrow’s Warner Bros. panel. In the meantime, take a look at the spectacular poster below.

The films official synopsis also reads as follows:

‘Wonder Woman hits movie theaters around the world next summer when Gal Gadot returns as the title character in the epic action adventure from director Patty Jenkins. Before she was Wonder Woman, she was Diana, princess of the Amazons, trained to be an unconquerable warrior. Raised on a sheltered island paradise, when an American pilot crashes on their shores and tells of a massive conflict raging in the outside world, Diana leaves her home, convinced she can stop the threat. Fighting alongside man in a war to end all wars, Diana will discover her full powers…and her true destiny.

Joining Gadot in the international cast are Chris Pine, Connie Nielsen, Robin Wright, David Thewlis, Danny Huston, Elena Anaya, Ewen Bremner and Saïd Taghmaoui. Jenkins directs the film from a screenplay by Allan Heinberg and Geoff Johns, story by Zack Snyder & Allan Heinberg, based on characters from DC Entertainment. Wonder Woman was created by William Moulton Marston. The film is produced by Charles Roven, Zack Snyder, Deborah Snyder and Richard Suckle, with Rebecca Roven, Stephen Jones, Wesley Coller and Geoff Johns serving as executive producers. Warner Bros. Pictures presents, in association with RatPac-Dune Entertainment, an Atlas Entertainment/Cruel and Unusual production, Wonder Woman. The film is scheduled for release on June 2, 2017, and will be distributed worldwide by Warner Bros. Pictures, a Warner Bros. Entertainment Company.’

Snowden Trailer Review: Same Story, Not As Interesting, Probably More Explosions

Nothing is as exciting as real life right? So let’s make a drama/thriller out of Edward Snowden’s controversial life choices and watch the money roll in.

Sounds legit after watching the Snowden trailer, which opens in theaters on September 16, 2016. Keep in mind Citizenfour, which won the Academy Award for Best Documentary Picture, only came out two years ago.

Snowden’s story is so well-known at this point that the only interesting aspect left to dramatize to pieces is the internal struggle of Snowden’s patriotic self and the fact that he is betraying his country in the name of the common good. That struggle however is subtle, and this does not look like a subtle movie – if someone had yelled “ ‘MURICA” in the first twenty seconds of the trailer it would’ve fit in.

The trailer starts off with how we know Snowden will end – Snowden on the run in a foreign country. Then we hear my favorite line in the trailer because it concisely shows the guts of who Snowden is: “As far as I can tell, you’ve been walking on two broken legs for weeks.” And the trailer goes on to show how patriotic Snowden is at his core, the shock that Snowden feels at his nation’s betrayal of spying on the general populace, and the emotional, personal, and physical risk he takes by hiding an SD card in a Rubik’s cube (always the sign of a true genius) as this movie’s method of how Snowden smuggled out the info.

It all falls flat. Instead of being moved by the true patriotism of Edward Snowden, the music and sound effects seem overly dramatic and heavy-handed despite what’s going on on-screen. It’s hard to take Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s seriously in this role, although I want to like him – and to be frank about it, here is another major blockbuster about a young white male fighting against the odds for the greater good. The only interesting aspect to the trailer is Snowden’s story, which everyone already knows – there is no additional spice to the same old meat.

This also has to be said: there is a complete lack of diversity. Jolly black security guards do not count as diversity. Also, the only women I see in this trailer are either Snowden’s girlfriend and… nope, just Snowden’s girlfriend (who only exists in relation to Snowden). Unless you count the woman in the webcam, which I don’t.

As someone who walked out of Citizenfour a changed person, I do not want to go see this movie based on the trailer. But I deeply respect the true Edward Snowden – I admire what he did, the bravery that it took, and the personal sacrifices he had to make. Maybe this trailer isn’t indicative of the movie, because there is a story to tell there – let’s just hope Oliver Stone does it justice.

You can check the trailer out below, let us know what you think by commenting below.

We Look Back At Season 1 Of Peaky Blinders – The Best Show You’re NOT Watching

Welcome to the Peaky Blinders, a British gangster family epic drama that will make you want to pack up, move to Birmingham, England in 1919 and swear allegiance to the Shelby family.

At its heart, Peaky Blinders is about Thomas Shelby of the Shelby family and his ambitions to better his family by turning his criminal organization, the “Peaky Blinders,” into a legitimate business.

Not heard of the show? You soon will have, check out the trailer here.

Let’s meet the family. FYI, there are a lot of characters and getting to know everyone is like walking into a Fourth of July party as the significant other of one of the family members. Skip to the end for a season synopsis.

• Thomas “Tommy” Shelby – Lead boss man of the Peaky Blinders. Second eldest. Decorated hero of The Great War, introverted, smokes opium.
• Aunt “Pol” Polly – The matriarch and heart of the Peaky Blinders. The Shelby boys’ aunt, Aunt Polly is a tough as nails woman who ran the Peaky Blinders while the men were away at The Great War. No one makes a move in the Shelby family without asking Pol her opinion first.
• Arthur Shelby – Eldest brother who is the muscle of the family. Has a lovely conflict where he believes he should in charge of the Peaky Blinders, but he makes for a terrible leader.
• John Shelby – This third Shelby son is the cockiest one. Helps Arthur whenever things need to get rough. John’s wife died in the war, and John has trouble taking care of his four children alone.
• Ada Shelby – The fourth Shelby family member and the only female in this generation, Ada is wild, not afraid of her brothers, and absolutely not interested in the family business.
• Finn Shelby – The youngest Shelby family member at the age of 11, Finn plays a minor role in the family business and is often protected from the worst of it by Aunt Polly.
• Charlie Strong – An uncle in the Shelby clan. Owns Charlie Strong’s Yard, an area where the Peaky Blinder’s stables and boats are.

Friends of the Family:

Freddie Thorne – Love interest of Ada Shelby. Freddie grew up alongside the Shelby family, served in France alongside Thomas Shelby and Danny Owen. Was a longstanding family friend until Freddie’s sympathies for the Communist party became known.

• Jeremiah Jesus – An Afro-Caribbean street preacher in Birmingham, England who works for the Shelby family and is a member of the Peaky Blinders.
• Curly – A simple-minded Gypsy who has a gift for horses and works in the Peaky Blinder’s stables. He’s also the go-to man for automobiles.
• Daniel “Danny Whizz-Bang” Owen – Served with Thomas Shelby and Freddie Thorne in The Great War and saved Tommy’s life during his service. Member of the Peaky Blinders and often has violent PTSD flashbacks where he believes he’s still fighting in the war.
• Harry Fenton – Landlord and barman at The Garrison Pub. The Garrison Pub is the local hangout for
  Peaky Blinders.
• Esme Lee – Member of the Lee clan who is married to John Shelby in order to make peace within the two families.
• Lizzie Stark – A prostitute whom John Shelby proposes to, and then breaks off the engagement with.

Enemies of the Family:

• Chief Inspector Campbell – An Irish detective hired out of Belfast, Northern Ireland by Winston Churchill tasked with finding a shipment of stolen guns from the Birmingham Small Arms Company Factory.
• Billy Kimber – Runs the (legal) horse-racing tracks outside of London.
• Roberts – Billy Kimber’s accountant.

Frenemies of the Family:

• Winston Churchill – A former soldier, Winston Churchill is the Secretary of State for the Colonies who hires Inspector Campbell to find the stolen gun shipment.
• The Lee Family – A Gypsy family, blood relation of the Shelby’s.
• Grace Burgess – Undercover agent for the Birmingham Police who infiltrates the Shelby family by becoming a barmaid at The Garrison Pub.
• The Irish Republican Army (IRA) – Maguire and Ryan are two representatives of the Irish Republican Army.

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Now that that’s over with, take a look below for a recap of what happened in Season 1.

The Shelby family runs the streets of Birmingham as one of the most feared criminal organizations. The bulk of their money comes from smuggling small items (alcohol, cigarettes) and from their illegal betting ring. When a shipment of guns go missing from the Birmingham Small Arms Company Factory, Thomas Shelby seizes the opportunity to better the Peaky Blinders by using the guns as leverage throughout the series.

After the guns are reported missing, Winston Churchill hires Chief Inspector Campbell to find the stolen guns. Chester Campbell is an Irish detective out of Belfast with a reputation for violence. Inspector Campbell brings along Grace Burgess, whose mission is go to undercover with the Shelbys and report information back to the Birmingham police. She quickly establishes herself as the barmaid at The Garrison Pub. Grace constantly refers to Inspector Campbell as a father figure, as he knew her father growing up, and it’s revealed that Grace’s father was killed by the IRA.

Back to the Shelby family: we find out that Ada is seeing Freddie Thorne, and that their relationship is a secret from the Shelby family. Freddie Thorne is a known, active Communist, and Ada loves him because Freddie isn’t afraid of her brothers. The tension in their relationship comes from Freddie seemingly using Ada for her connection to the Peaky Blinders as well as Freddie constantly being on the run from the police and the Peaky Blinders.

Now, the main storyline: Thomas Shelby fixes a horserace that angers Billy Kimber, the owner of the local racetracks. At the same time, he starts a war with the Lees, a Gypsy family. As Tommy continues to piss off every group within his vicinity (including the Italians, which is quickly resolved), the brutality of the Peaky Blinders shine through – they are vicious and without mercy when they fight, and it’s easy to see how they rose to the top of the criminal gangs.

Fun fact – the name “Peaky Blinders” comes from their practice of sewing razor blades into their caps, to be used as a weapon during fighting.

After learning that the Peaky Blinders fixed his horse-race, Billy Kimber shows up at The Garrison Pub and threatens Tommy. Tommy states his intention of working with Billy Kimber, which he later solidifies by stopping multiple thefts at a race from Kimber’s bookies. After Kimber agrees to hire on the Peaky Blinders as security, Kimber and Tommy then switch women (Kimber’s wife for Tommy’s Grace) for a couple hours in one of the weirdest ‘wife swaps’ I’ve ever watched on television. Kimber almost rapes Grace, but Tommy gets there just in time and saves the situation by saying that Grace has the clap, is supposed to show in some twisted manner that Tommy is falling for Grace.

Word starts getting out that Thomas Shelby has the guns that the IRA and the Birmingham police are looking for. Both the IRA and Inspector Campbell approach Thomas about the guns – the IRA threatens Tommy into giving them the guns, and Tommy strikes a deal with Inspector Campbell. The deal is that Inspector Campbell is to stay out of the business with the racetracks in exchange for running Freddie Thorne out of town (short-term benefit), and Tommy will give the guns to Campbell at some point in the near future (long-term benefit). Tommy also meets with the Lee family in an attempt to have peace between the Lee and Shelby families.

In the meantime, Aunt Polly finds out that Ada is pregnant and convinces her to get an abortion. Tommy finds out that Freddie has gotten Ada pregnant, and is afraid that Freddie is trying to solidify his ties to the Peaky Blinders family. Despite Tommy’s warnings, Freddie proposes to Ada and they decide to keep the baby. Tommy later confronts Freddie and they almost kill each other until Freddie declares that he’s been in love with Ada since he was twelve and she was nine – this causes both men to put their guns down and walk away from the conflict, and Tommy is left with the problem of not holding up the short-term part of his deal with Inspector Campbell.

After going into business with Billy Kimber, the Peaky Blinders are issued a betting license and have thus achieved their goal of becoming a legitimate business. Grace is hired on as a ‘business manager,’ mainly to keep the books in shape as Arthur is so bad at it, and to bring some class to the Peaky Blinders proceedings. Tommy then kisses her to let her know he has other reasons for hiring her on as well. The insinuation here is that Tommy is falling in love, because if Tommy just wanted to fuck Grace he could’ve done so by now and no one would’ve been able to stop him.

Shortly after, John Shelby asks the family’s permission to marry a well-known prostitute, Lizzie Stark.

Tommy tests Lizzie to see whether she will give up whoring now that she is engaged to John, and she fails the test. Tommy tells John about how Lizzie is still working despite being engaged. John breaks the engagement off with Lizzie, and the very next morning Tommy manages to marry John to Esme Lee (part of the Gypsy Lee family) as a peace treaty.

At the celebration after John’s marriage, Ada goes into labor. Tommy declares a peace with Freddie Thorne for the night, and Freddie comes running to Ada’s side, where he is handed a newborn son (Karl, named after Karl Marx). Unfortunately, Grace hears this tidbit, tells the Birmingham police, and gets Freddie arrested. Tommy is blamed for setting a trap for Freddie.

A higher-ranking member of the IRA visits Tommy and they setup a sale for the guns at The Garrison Pub. A couple minutes before the IRA walks into the pub, Tommy tells Grace to hide in a backroom and point a gun at the IRA members (two of them), at his signal. After finding out the location of the guns, the IRA tries to kill Tommy, Grace ends up shooting an IRA member (an IRA member had killed her father), and Tommy kills the other one. It’s revealed that the Birmingham police was supposed to intervene at an earlier time, and it’s at this point when Tommy realizes that he can’t trust the word of Chief Inspector Campbell.

Grace, after overhearing the conversation with the IRA and Tommy, figures out the location of the guns and tells Inspector Campbell on the condition that he leaves the Shelby family alone. Inspector Campbell finds the missing guns underneath the fake grave of Danny Owen. Everything is accounted for except for one machine gun, and Grace resigns with the Birmingham police. In response, Inspector Campbell proposes marriage to Grace, and Grace turns him down. In a typical turn of events, Inspector Campbell assumes that Grace is in love with Thomas Shelby, and does the typical man-thing of getting angry because he doesn’t approve of her choice in love (read: not Inspector Campbell). Since Inspector Campbell has the guns, he no longer has to fear Tommy and sics the police on The Garrison Pub. Tommy manages to get away with the help of Grace, who leads him to her apartment. Inspector Campbell refuses to let his policemen go after Grace though, and so Tommy is safe. While Tommy is hiding out at Grace’s for the night, Tommy pulls a slick “let’s dance” move and they have sex set to some lovely piano music.

Back to business: Thomas Shelby gathers the family to move against Billy Kimber, only to find out that Billy Kimber has been notified and brought the fight to the Peaky Blinders. Outnumbered, the outcome looks bleak for the Peaky Blinders.

When Inspector Campbell is informed of the upcoming showdown, he tells the police to stand down and desert the area where the fighting is about to happen so that the two sides can kill each other.

Then, at the battle, Freddie Thorne appears with the missing machine gun, thus evening out the odds of the Peaky Blinders surviving. All hell is about to break loose when Ada appears with her baby in a carriage and stands squarely in the middle of the Peaky Blinders and Billy Kimbel’s men. She tries to get the men to stand down, appealing to their paternal natures as fathers, husbands and brothers, and as a result Billy Kimber gets the first shot in at Tommy Shelby. Tommy takes the hit in the shoulder, and Danny Owen rushes in front of the next bullet that’s meant for Tommy. Tommy then promptly shoots Billy Kimber in the head, and everyone goes home. On the bright side, none of the police officers were there so no one can arrest Tommy for shooting Billy Kimber.

After the fight, Tommy knows that Grace was working for the Birmingham Police, and because of that their love is doomed. Grace asks Tommy to go America with her, which he later turns down in a letter that’s read over the last scene as Grace is held up at gunpoint by Inspector Campbell. A gunshot snaps the episode to black as we are left with wondering whether Grace is dead come Season 2.

Ghost Rider Confirmed For Agents Of Shield Season 4

Yes it’s true! To quote Olympian and all round American hero Kurt Angle ‘it’s true, it’s DAMN true’. Ghost Rider is back and what’s more he’s bringing his badass biker jacket and even more badass chain and is headed to hit Marvel show Agents Of Shield.

Who will be playing the hard rocking, motor biking hero with a quest for vengeance, well this will be none other than DARYL DIXON WOOOOOO *dances*; ok sorry sadly no, despite the strong rumours the role has actually gone to none other than Gabriel Luna (True Detective, Matador).

The news was confirmed by Marvel at their recent panel at San Diego Comic Con today, you can read more on the official announcement on Marvel’s own website here. How will he fit into the show? Will he get his own spin off? I for one am curious to see how this pans out!

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. season 4 premieres on September 20, 2016.

Batman Vs. Superman: Ultimate Edition – An Ultimate Review

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that I really enjoyed the theatrical release of Batman vs Superman. I’ll go further out on that limb and say that it’s one of the best comic book movies so far. And sure you can go on and say how it’s inferior to Marvel movies and so on and so forth, but the only thing I will comment on the whole Marvel vs. DC thing is this. Marvel is doing action movies based on comic book characters while DC with BvS did an actual comic book movie.

So they are two very different animals and I’m not going to say that one is better than the other. Although I did enjoy the actual comic book movie than the ones that have been based on comic book characters. To support my point I would like someone to name a story arc or even a single issue of a Marvel comic that has been used in the MCU, and Civil War doesn’t count because they only used the name of that story arc. While DC used at least by my count 4 different comic book story arcs in one movie, and almost a direct comic panel to screen transition.

Now on to the Ultimate Edition of BvS. This cut of the movie made a good movie into a better movie. Most of the additional scenes added a lot to defining character motives and to strengthening the plot as well. You can take the UE version of this film and edit it down to a 2 1/2 maybe even a 2 hour and 45 minute run time and keep the relevant scenes that would have made the movie more coherent and also maintain the PG-13 rating.

So whoever did the editing on the theatrical release needs to be fired if they had all this good material to work with and yet still ended up releasing an unevenly paced movie. Another head scratcher is the R rating the UE receives. The only thing I noticed was that in the action sequences that involved guns you could see blood spurt out of the bodies and Wally, the guy who loses his legs in the battle of Metropolis, uses the F word when he finds Lex in his apartment. The added “gore” of the gun battles and the F word could be easily edited out and presto you retain your PG-13 rating.

Although in the new X-Men movies they’ve so far used the one free F bomb a PG-13 movie is allotted and Wolverine’s battle scenes have been pretty bloody as well and yet they get a PG-13 tag. I think this can be blamed on trying to ride the coat tails of Deadpool. When Deadpool blew the roof and expectations on what a success an R rated comic book movie can be there were several moves made to try to make comic book movies look even more edgy by slapping an R rating on them. The next and possibly last, with Hugh Jackman at least, Wolverine movie is reportedly going to be rated R. And the UE cut of BvS was announced around that time with, shocker, an R rating as well.

Aside from the added “gore” and “language” the UE gives you a bigger and clearer picture of the going ons of the major players, especially Lex Luthor. The theatrical release just tells you that Lex is behind everything because he pretty much says so towards the end of the movie when he’s pitting Superman against Batman and also you have to assume that he’s behind everything because it’s Lex Luthor. The UE shows you just how much Lex was pulling the strings to turn the public and Batmans opinion against Superman. It even hints at the possibility that the reason he was able to do all this is because he was possessed by another villain.

Unless my eyes deceived me there is a scene where he’s examining Zod’s body and his eyes go completely black. It could be that something or someone was pulling Lex’s strings as well to get rid of the man of steel. Which would also explain his slow descent into madness as the movie progresses until he’s ding dinging in a jail cell. But also the physical and mental abuse he suffered as a child by his father didn’t help his psyche either.

You also get a clear definition as to why Clark has such a hard on for Batman. The theatrical release just jumped from Superman doing super stuff to Clark having an argument with Perry about the Batman being a menace. You get to see Clark actually doing his job, which I got to say I enjoy seeing him do some investigative journalism just as much as I like to see him flying in his cape. And by doing his job of being a reporter, because really in the theatrical release you got the feeling that he never does his job since Perry is always hounding him for not doing his articles, he finds out how Batman has been terrorizing criminals. Although there is one scene that I found a little too on the nose when Clark talks to the girlfriend of the dead gangbanger that Batman branded. She tells Clark that words don’t work on someone who brands people, only fists do. I don’t think you can even call that foreshadowing. She might as well have said that Superman needs to fight Batman so justice can prevail because you know the movie is called Batman Vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, in case you had forgotten.

Overall the portrayals of Clark as well as Superman are handled better in the UE. I know there are complaints that Superman isn’t a beacon of hope like in the comics or the Reeve’s movies. The UE doesn’t fully convey that version of Superman but it does brighten him up a little bit more than the theatrical release.

I do wish there was more Wonder Woman in the UE because she was just awesome and they could not have gone wrong with adding more Diana Prince. The one added scene for Batman that I thought was awesome was a small clip they show of Batman breaking into Lexcorp to steal the Kryptonite. If you’ve played any of the Arkham video games you’ll recognize the swoop down move he does to capture one of Lexcorp’s security guards. I wish they had shown the break in when it was happening, at least like the swoop down clip where they could showcase a couple of stealth moves or takedowns.

There are several scenes that they could have done away with completely. For all the secrecy surrounding Jena Malone’s role her scenes don’t amount to much in terms of plot or character development. Maybe that’s why they were keeping her so under wraps. Other throwaway scenes involve Alfred chopping wood and carry it back to the modern house by the lake for no apparent reason but show that this Alfred can hold his own because he’s chopping wood in an Ascot. And you also get a gratuitous butt shot of Ben Affleck when he’s getting ready for the gala event at Lex’s house. Again for no apparent reason but to show that Ben Affleck is physically capable of filling out the bat suit, maybe. I don’t know. But trust me, after going through Joel Schumacher’s bat suit nipples, this scene isn’t that shocking.

The Ultimate Edition takes a flawed movie and smooths out most of the rough edges. If you enjoyed the theatrical release like I did, it makes you appreciate it even more and it rewards you with a few more comic book references. Which I have to say is a real treat when you’ve spent many years reading comic books and a movie comes along and not just gives a nod to the source material but actually lifts plot points or lines from the comic stories you have read. If you disliked the theatrical release the UE might change your mind about it but only mildly. I do say give it a watch if only to give you more ammo for your pointless arguments of how bad the movie is. The theatrical release of BvS was a flawed exercise in doing a faithful comic book movie. The Ultimate Edition shows us what could have been if someone at Warner Bros. actually knew how to edit a movie.

Chris Wood Joins ‘Supergirl’ in Mystery Role

Chris Wood in Containment.

Chris Wood joins the cast of Supergirl as a series regular in season 2, however, any details about the ‘surprise DC character’ he is playing are being kept under wraps. Some are speculating that he may be the one in the crashed Kryptonian pod from the season 1 finale. Chris has previously starred in ‘The Vampire Diaries’, ‘The Carrie Diaries‘ and most recently ‘Containment’.

He isn’t the only new addition to the season, since the Supergirl’s move from CBS to The CW, they have announced a significant number of new characters. Most notably, Tyler Hoechlin (Teen Wolf) has been cast as Superman and Lynda Carter (Wonder Women) as the President of the United States. Also joining Wood, is Ian Gomez (Cougar Town) as Snapper Carr and Floriana Lima (The Family) as Maggie Sawyer.

Supergirl season 2 begins in the fall.

Colton Haynes Joins ‘Scream Queens’ Season 2

Colton Haynes joins the cast of Horror-Comedy Scream Queens in a guest starring role in season 2. They seem to be keeping the details about his character under wraps, all that is known is he will be a mysterious patient. Colton Haynes has previously starred in fan-favourite show Teen Wolf, The Grinder and played Roy Harper aka Arsenal on Arrow.

Haynes joins new series stars John Stamos, Taylor Lautner, James Earl and returning cast Jamie Lee Curtis, Emma Roberts, Lea Michelle, Abigail Breslin, Keke Palmer, Niecy Nash, Glenn Powell and Billie Lourd as the new set of killings take place, this time set in a hospital.

Keep tabs on Skatronixxx.com as we keep you updated on all Scream Queens news to come out of SDCC. Scream Queens season 2 begins in September.

 

Marvel And Netflix Announce New Series The Defenders At San Diego Comic Con

What do you get if you combine Daredevil, Luke Cage Iron Fist and Jessica Jones, besides the grittiest superhero tv shows in a long time, you get the superhero super group know as ‘Defenders‘. With the recent news of Jessica Jones being renewed as well as Daredevil and individual series for Iron Fist and Luke Cage, this was a given.

At San Diego Comic Con the Marvel panel announced the show. Not much more has been released about the show other than the video below. Is that enough to get fans excited? Hell to the yeah!