tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-72734411343980509362024-03-05T06:10:44.318-05:00One Blog to Review Them AllYour destination for reviews of books, comics, movies, tv shows and games. With some sports thrown in for good measureOne Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.comBlogger277125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-62697435947079035892015-07-05T00:11:00.001-04:002015-07-05T00:11:52.443-04:00Saturday is Haul Day 50!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhkVYvyqbnN7W3J6izE5Dv6F3cnSnDiP4Sq2mn29XCrauNgxpu0NS3JzoMRUvdiayn-VUoBrixV7ycIeNOOuJIRwvRjvFyRfQykQALu2gqxDM4Vb1ANxGjLe8kyt-GTjG_-eFPDkYkok/s1600/Haul+Week+of+7-4-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="110" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnhkVYvyqbnN7W3J6izE5Dv6F3cnSnDiP4Sq2mn29XCrauNgxpu0NS3JzoMRUvdiayn-VUoBrixV7ycIeNOOuJIRwvRjvFyRfQykQALu2gqxDM4Vb1ANxGjLe8kyt-GTjG_-eFPDkYkok/s400/Haul+Week+of+7-4-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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Easy week this week, just comics. After a day of festivities here's the Haul.<br />
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<b>Darth Vader #7</b> by Keiron Gillen, Salvador Larroca, and Edgar Delgado, <b>Princess Leia #5</b> by Mark Waid, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and Jordie Bellaire, <b>Secret Wars #4</b> by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, and Ive Svorcina, <b>The Spire #1</b> by Simon Spurrier, Jeff Stokely, and Andre May, <b>The Wicked + The Divine # 12</b> by Kieron Gillen, Kate Brown, Jamie McKelvie, and Matthew Wilson, and <b>The Woods #14</b> by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas, and Josan GonzalezOne Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-35653589661590212722015-06-28T22:57:00.002-04:002015-06-28T22:57:31.119-04:00Saturday WAS Haul Day 49!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdY5ZUh1OUJMQ-xs_WwtPNsJ4EW0k3KOw2bpNWSKsfXgjxqXlR7B-VJcdT4Yjcwk2gqvuONqmo5tuEaCUYJPdJ0LPImsPnczsCYgG3tLIXTVvIVaXv3cWGWaeDbqmhwHHONxO9wxqq-VY/s1600/Haul+Week+of+6-27-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdY5ZUh1OUJMQ-xs_WwtPNsJ4EW0k3KOw2bpNWSKsfXgjxqXlR7B-VJcdT4Yjcwk2gqvuONqmo5tuEaCUYJPdJ0LPImsPnczsCYgG3tLIXTVvIVaXv3cWGWaeDbqmhwHHONxO9wxqq-VY/s320/Haul+Week+of+6-27-15.JPG" width="297" /></a></div>
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Where was I Saturday, you might ask? Well, I was powering through the last 8 hours or so of the fantastic <i>The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</i>. Why was I pushing through it when I had other things I could have been doing? Well aside from it being fantastic and worth finishing, I had something new that was going to demand my attention in the near feature; <a href="http://rocksteadyltd.com/" target="_blank">Rocksteady</a>'s <b>Batman: Arkham Knight</b>.<br />
<br />
I also picked up a couple of other things. <b>Coup</b> from <a href="http://indieboardsandcards.com/" target="_blank">Indie Boards & Cards</a>, the makers of <i>The Resistance</i>. It's another game involving a large group of your friends lying to each other at every turn and promises to be just as much fun.<br />
<br />
I also picked up a new <a href="http://funko.com/" target="_blank">Funko</a> Pop! figurine; the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man! Basically I just saw that face and had to bring it home. Who could say "No"?<br />
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It was a really light comics week, with the only new release from my pull list being <b>Tomb Raider #17</b> by Rhianna Pratchett and Derlis Santacruz.<br />
One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-89636324511755471612015-06-20T17:29:00.002-04:002015-06-20T17:29:54.392-04:00Saturday is Haul Day 48!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1PGrLgd3526KRkSbo7B1RoWEtpbe2XctxYeHN7G_u4tcn_Ce7-2i-tSIAvgx3MI7kBQuz9UJ-EpCa_cIuLQjb7MfDwEmToyX9tQpmxJoKrWNK_-qp4d8vucMJI_jEJFdu2vf47X4o5A/s1600/Haul+Week+of+6-20-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO1PGrLgd3526KRkSbo7B1RoWEtpbe2XctxYeHN7G_u4tcn_Ce7-2i-tSIAvgx3MI7kBQuz9UJ-EpCa_cIuLQjb7MfDwEmToyX9tQpmxJoKrWNK_-qp4d8vucMJI_jEJFdu2vf47X4o5A/s400/Haul+Week+of+6-20-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
All right, I know what you're thinking to yourself, "Did Matt really go and buy a puzzle? Really?" As a matter of fact, I sure did. We were walking through the toy section and this little box caught my eye. It's from <a href="http://www.whitemountainpuzzles.com/" target="_blank">White Mountain Puzzles</a> and features a ton of vintage book covers of best sellers. Once assembled I think it'll be an interesting bit of decoration, now to figure out how to keep it assembled and framed.<br />
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This week in the comic world I picked up several interesting things: <b>Archie vs. Predator #3 of 4</b> by Alex de Campi, Fernando Ruiz, Rich Koslowski, and Jason Millet, the conclusion to <a href="http://www.vertigocomics.com/" target="_blank">Vertigo</a>'s <b>The Kitchen #8 of 8</b> by Ollie Masters, Ming Doyle and Jordie Bellaire, <b>Moon Knight #16</b> by Cullen Bunn, German Peralta, and Dan Brown, <b>Secret Six #3</b> by Gail Simone, Dan Eaglesham, Drew Geraci, and Jason Wright, and <b>Trees #10</b> by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard.One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-77033362989238289102015-06-13T17:08:00.002-04:002015-06-13T17:08:37.074-04:00Saturday is Haul Day 47!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_1RiO2kS7nSuSzjff5vyADEzFL412JLpH3IVLR0H25XC1Sm37PxgdIkqOoWNKao22i8xnEuFVbUh2niI1ngigygbLEB-yA52NJ1in24shHi5u6efKPtNbg43kLikvCRqBK_dv2PtB7f0/s1600/Haul+Week+of+6-13-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_1RiO2kS7nSuSzjff5vyADEzFL412JLpH3IVLR0H25XC1Sm37PxgdIkqOoWNKao22i8xnEuFVbUh2niI1ngigygbLEB-yA52NJ1in24shHi5u6efKPtNbg43kLikvCRqBK_dv2PtB7f0/s400/Haul+Week+of+6-13-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I know sound like a broken record at this point, but more frequent reviews are definitely in the future. It's all <i>The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt</i>'s fault. The articles you see claiming there is 200+ hours of content to make your way through are not exaggerating.<br />
<br />
The latest collaboration of Matthew Vaughan and Mark Millar, <b>Kingsman: The Secret Service</b>, was released on Blu-Ray this week. It was so much fun the first time around that I just had to add it to the collection. I can't wait to dive into the special features and see if there is a behind the scenes look at the insane melee in which Colin Firth takes out dozens of attackers.<br />
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This was a great week for comics too. <b>Batman #41</b> by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Danny Miki and FCO Plascencia, <b>Constantine: The Hellblazer #1</b> by Mike Doyle, James Tynion IV, Riley Rossmo and Ivan Plascensia, <b>Rachel Rising #34</b> by Terry Moore, <b>Saga #29</b> by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan, <b>Secret Wars #3</b> by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, and Ive Svorcina, and <b>Spider-Gwen #5</b> by Jason Latour, Robbi Rodriguez, and Rico Renzi all came home with me.One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-67075604632024140042015-06-08T01:35:00.003-04:002015-06-08T01:35:51.978-04:00Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 9<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s1600/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s320/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Game of Thrones</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “The Dance of
Dragons”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.hbo.com/#/" target="_blank">H<span style="font-weight: normal;">BO</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> David Nutter</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> David Benioff and D.B.
Weiss
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Drama, Fantasy</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> 55 <span style="font-weight: normal;">min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-MA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> June 7, <span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
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<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
After last week's superb episode I had
high hopes going in to the ninth episode of this season. The ninth
episode is typically where the really big stuff happens in a season
of <i>Game of Thrones</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and if
the thrill that was “Hardhome” was too be any indication, “The
Dance of Dragons” was going to be a huge episode. Maybe I had
placed expectations that were too high on this episode, or maybe it
just failed to live up following “Hardhome.” Either way it just
wasn't quite what I was looking for.</span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Let's
begin with Jon's return to Castle Black. After the battle with the
White Walkers, Jon had managed to bring a few thousand wildlings to
the Wall. The audience was teased for a moment with the idea that
First Ranger Thorne would refuse to open the gates, leaving the Lord
Commander and his guests to rot on the northern side of the Wall.
The tense moment passed and the wildlings were allowed to pass
through the gate. There were a lot of hateful glares directed Jon's
way, but the passage of the wildlings was allowed to occur without
violence. This would be the sole appearance of Jon Snow in the
episode, highlighting once again a problem I've had with this season.
If a character's time in an episode is limited to a handful of
minutes and then not to be seen again in the episode; I would prefer
they held off on that character's appearance until there was more to
see. There was no need for this scene in “The Dance of Dragons,”
Jon's arrival at Castle Black and the consequences of his choices
could have waited until next week.</span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Arya
set out to complete her first assignment for the Many-Faced God, but
was distracted with Lord Tyrell's group arrived in Braavos. She
recognized Ser Meryn Trant immediately and abandoned her
assassination of the Thin Man in favor of following Trant around
town. The writers saw fit to remind us how bad a guy Trant is with a
very uncomfortable scene in a brothel. He rejected a couple of the
brothel's women before settling on a young girl. Part of the fun of
the previous seasons of </span><i>Game of Thrones</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
has been the ambiguity surrounding the good or evil nature of its
characters. Sure some characters acted in such ways as to cause the
audience to dislike them, but beneath the schemes and plots you could
see how the character(s) in question could consider themselves the
good guy. The unquestionably bad guys have previously seemed evil
organically, The Mountain was just a murderous behemoth, Armory Lorch
was a sadistic sword for hire; neither of them required reminder
scenes reinforcing the level of disdain the audience should have for
them. Between Bolton, and now Trant, it seems the audience is being
bludgeoned about the head with the writers' desire for us to dislike
those characters. I don't know if it's a lack of confidence in their
own writing, or in the audience, but it has been too blatant for my
tastes. Anyway, Arya reported back to Jaqen that the Thin Man wasn't
hungry when she passed by, and that she'd try again the next day. It
seems obvious that he would know she's lying, so his motivation for
allowing things to play out may be interesting.</span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Dorne
wasn't as bad as it has been this week. Doran Martell argeed to
allow Myrcella to return with Jaime to King's Landing, on the
condition that Trystane Martell would still be allowed to marry her,
and that he would take Oberyn's seat on the King's Small Council.
Jaime agreed to the terms, and even managed to get Bronn freed from
his cell. Ellaria seems to have dropped the grudge she held against
the Lannisters, but her surrender seemed too easy. I expect her to
renege on her new sworn fealty to Doran at the next possible moment.
I don't believe that her tears when Doran forgave her were due to his
kindness, most likely she realized that he had become an obstacle in
her way.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Stannis'
encampment was attacked in the night, with most of their food stores
being destroyed. This made a desperate situation worse. Faced with
no options that would allow him victory Stannis made a decision I was
sure he would never made. I knew things were going to take a turn
for the worst when he sent Davos back to Castle Black to beg for
supplies. With the only voice of reason among his confidants removed
Stannis gave in to his desire for victory. He had a quiet chat with
Shireen, during which she professed her willingness to help in any
way she could, and then sentenced her to die on a pyre in sacrifice
to the Lord of Light. After so much time had been spent making
Stannis a more likable character this season it was surprising he
decided his own daughter was an acceptable loss on his way to the
throne. All of the goodwill Stannis had accrued from the audience
died in the fire with Shireen. Here's to hoping that her cries for
help and her pained screams haunt his sleep. While she begged for
mercy it was Selyse, Stannis' wife and devout follower of the Lord of
Light, who was shaken enough to try to help. By that time it was too
late.</span></div>
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Finally,
in Meereen, Dany was attending the festive reopening of the fighting
pits by viewing the spectacle of men killing each other. Daario
verbally sparred with the Queen's soon to be husband in what I though
was a good character moment for Daario. Jorah made his appearance
and after some hairy moments managed to win his fight. During his
fight you could see Dany's stance towards him waver every time he was
in danger. Upon his victory she seemed relieved, until Jorah took up
a fallen spear and threw it in her direction. It wasn't intended for
her though, as it struck an approaching Son of the Harpy. Soon there
were dozens of Sons making their way towards the Queen, with a small
band of defenders struggling to keep them at bay. Tyrion gave a good
showing for himself, killing one of the assailants and saving
Missandei in the process in the process. Once again the Unsullied
were made to look like the Stormtroopers of Westeros as they proved
rather ineffectual in protecting the Queen. When all seemed lost
Drogon, aka </span><i>deus ex</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
dragon, entered the battle. After man spears through Drogon's hide,
and even more Sons of the Harpy burnt extra crispy, Dany clambered
upon his back and took to the skies.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
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</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
“The Dance of Dragons” faced a tough task this week, and fell
short. If not for how good “Hardhome” was I think my reaction to
this episode would have been different. None of that is to say this
was a bad episode, it just failed to up the ante the way the ninth
episodes of seasons had before.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
8.5/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-40153992549052326352015-06-07T16:20:00.001-04:002015-07-05T00:15:13.085-04:00Saturday WAS Haul Day 46!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCIpFMKHqNJGarP3-JeFUFAFUym1hAt-HyUhwyGzVKSeI1ZUx_PnZUYyDD4s9KnKs5yuzdciVr6_wxqNfJL1owOfIxYxXIQfLWAAJP9UCRD7qxuiefX5vIV5T0jav0fTRXGa-tvEiBEaU/s1600/Haul+Week+of+6-6-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCIpFMKHqNJGarP3-JeFUFAFUym1hAt-HyUhwyGzVKSeI1ZUx_PnZUYyDD4s9KnKs5yuzdciVr6_wxqNfJL1owOfIxYxXIQfLWAAJP9UCRD7qxuiefX5vIV5T0jav0fTRXGa-tvEiBEaU/s400/Haul+Week+of+6-6-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
OK, so where have I been this week? The same place I was last week, playing <i>The Witcher 3</i> during every free moment I could find. It's a little frustrating because I feel like I'm probably only a quarter of the way through the game; at the same time every game that a person spends $60 on should provide this much entertainment.<br />
<br />
This week I noticed that Target had a bunch of classic (and other, does Peter Jackson's <i>King Kong</i> count as a classic? I think not.) movies on the shelf with interesting new cover art and these metallic cases that I really like. Alfred Hitchcock's <b>Psycho</b> has been missing from my collection for far too long, so it was time to rectify that.<br />
<br />
This week was a rebound week in the comics department, with a lot of fun stuff coming out. <b>The Bunker #11</b> by Joshua Hale Fialkov and Joe Infurnari, <b>Darth Vader #6</b> by Keiron Gillen, Salvador Larroca, and Edgar Delgado, <b>The Empty #4</b> by Jimmie Robinson, <b>Princess Leia #4</b> by Mark Waid, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and Jordie Bellaire, <b>Star Wars #6</b> by Jason Aaron, John Cassaday, and Laura Martin, <b>The Wicked + The Divine #11</b> by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles, and <b>The Woods #13</b> by James Tynion IV, Michael Dialynas, and Josan Gonzalez.One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-79327269925273320122015-06-01T01:04:00.000-04:002015-06-01T01:04:22.285-04:00Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 8<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s1600/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s320/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Game of Thrones</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “Hardhome”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.hbo.com/#/" target="_blank">H<span style="font-weight: normal;">BO</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Miguel Sapochnik</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> David Benioff and D.B.
Weiss
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Drama, Fantasy</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> 55 <span style="font-weight: normal;">min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-MA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 31, <span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Let's get the smaller things out of the
way first. Sansa confronted Theon over his loyalty to Ramsay. It
wasn't the best scene of the episode, but it did allow Sansa to
discover that Bran and Rickon are still alive. I'm not sure what the
point of revealing this fact to Sansa was; it felt more like a
reminder to the audience that Bran is still out there. I understand
the motivation behind the reveal in that regard, since Bran has not
appeared in this season. What is Sansa supposed to do with this
information though? I suppose she can draw on it to find strength,
or something some other nebulous thing, but it felt a little clumsily
handled and transparent. Also in Winterfell, the Boltons were
discussing how best to handle the impending threat of Stannis' army.
The elder Bolton was content with staying behind their walls and
waiting the assault out, Ramsay on the other hand advocated a raid of
some sort on the advancing army. He claimed he'd need only twenty
men to hurt Stannis, hopefully setting up the character's downfall in
the upcoming episode; episode nine when all of the big stuff happens.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Ceresi is still locked away in a
dungeon by the Faith. Apparently they're withholding water from her
until she confesses her crimes. When she refused she was beaten.
Qyburn showed up and gave her an update on recent events in King's
Landing. Her uncle Kevan has returned from Casterly Rock and is
serving as the Hand to King Tommen. Tommen has locked himself away
in his chambers and refuses to eat or see anyone. Qyburn also
revealed that the work he has been doing is progressing well, teasing
the audience with whatever was under the sheet we saw in his
laboratory. If nothing has changed in that regard from the books
readers of the series will know what's in store. I feel like it's a
reveal that could go either way. If it's not handled well it could
come off as cheesy, otherwise it could serve as a chilling remind of
what Ceresi will do to maintain her power. After Qyburn's visit the
woman that has been interrogating Ceresi returned with another bucket
of water and a ladle. Ceresi continued making threats to the woman,
who proceeded to dump the water on the dirty floor of Ceresi's cell.
The sight of Ceresi greedily slurping water from the dirty stone felt
like she was finally reaping what shes sown, although it was pitiful
enough that one could almost feel sorry for her.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Arya's journey to become a Faceless Man
has progressed. She has come a long way since the days she couldn't
sneak a single lie past Jaquen. She has been spending her time
cultivating a character to play while she's out in the city, that of
a peddler of mollusks. She changed the path she normally walked at
Jaquen's request and met a man named only the Thin Man. When she
reported back to Jaquen he explained to her that the Thin Man was to
be her first assignment; someone who deserves to face judgment at the
hands of the Many Faced God. After making only miniscule jumps
forward in her story this season the last two episodes have made me
care what's going on with her again.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
There was a brief check in with Sam and
Gilly at Castle Black. This was another segment of the episode that
felt unnecessary. Sam and Gilly briefly discussed how safe they may
be in Castle Black before Jon's steward walked in. Their
conversation gave Sam a few minutes to assure the audience that Jon
knows what he's doing, we just have to trust him. The quick scenes
with characters who are doing next to nothing otherwise that have
been so prevalent this season are interrupting the flow of the
episodes they appear in. Nearly every one of them have been for the
audience's benefit and not the story's.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Tyrion and Dany finally had their sit
down moment. Tyrion successfully convinced her to spare Jorah's
life, but didn't save him from banishment. Once Tyrion and Daenerys
got into a one on one setting things really picked up. He tried to
convince her of the futility of her return to Westeros, claiming that
no one would side with her. She retorted by explaining that she
didn't want the support of the ruling families in Westeros, she wants
to completely break the system of governance and remake it in a way
that's more fair to the common folk. It'll be interesting to see if
Tyrion can convince her that her goals are unrealistic, or if he'll
come around to her way of thinking. Tyrion seems too pragmatic a man
to think that the leading families of his homeland would be so easily
overthrown.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Nearly the entire last half of the
episode deal with Jon's mission to Hardhome to convince has many of
the free folk has possible to travel south and seek refuge on the
southern side of the Wall. He and Tormund arrived to a chilly
reception, but managed to convince some of the clan elders to come
with them. They began loading noncombatants on to boats to take back
to the waiting ships. Before the evacuation could be completed the
earth began to shake and clouds of ice and snow began pouring down
the surrounding mountainsides. I was sure that this was where we'd
leave the story for this week, leaving the threat to make its actual
appearance in next week's episode. You know, the episode that we've
grown so accustomed to looking at for all of the action.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Alas, I was pleasantly surprised. What
followed was an all out attack by the forces of the White Walkers,
reanimated corpses that move much faster than the last time we saw
them. I'm going to assume that their new found speed stems from the
Walkers' power growing. Jon, the men of the Night's Watch that
accompanied him on the journey, and the fighters of the wildlings
fought desperately to allow as many people to flee as possible.
After attempting to reacquire the pouch of dragonglass he'd brought
to the meeting Jon met one of the Walkers in single combat. He won
the fight and managed to escape on the last boat leaving Hardhome.
He and the apparent leader of the White Walkers engaged in a staring
battle, during which the Walker raised all of the dead that had been
left behind. With the numbers of the dead army increased following
the battle things look bleak for those south of the Wall.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Conclusion:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
The writers surprised us with an epic battle in the eighth episode
of the season. The story lines that received the bulk of the time
were all served well by “Hardhome.” Although they weren't as
distracting as they have been, the one off scenes following
characters doing very little at the time were still present, and
still obviously there only to remind the audience of things they
might've forgotten. I chuckled a bit when </span><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">the
animated skeletons of the dead army reminded me of the stop-motion
skeletons in </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Army
of Darkness</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
9/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-64135161284583666522015-05-30T17:38:00.002-04:002015-05-30T17:38:49.766-04:00Saturday is Haul Day 45!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EknaPoe_g2Lsy07ejBRKbVUwdm1UapYdDHlppD2rAg6dZ9EZPWn4HdtV0DbiiJxeKs_TuxSDx0njMR2H823PwET_hKC0WDlWbdCg9fJeY7N0mSKBa1wJoXsCfC6MEzyhw86C9LjUEwg/s1600/Haul+Week+of+5-30-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_EknaPoe_g2Lsy07ejBRKbVUwdm1UapYdDHlppD2rAg6dZ9EZPWn4HdtV0DbiiJxeKs_TuxSDx0njMR2H823PwET_hKC0WDlWbdCg9fJeY7N0mSKBa1wJoXsCfC6MEzyhw86C9LjUEwg/s400/Haul+Week+of+5-30-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
I've been a bit absent this week. I find that trying to do too much at once keeps me from getting reviews out in a timely manner. This is an issue mostly with video games. With working, reading and watching various forms of media I just don't have the time to get a video game review out in time for it to matter to people. Of course I picked the absolute worst game to try to alter my strategy, <i>The Witcher 3</i>. So far I've spent most of my spare time trying to make enough progress in that game to write an informed review, but there's just so much to do. It's massive, and a review will have to wait.<br />
<br />
So, now that you know where I've been for the past week let's move on to the new stuff!<br />
<br />
Starting us out are the table top games. <b>Last Night on Earth</b> by Jason C. Hill, and published by Flying Frog Productions, is a horror game in the style of the late night B-movies we all claim not to watch, but can't look away from. It's a cooperative game in which the players try to survive a small town's destruction at the hands of a horde of zombies. The other game is a little card game called <b>Gloom</b>. Created by Keith Baker and released by Trident, Inc. Gloom puts the players in a very strange situation; trying to kill their family members in the most tragic way possible, while supporting and providing happiness to their opponents families. Sound twisted? Well it is, and perfect for the group of people that I normally play with!<br />
<br />
It was slim pickings in the comics department this week, with only two comics appearing on my pull list. <b>Postal #4</b> by Matt Hawkins, Bryan Hill, Isaac Goodhart, and Betsy Gonia and <b>Tomb Raider #16</b> by Rhianna Pratchett and Derlis Santacruz.One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-22714486498052062382015-05-25T01:41:00.000-04:002015-05-25T01:41:02.566-04:00Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 7<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s1600/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s320/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Game of Thrones</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “The Gift”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.hbo.com/#/" target="_blank">H<span style="font-weight: normal;">BO</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Miguel Sapochnik</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> David Benioff and D.B.
Weiss
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Drama, Fantasy</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> 55 <span style="font-weight: normal;">min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-MA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 24, <span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
This season of <i>Game of Thrones</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
is still moving more slowly than I would like. There are just too
many story lines for every one of them to get a large amount of time.
The plot is inching forward in incremental steps because of it.
With that said things are finally coming to a head in most of the
arcs, and the situations don't look good for anyone.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Jon
headed out with the wildlings to find the rest of the free folk and
bring them to safety south of the wall. Maester Aemon shuffled loose
his mortal coil and now Sam has found himself short on friends and
surrounded by people that don't like him much, due to his loyalty to
Jon. Aside from veiled threats for First Ranger Thorne his first bit
of trouble comes in the form of two brothers of the Night's Watch
trying to force themselves on Gilly. The physical confrontation goes
as poorly as you'd expect and the surprise reappearance of Ghost is
the only thing that saves Sam and Gilly. When they're alone later
on, with Gilly tending to his injuries, they have a moment. Now Sam
is an oath breaker as well and we'll be left to find out if he's
guilt ridden due to his honor or if his affection for Gilly will push
him to do things he was previously incapable of.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Sansa
tried to enlist Theon's aid in summoning help from her remaining
friends in the North. Theon is still too afraid of Ramsay to act
against him overtly and reported the request to Ramsay. Ramsay
tracked down the old woman with whom Sansa had spoken before and
flayed her. With the prospect of outside help seeming rather
unlikely we might finally see Sansa take control of the situation
herself. She did manage to sneak some sort of weapon while Ramsay
was gloating. I'm really hoping that she'll take matters into her
own hands before Stannis' army arrives. Speaking of Stannis, the
weather has made his march on Winterfell nearly impossible at this
point. Davos reported the loses they're suffering due to the
inclement weather, causing Stannis to look to Melisandre for help.
After some beating around the bush her solution was to sacrifice his
daughter to fuel another killing spell. This was the first time
we've really seen Stannis angry at Melinsandre, as this was a line he
seems unwilling to cross. Over the last few weeks a fair amount of
effort has gone into making Stannis a more likable character, but I
fear that the moment we saw between he and his daughter was there to
establish how major a sacrifice she would be to his cause. When push
comes to shove what will be more important to him?</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">In
Meereen, Jorah and Tyrion have finally reached their destination.
Jorah saw Dany partaking of the 'entertainment' in the fighting pit
and read her disdain for the killing on her face. He proceeded to
take several men out of the fight without killing them and revealed
himself to her. I feared that with loses she's been suffering she'd
forgive and forget, but she immediately wanted him dragged away.
Only Tyrion's quick appearance kept that from happening. How she
reacts to having such a powerful captive from the Seven Kingdoms is
anyone's guess, but at least now she's willing to hear them out.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Through
most of the episode it seems like Ceresi's plans in King's Landing
are going smoothly. Olenna is doing all she can to get her
grandchildren out of their current predicament, but her conversation
with the High Sparrow yielded no reason to be optimistic. Her
meeting with Littlefinger was much more successful, as he promised
her some information that would help her cause. Ceresi paid a visit
to Margaery to gloat for a moment and then went to speak to the
leader of the Faith. Her meeting with the High Sparrow started off
promising, for her, with the holy man describing the next steps of
the Faith's justice system. It took a turn though when he started
talking about some of her own crimes. Lancel appeared to let us know
exactly what was being discussed and then Ceresi was dragged away to
a cell of her own. It's good to see the plan she was so proud of
starting to blow up in her face.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
scenes in Dorne are still the weakest of the season so far. Aside
from filling this episodes nudity quotient there's just not enough
going on their to make me care. Myrcella doesn't want to leave and
Jaime is powerless to make her. Bronn did have a bit of a bonding
moment with the Sand Snakes, which could be interesting, but
something really needs to happen in Dorne soon. For a setting that
could have provided a real change of pace from the locales we've
become accustomed to it's been lackluster so far.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
“The Gift” represented another tiny step forward in this
season's arc. There seems to be too many things going on for their
to by much development from week to week. With that said the big
positives coming out of the episode were Ceresi finally reaping
what's she sowed and Tyrion coming face to face with Danaerys.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
8.25/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-12746092817930584212015-05-23T18:59:00.000-04:002015-05-23T18:59:12.367-04:00Saturday is Haul Day 44!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunvWVvgB46KFgeVy8LI64Wprwf06MqZbDaJbfkUYRRfm2LdepDLfxBT-GSbm_01qs7Ura367gjhqlnsIPNZhHEIWK8NRxJ_nDtOepR_JGAVMihxbEiirkddBuKiT_5h9KFZ0WOc_2Jfw/s1600/Haul+Week+of+5-23-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="171" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunvWVvgB46KFgeVy8LI64Wprwf06MqZbDaJbfkUYRRfm2LdepDLfxBT-GSbm_01qs7Ura367gjhqlnsIPNZhHEIWK8NRxJ_nDtOepR_JGAVMihxbEiirkddBuKiT_5h9KFZ0WOc_2Jfw/s400/Haul+Week+of+5-23-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
The big addition this week is <b>The Witcher 3</b> from <a href="https://www.cdprojekt.com/en" target="_blank">CD Projekt Red</a>. It's a massive open world RPG that promises to deliver well over 100 hours of gameplay. I missed the second game of the franchise, but enjoyed the first one immensely and I'm excited to jump back into the boots of Geralt of Rivia.<br />
<br />
I also came home with quite a few high quality comics this week: <b>Archie vs. Predator #2 of 4</b> by Alex de Campi, Fernando Ruiz, Rich Koslowski, and Jason Millet, <b>Hexed #10</b> by Michael Alan Nelson, Dan Mora and Gabriel Cassata, <b>The Kitchen #7 of 8</b> by Ollie Masters, Ming Doyle and Jordie Bellaire, <b>Moon Knight #15</b> by Cullen Bunn, German Peralta, and Dan Brown, <b>Star Wars #5</b> by Jason Aaron, John Cassaday, and Laura Martin, <b>Trees #9</b> by Warren Ellis and Jason Howard, and <b>Wytches #6</b> by Scott Snyder, Jock, Matt Hollingsworth, and Clem Robins.
One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-72989387850925859332015-05-20T00:39:00.001-04:002015-05-20T00:39:34.835-04:00The Flash: Season 1, Episode 23<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkI7QDlSzcxEoAS8wlYMxQt22K8pwh6CPnWXSwD9mzChXkXJndsJSRAHfs3PPCObt0xWBhSpqvAxGi_xnSs4BOgMbXMYmR24QNZ4j7uBM6yx4JkJvPwkm2n8Co7xgp1RU8lrvJTqYAwc/s1600/the+flash+tv+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkI7QDlSzcxEoAS8wlYMxQt22K8pwh6CPnWXSwD9mzChXkXJndsJSRAHfs3PPCObt0xWBhSpqvAxGi_xnSs4BOgMbXMYmR24QNZ4j7uBM6yx4JkJvPwkm2n8Co7xgp1RU8lrvJTqYAwc/s320/the+flash+tv+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>The Flash</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “Fast Enough”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CW</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Dermott Downs</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> Gabrielle Stanton and
Andrew Kreisberg</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">43
min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-PG</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 19, <span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Go no further if you haven't watched
<i>The Flash</i><span style="font-style: normal;">'s season finale,
you have been warned.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">First,
a word on the entire season. </span><i>The Flash</i><span style="font-style: normal;">'s
first season has been one of the most consistently good premiere
seasons of any of the shows I've watched. Often it was more than
good, with truly great moments sprinkled throughout the season.
Sure, there were the occasional things to quibble over, but it's hard
to imagine a better way to bring the Flash to the screen. With that
said it's time to get into the season finale, “Fast Enough.”</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">One of
the first things that struck me concerning this episode is the
bucking of the trend when it comes to final showdowns between the
hero and his nemesis. Eobard Thawne was captured last week, and was
in no position to pose a physical threat when the episode opened.
With Thawne neutralized the show was given more time to focus on the
personal and emotional ramifications of Barry's plight. Given the
opportunity to travel back in time and prevent his mother's murder
Barry was presented with, what seemed at first, a dream scenario. If
he successfully saved his mother he'd be able to live his life with
his real parents. Nora would avoid her fate and his father, Henry,
would actually have his freedom. What on the surface seemed like an
easy decision was made much more difficult when Barry realized all of
the consequences.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">There
was little time spent beating around the bush. Barry gathered his
closest friends and family and laid out the options. The scenes
leading to his decision were the most emotionally powerful we've seen
so far in the series. Grant Gustin's chemistry was on full display
with both of his onscreen fathers. Jesse L. Martin's scenes were
heart wrenching. He realized that if Barry was successful the son he
had raised as his own would cease to be, worse than that; the times
they had spent together would be forever lost in the new time line.
Despite his obvious sorrow at the possibility he encouraged Barry to
save his mother and have the childhood he deserved. Barry's
biological father, Henry, had an entirely different take on the
situation. Overcome by pride in seeing what his son has become he
counseled Barry to leave things as they are, believing that
everything happens for a reason. John Wesley Shipp shined in his
portrayal of a proud father, unwilling to change the worst night of
his life if it meant changing the man his son had become.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Another
great pseudo-father/son moment took place between Cisco and Thawne.
Cisco told his former mentor about the memories he's retained from
Barry's first jaunt through time. Thawne explained to Cisco that
this was a sign that he was affected by the accelerator catastrophe
and that he was some sort of metahuman too. It looks like we're not
too far away from seeing Cisco Ramon's alter ego, Vibe. In this and
every other scene he was in, Tom Cavanagh, continued his stellar work
as a villain who has genuine love and affection for those he's been
manipulating. Cavanagh deserves more recognition than he's likely to
receive for his performance this season.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Victor
Garber's character, Dr. Martin Stein, also made an appearance. With
Wells no longer around to guide everyone through the scientific
aspects of what they're attempting he filled in admirably. Aside
from explaining the technological aspects of their plan he also
shared a good moment with Eddie. Eddie was, understandably, feeling
as if he had no place in the proceeding. After a pep talk from Stein
he realized that because in the future he's an unknown he has the
opportunity to make anything he wants of himself. He reconnected
with Iris and it looked as though they were going to try to make it
work, no matter what future Eobard had shown them.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">If
there was a weak spot in “Fast Enough” it was the way in which
Caitlin's character was handled. The first irritating moment came
when the possibility of a black hole was being discussed. She needed
someone to tell her what a singularity was. It's hard to believe
that someone has science savvy as Caitlin would be ignorant of that
information. The line should definitely have been given to one of
the less scientifically minded people in the room at the time. She
really didn't have much to do this week, but with Stein's presence in
the episode they also brought along Ronnie Raymond. He has changed
his mind about staying with Caitlin in Central City and re-proposed
to her. With all of the things going on around them they decided
that this would be a good day for a wedding. I suppose the writers
believed there was a need for something happy to happen in an episode
that had been so tearful, but it felt unnecessary. </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Barry
and Eobard made a deal, Eobard would tell Barry how to travel back to
the night of his mother's murder and Eobard would be allowed to
return to his time. Of course there were going to be complications
with the plan, the most dire of which was the possibility that the
worm hole Barry was going to open would become a black hole and
swallow the world. Barry made the decision to go back despite the
danger, though he'd have less than two minutes to accomplish his goal
before the worm hole destabilized into a black hole. He successfully
made the trip, seeing some interesting possible time lines, notable
among them one in which Caitlin becomes Killer Frost, on his way
back. It looked like everything was going to plan until the moment
came to intervene. Somehow the future Flash knew his past (Present?
Time travel gets so confusing) self was in the next room and warned
him away.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
look of pain on Gustin's face has he listened to his mother's murder
in the next room conveyed perfectly to the audience that toll that
decision took on him. After the deed was done he did go into the
room to say goodbye to his mother, at least giving himself some
closure. Back in STAR Labs, Eobard was preparing to go back to his
time. Before he left a helmet came back through the worm hole and
landed at his feet. It looks like we'll be seeing another Flash in
the near future, one Jay Garrick, who is the first man to use the
Flash moniker in the comics. The appearance of the helmet was enough
to panic Eobard, who was mere feet from realizing his goal when Barry
came bursting back through the portal. While the team struggled to
shutdown the worm hole Eobard and Barry fought it out. Eobard got
the upper hand, and in true comic villain fashion took time to gloat
and threaten Barry's friends and family. A gun shot rang out, Eddie
had made his decision regarding his future and shot himself in the
chest. Because he's an ancestor of Eobard Thawne this caused Eobard
to be erased from time. It was a great moment for Eddie, he became
the hero he always wanted to be and made the impact on history that
Eobard had told him he wouldn't make.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Unfortunately
for team Flash things quickly got worse. The worm hole reopened and
became a singularity. It was centered over STAR Labs and quickly
devouring everything nearby. Barry decided to do what he could to
stop the destruction of the city, possibly the world, by diving into
the swirling accretion disc and using his speed to sap it of its
power. Then the screen went black, fans left with a cliffhanger that
seems much too removed from being resolved. Season two can't get
here fast enough.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A stellar ending to a great first season. “Fast Enough”
benefited from being able to forgo the villain showdown one would
expect from the finale of a superhero show. Nearly all of the
performances were their respective actors' best of the season, making
it very hard to pick out a single standout. The lack of something
important for Caitlin to do could be viewed as the episode's sole
weakness.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
9/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-40056584608686393512015-05-18T01:08:00.004-04:002015-05-18T01:08:33.575-04:00Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 6<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s1600/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s320/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Game of Thrones</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “Unbowed,
Unbent, Unbroken”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.hbo.com/#/" target="_blank">H<span style="font-weight: normal;">BO</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Jeremy Podeswa</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writer:</b> Bryan Cogman</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Drama, Fantasy</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> 55 <span style="font-weight: normal;">min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-MA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 17, <span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I'm going to get the big, uncomfortable
thing out of the way to start things off. This week the audience got
to see Sansa back home and preparing for her wedding. There was one
moment while Myranda, Ramsay's former mistress, was doing her best to
intimidate Sansa. Sansa was not to be deterred, and dismissed the
woman in a fashion that seemed to say she was coming into her own.
Theon escorted her to the godswood for her marriage ceremony and with
little pomp or flare she and Ramsay were married. I knew things were
going to be rough for Sansa in this situation, every other time she's
been in a dire situation she's had someone there to act as a safety
net. That is not the case in Winterfell at present. Ramsay ordered
her to undress, forced Theon to watch, and then raped her. It was a
tough scene to watch and one has to wonder if Littlefinger had any
idea how bad things would become for Sansa when she became married to
Ramsay. Theon's reaction had me believing more a moment that he
might risk stopping things, but ultimately he was unwilling to
intervene. All we can hope for now is that the indignity Sansa has
suffered will be avenged, preferably by her own hand.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Arya is continuing her training to
become a Faceless Man. Things aren't going smoothly for her, she
can't let go of who she is/was and it makes the lies she tries to
tell Jaquen as part of her training transparent. The best part about
the scene in which she tries multiple times to sneak a lie past
Jaquen, getting walloped by a switch the punishment for a discernible
lie, was when she was forced to admit that she didn't hate the Hound.
She'd been telling herself she did for so long the that her lack of
hatred came as a surprise, even to herself. We then saw her first
successful lie, as she ushered a sick little girl into the next life
by having her drink from the fountain at the temple's center. This
was enough to convince Jaquen that she was ready for the next step of
the process. He revealed to her a chamber beneath the temple that
houses thousands and thousands of faces, unveiling the secret of what
happens to the dead after they're washed. To close out Arya's
scenes, Jaquen tells her that she might not be ready to be nobody;
but it is time for her to become someone else. After the slow
progress that Arya's story has been making so far in season five it's
good to see it finally going somewhere.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
In King's Landing there's a lot of
intrigue. Littlefinger was stopped on his way to a meeting with
Ceresi by the Sparrows, but they let him pass. His meeting with
Ceresi featured him telling her about Sansa's presence at Winterfell,
and then volunteering to take an army northward to flush out the
traitorous Boltons. Littlefinger's ability to play both sides
against each other, ensuring that no matter the outcome of a battle
at Winterfell, has left him in what seems like a good position. The
same cannot be said of House Tyrell. First, the Queen of Thorns has
returned to King's Landing. The verbal sparring between Olenna
Tyrell and Ceresi was one of the better moments to occur in King's
Landing this season. The audience also so the Faith's inquiry into
Loras Tyrell and his, according to them, blasphemous behavior. The
High Sparrow questioned by Loras and Margaery, who both lied in order
to keep Loras from having a trial. Then the Sparrows ushered one of
Loras' lovers into the chamber. The man was Loras' squire, with whom
Loras had also been intimate with. The damning evidence was his
knowledge of a birth mark on Loras' thigh. While the audience knows
the truth this seemed a little to easy a way to prove his supposed
crimes. As a squire wouldn't the witness have helped Loras dress and
whatnot, it seems easy to argue that through the course of normal
squiring that is knowledge that would have been easy to come by.
Either way, the Sparrows hauled of Loras so that he might face a
trial. Then, in a twist, they seized Margaery as well for bearing
false witness. Tommen sat idly by and let his wife be escorted from
the room, much to Ceresi's pleasure.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Jaime and Bronn eventually made their
way to the Water Gardens and attempted to free Myrcella.
Complications arose when Myrcella didn't wish to leave, and the Sand
Snakes showed up. I'm all for some action to break up the intrigue,
but this fight sequence was sorely lacking. The editing was strange
and the action itself was awkward. Perhaps the oddest moment in the
fight choreography was when Areo put his axe to Jaime's throat. I
had expected the man safeguarding the ruler of Dorne to be quicker
and more dangerous, his movement was so ponderous that his claim that
were Jaime whole it would be quite a fight couldn't be taken
seriously. Also, it is difficult to care about the Sand Snakes
grievances. They're all forgettable, which is disappointing
considering how much Oberyn Martell added to season four. Let's see
there's the one with the whips, the one with the knives, and the one
with the spear. Dorne has been a missed opportunity this season.
Instead of offering a new setting, one with grand new things to see,
we've been relegated to watching every Dornish scene take place in
the same tiny section of the grounds.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The unlikeliest of of traveling
companions, Jorah and Tyrion, had some quality time this week. They
discussed their pasts and seemed to at least build a grudging respect
for each other. Unfortunately for them they were accosted by
slavers. Some quick thinking and humor on Tyrion's part kept them
both alive for the time being. They've still been captured and now
Jorah is bound for the newly reopened fighting pits. No matter who
is in charge of Tyrion's travel arrangements it is inevitable that
he'll end up before Daenerys.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Conclusion</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">:
Some of the story lines that had up to this point been boring are
starting to come around. Arya's story in particular finally seems
to have some direction. While I suppose Sansa's fate on her wedding
night isn't a surprise given what we know about Ramsay it was still
hard to watch. Ceresi might have maneuvered the Tyrells into a
comprising situation, but it seems she's forgetting what the Faith's
opinion on some of her past transgressions might entail.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rating:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
8/10</span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-88819839402923965912015-05-16T16:16:00.001-04:002015-05-16T16:16:50.033-04:00Saturday is Haul Day 43!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrz26bzqtsYsen4pSiWgKJU-2FcUyvd4zVBeIsq-saxvgrCmLKTcHDC7tcQzAGYMRzxvnDCYqsskT1XPdm6EQ7lQ5TRYLT-qhKUt8mHtRSyjS-IB-69wr8qGynzQ5cI6BWlG0Iv9OBxdc/s1600/Haul+Week+of+5-16-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="102" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjrz26bzqtsYsen4pSiWgKJU-2FcUyvd4zVBeIsq-saxvgrCmLKTcHDC7tcQzAGYMRzxvnDCYqsskT1XPdm6EQ7lQ5TRYLT-qhKUt8mHtRSyjS-IB-69wr8qGynzQ5cI6BWlG0Iv9OBxdc/s400/Haul+Week+of+5-16-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
It's been another light week as far as interesting releases go, but that's sure to change soon. For the time being, here are the comics I picked up this week:<br />
<br />
<b>Angel: Asgard's Assassin #6</b> by Kieron Gillen, Marguerite Bennett, Phil Jimenez, <b>Darth Vader #5 by </b>Keiron Gillen, Salvador Larroca, and Edgar Delgado, <b>Lady Killer #5</b> by Joelle Jones and Jamie S. Rich, <b>Sage #28</b> by Fiona Staples and Brian K. Vaughan, and <b>Thor #8</b> by Jason Aaron, Russel Dauterman and Matthew Wilson.One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-63201657205763306312015-05-14T00:35:00.000-04:002015-05-14T00:35:56.637-04:00Arrow: Season 3, Episode 23<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5riedOvp9dJdZ56BAgKExFN2WKczdJsoTpve25JtCMBkTYnJOaarFlD9IzI1JBNzx4PNjOtZgrY4kRN0t_zIO50-CZDK5ZKVBdN4r68WSCaC1NHuJQpNq5LuSW-JT04e62l4_fYffoug/s1600/Arrow+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="176" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5riedOvp9dJdZ56BAgKExFN2WKczdJsoTpve25JtCMBkTYnJOaarFlD9IzI1JBNzx4PNjOtZgrY4kRN0t_zIO50-CZDK5ZKVBdN4r68WSCaC1NHuJQpNq5LuSW-JT04e62l4_fYffoug/s320/Arrow+title.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Arrow</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title: </b>“My Name is
Oliver Queen”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CW</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> John Behring</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Marc
Guggenheim and Jake Coburn</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">42
min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-14</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 13<span style="font-weight: normal;">,
2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It's no secret that season three of
<i>Arrow</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> has fallen short of the
promise the show presented the audience in season two. Much of the
season felt aimless, with the main villain appearing halfway through
the season following a mostly pointless investigation into the murder
of Sara. Although there were flashes of the quality we had become
accustomed to it didn't feel like the show had the same fire. Now
we're wrapping up the season with an episode that served to remind
everyone of all the good and the bad we've seen so far.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">I'm
going to start off with the flashbacks. They have been lackluster
all season, with nearly every one of them revolving around the
capture of one fluid filled tube or another. After last week, with
Akio dead and the ruin of the Yamashiros' marriage coming to light,
it was hard to imagine what the point of this week's flashbacks would
be. Oliver, Maseo, and Tatsu skirmished with General Shrieve's men
and captured the general. They then left to have Akio's body
cremated and Tatsu distributed the ashes in three urns to each of
them. Oliver returned to Shrieve and tortured him, fully embracing
the darkness that Amanda Waller had seen in him. He left Shrieve on
death's door, and Maseo put the general out of his misery. Then,
during the good bye sequence, Maseo fled his responsibilities as a
husband. Tatsu decided to go to a monastery near her childhood home.
Oliver made reference to keeping the darkness he had found in
himself away from his family in Starling City, leaving us to believe
that he intends to return to Lian Yu. There were no big reveals
here, we already knew where these characters would end up. This
season's flashbacks could have been condensed into half of the number
of episodes they were featured in.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">In
present day, Oliver and Ra's were riding in an airplane towards
Starling City. The plan began to experience malfunctions and Oliver
revealed that it was all a sham to Ra's. Ollie then tossed a blade
to Nyssa and they went on to take out the League men. Ra's was one
step ahead of them though, grabbed the plane's only parachute and
jumped out with the Alpha/Omega bioweapon. Luckily for Oliver and
Nyssa, Oliver is apparently capable of emergency landing a cargo
plane. They then set out to stop Ra's before he can release the
weapon on the unsuspecting citizens of Starling City.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Back
at Nanda Parbat we learn the fate of team Arrow. It wasn't some sort
of knock out gas in the tube that the team was exposed to. It was
the actual virus, luckily Merlyn had someone synthesize a vaccine.
He administered it to the team through skin contact. That does leave
the question though, how did the team know to fall unconscious to
keep the ruse alive? Does the vaccine make the Alpha/Omega a
relatively harmless sleeping gas? Whatever the explanation the team
is still stuck in the dungeon. Until the Flash shows up to take out
all the guards and release the team from captivity. This served to
highlight one of the complications in a shared universe. The Flash
has time for a quick jail break, but doesn't have the time to help
Oliver end the threat to a major metropolis? It probably would have
been better if the Flash had been left out of the episode altogether,
at least then those type of question would have remained in the
viewers' subconscious. As it was presented you couldn't help but
wonder why Barry couldn't take a half hour to save the day.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
team got back to Starling City with no problems. (Where is Nanda
Parbat anyway? You have to take a plane from there to Starling City,
but if team Arrow took their plane how long did Ra's wait to put his
plan into motion?) Merlyn started giving everyone on the team orders
that they reluctantly followed and then Oliver showed up. Felicity,
after some initial anger, seemed ready to forgive Oliver for the
deception he had put them all through. Diggle was not as agreeable.
He agreed to help only to save innocent civilians, his relationship
with Oliver is very much a question mark now. After come computer
based voodoo Felicity managed to track down the four places Ra's was
preparing to release the virus. There was a tiny side-excursion by
Oliver to a man named Damian Darhk, who is Ra's nemesis and a threat
to the Demon Head's right to rule the League of Assassins. This bit
was only filler, and a way to keep that name in the forefront of the
audience's minds, presumably because Darhk will be a major player in
season four. Another side-arc revolved around Laurel's attempt to
get her father to help them track down the virus. Lance is drinking
again, but that really could have waited until next season before
coming to light</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
team goes out to stop the bioweapon's release and discovers that Ra's
plan was to infect four of his men and then have them spill their own
blood to release the contagion. One of the walking virus bombs
managed to complete his task after being shot by Thea, who is now
gallivanting about in Roy's old costume. The birth of Speedy! A
League member approached Oliver and invited him to watch Starling
City at Ra's' side. Just like that it was time for the final
showdown. This particular fight lacked the sense of dread that their
previous encounter and been steeped in. While they were fighting
Lance appeared at a post manned by some of the police force, who were
being ordered to take out Ra's and Oliver. Before they could carry
out their orders, Oliver beat Ra's, and in a poignant moment recited
the same prayer Ra's has used upon vanquishing a foe.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Ray
Palmer was busy during all of this, trying to figure out a way to
stop the Alpha/Omega. While he and Felicity were brainstorming ideas
they received a call from Captain Lance, sharing with them the amount
of danger Oliver was in. Felicity implored Ray to don the ATOM suit
and save Oliver, but he was having none of it; weighing Oliver's life
against the thousands that could die if he didn't finish his work.
When Oliver was shot he fell over the side of the Starling City Dam,
but was saved from being splattered below by the ATOM. The
television version of the ATOM's transformation into a discount Iron
Man is now complete, after Oliver finds out that his savior is none
other than Pepper Pots...I mean Felicity.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">In the
falling action a lot of story lines were set up for season four.
Oliver and Felicity are going to run away together, with Oliver
maintaining only his real identity. Before they left Oliver gave
everyone a pep talk, telling them how certain he was that the rest of
the team would manage well in his absence. He welcomed Thea into the
fold and asked Diggle to keep fighting the good fight. Diggle is
still not 100% on board, but if he continues his career as a
vigilante Oliver suggested he find a way to obscure his identity. In
the one big shocker of the finale Oliver is forced to pay the price
for Malcolm Merlyn's help, that little bit of finger jewelry that
serves as Ra's al Ghul's symbol of office is now in Merlyn's
possession. This gives him control of the League, but Oliver
reminded him that there were stipulations concerning how the League
was to be run. I'm sure Merlyn will hold to his agreement for as
short a time as possible. I hope that next season we see Merlyn OR
Darhk as the villain, in my eyes both would be too much. The episode
closed with Oliver and Felicity driving off to happier times, with
Oliver admitting that he was finally happy. The ending was
completely different from the finales of the previous two seasons,
giving it a strange feel. It is as if the ending was thrown together
in preparation for the show being canceled, finally giving Oliver a
chance at a real life. Since there's not much of a show without
Oliver Queen doing his thing it seems like a safe bet that something
is going to ruin his happily ever after before the first commercial
break of next season's premiere.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A happy ending to the season was not what I was expecting. On the
whole “My Name is Oliver Queen” encapsulated much of what didn't
work in season three. Although it had its positive moments, large
chunks of the story simply fell flat. The evolution of Thea into
masked crime fighter and Merlyn's new position were the best things
to come out of the episode.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
6.5/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-2449954450250808712015-05-13T00:36:00.000-04:002015-05-13T00:36:13.517-04:00The Flash: Season 1, Episode 22<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkI7QDlSzcxEoAS8wlYMxQt22K8pwh6CPnWXSwD9mzChXkXJndsJSRAHfs3PPCObt0xWBhSpqvAxGi_xnSs4BOgMbXMYmR24QNZ4j7uBM6yx4JkJvPwkm2n8Co7xgp1RU8lrvJTqYAwc/s1600/the+flash+tv+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkI7QDlSzcxEoAS8wlYMxQt22K8pwh6CPnWXSwD9mzChXkXJndsJSRAHfs3PPCObt0xWBhSpqvAxGi_xnSs4BOgMbXMYmR24QNZ4j7uBM6yx4JkJvPwkm2n8Co7xgp1RU8lrvJTqYAwc/s320/the+flash+tv+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>The Flash</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “Rogue Air”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CW</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Doug Aarniokoski</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> Aaron Helbing and Todd
Helbing</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">43
min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-PG</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 12, <span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">There
was an unbelievable number of things going on in “Rogue Air.”
The final stages of Eobard Thawne's plan are begin set into motion
and he's comfortable enough to monologue to Eddie for a bit on loss,
and what one would do to get back the things he's lost. Cisco
discovered that there was a power source in Wells' wheelchair that
was generating an insane amount of power, enough to energize the
entire city. He theorized that Eobard was somehow using it to power
himself, how that would work wasn't touched on and the idea seemed a
bit too convenient a way to explain Eobard's superior speed. The
team realized that Eobard was still in STAR Labs somewhere, but when
they went to the pipeline to investigation he escaped and freed
Shawna Baez, aka Peek-a-Boo. She briefly wreaked havoc and was
threatening to kill Caitlin when Iris knocked her out. She was
placed back in her cell, and Joe heard yelling coming from inside the
particle accelerator. They rescued Eddie from Eobard's hiding place,
Iris finding the engagement ring in the process.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">After
discussing with Eddie his time in captivity the team discovered that
Eobard was powering up the accelerator for some nefarious purpose.
With no way to stop it Barry decided they needed to move the
metahumans out of their makeshift prison in order to save their
lives. Barry decided that Lian Yu, the home of ARGUS's prison for
exceptional inmates, and Oliver Queen's dumping ground for the worst
of the worst, is the best place for the metahumans. Calls for help
to Oliver, Robbie, and Dr. Stein (both halves of Firestorm) go
unanswered, but through Diggle he's able to set everything up. Joe
was not a fan of moving the criminals from one unlawful prison to
another, but was convinced to try to help. His plea for help from
Central City's D.A. fell on deaf ears, with her reiterating what that
kind of imprisonment is in the eyes of the law. It is an interesting
moral argument, but felt a bit misplaced in this particular episode.
The moral questions surrounding the pipeline seem like something to
tackle during the middle of season two, not something you distract
from the upcoming season finale by mentioning them.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Barry,
seemingly out of options, resorted to the lesser of known evils to
get the job done. He met with Captain Cold to secure his help in the
transportation. After some haggling Barry agreed to erase all
evidence of Leonard Snart's existence and Snart agreed to help Barry.
He brought his sister along, and the scenes between her and Cisco
served as the infrequent comic relief in the episode. Luckily they
left Heatwave at home, he must not play well with others, which was
good. Dominic Purcell plays the character too cornily to fit into a
situation as serious as the end of this season. Cisco figured out a
way to rig the power supply he found on Wells' wheelchair to subdue
their metahuman captives' powers while they were in transit. Leaving
one to wonder why exactly Barry needed Snart's help. The transport
goes smoothly until they arrive at the airport. ARGUS's plane was
late, and suddenly the dampening field Cisco had rigged was failing.
The metahumans escaped, Snart admitted to sabotaging the device, and
now four of the Flash's dangerous foes are free.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">I
know that this conflict was set up to do two things. First to pose
the moral questions asked by various characters during the season.
Joe's insistence that Barry was too unlike Oliver Queen to use
villains to his own ends, which seemed like an odd thing to say
because I can't remember the Arrow doing anything like that. They
did use Barry's desire to save the metahumans to highlight the way in
which Barry is different, heroically, from Oliver; but it would have
easier to show how Barry was different from Oliver by focusing on the
possibility that Oliver might have just left them all to die. The
second reason of course was to get some established villains back
into the world and ready to cause trouble for season two, setting up
the Flash's Rogues Gallery with Captain Cold at its head. I just
wish that instead of dragging Snart along in a situation he wasn't
needed hadn't been the way this was accomplished. Wells could have
just released them all to distract Barry from whatever his motivation
was in reactivating the particle accelerator.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Barry
and company returned to STAR Labs to lick their wounds, with Joe
provided a brief “I told you so,” moment. Then alarms began to
go off as the accelerator reached operational status. Like clockwork
Wells appeared outside ready to do battle. Barry went out to face
him, but he wasn't alone. The Arrow and Firestorm showed up in the
nick of time, prepared for the showdown. The battle between the two
sides was brief, but action packed. The best part about this scene
was that the man without powers, Oliver Queen, was most effective in
the fight. With the help of some nanites provided by Ray Palmer,
Oliver twice managed to incapacitate Eobard. The first time Eobard
recovered after trading blows with the Arrow. The second time took
all three of them; the Flash got him isolated, Firestorm roasted him,
and once Eobard had hit the ground Oliver pumped him full of more
nanites. The show ended with Barry standing over his vanquished foe.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">These
crossovers have a flaw. While Oliver is dealing with his trouble in
Nanda Parbat he had time to jet over to Central City and bail Barry
out? There must be a direct shuttle service between Central City,
Starling City, and Nanda Parbat. Just slide your Metro card and
you'll arrive at your destination in an hour or less, or your next
ride is free! The crossovers are always exciting and I really enjoy
seeing the other heroes guest starring, but some serious effort
should be made to have these events feel more organic. The other
issue I had with the ending is that it seems obvious that Eobard
intended to be caught. He has activated the accelerator for some
unknown purpose but has limited access to it while Barry is hunting
him. His best chance of getting close to it will a occur when Team
Flash tries to take him into custody. I'm really hoping for Cisco,
the resident movie buff, to mention something to this affect early in
next week's episode.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Conclusion:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
The moral questions raised in “Rogue Air” seemed out of place
this close to the season finale. At this point I want more of a
focus on Eobard and his endgame. Barry got burned by trusting
Leonard Snart in a moment that he should have seen coming. Snart's
presence was not necessary to the final plan, so he was there only to
teach Barry a lesson. The superhero team-up was a lot of fun, even
if it was a little short, but more effort needs to be made to make
the guest appearances of other heroes feel more natural. The quick
shout out to Green Lantern, the test pilot that went missing from
Ferris Airfield, was a good way to remind the viewers that this is
all part of a much larger picture, even if our chances of seeing Hal
Jordan or another Lantern in action on the small screen are pretty
low.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rating:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
7.5/10</span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-36699207595490108992015-05-11T01:12:00.003-04:002015-05-11T01:12:43.450-04:00Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 5<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s1600/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s320/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Game of Thrones</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “Kill the Boy”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.hbo.com/#/" target="_blank">H<span style="font-weight: normal;">BO</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Jeremy Podeswa</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writer:</b> Bryan Cogman</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Drama, Fantasy</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> 55 <span style="font-weight: normal;">min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-MA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 10, <span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
We're halfway into this season of <i>Game
of Thrones</i><span style="font-style: normal;">, and it's still a
little hard to see where this season itself is going. “Kill the
Boy” did dredge up the true threat in Westeros, the coming winter
and the south bound White Walkers, which was nice. With so much
intrigue and conflict between factions it is easy to forget that
there is something much more dangerous lurking in the North.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Jon is
settling into his role as Lord Commander. His first big decision, to
bring the wildlings remaining in the North behind the safety of the
Wall, did not go over well with his men. It was received by Tormund
Giantsbane much the same way. Jon discussed the mission with him,
called Tormund a coward, and calmly unshackled the wildling in what
was a very good scene for Jon. That act seemed to earn an amount of
grudging respect from the man he's expecting to lead the wildlings
following Mance's death. Also at the Wall; Sam and Stannis had a
brief scene in which Stannis encouraged Sam's research into the
Walkers. It was good to see that Stannis at least has an eye on the
larger threat coming their way. Stannis left Castle Black shortly
after his talk with Sam, leading his army southward towards
Winterfell. Sam and Maester Aemon had a conversation regarding
Daenerys, with Aemon lamenting that she had a remaining family member
so far removed from helping her. Jon walked in during the end of the
conversation, leading me to believe that one of the most popular
theories surrounding the Targaryens may be revealed soon. Of course,
I could be seeing foreshadowing where there is none.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Brienne
and Pod have reached a town near Winterfell, and Brienne is still
trying to figure out the best way to rescue Sansa. She managed to
get a message through to her by way of peasants who are still loyal
to the Starks. Miranda, Ramsay Bolton's lover, is not a fan of
Ramsay marrying Sansa. After a brief confrontation with Ramsay, and
sex she's not in to, she arranges for Sansa to be reunited with
Theon. Later at dinner, after Theon confessed to seeing Sansa,
Ramsay decided that it would be Theon that gave her away at the
wedding. The shock of seeing Theon in the state he's in now seems to
have undone some of the composure Sansa had gained during her time
with Littlefinger. She appears to have forgotten her goal of
manipulating the situation and has retreated into herself, much as
she did while under the thumb of Joffrey.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">In
Meereen, Dany mourned Ser Barristan. She then had her men gather up
the leaders of all of the ruling Houses in the city and brought them
to her dragon cave. She fed one of them to her dragons and the rest
were spared. Grey Worm survived the attack he was the victim of last
week, waking to find Missandei at his bedside. He told her that when
he thought he was going to die the only thing he was afraid of was
not seeing her again. This bizarre relationship angle is one of the
weakest story elements that have been brought to the screen; the less
time spent on it the better. Dany, running out of advisors, asked
Missandei what her opinion on the situation in Meereen was, and she
responded by telling her that she ignored the advice given to her too
often. Dany then went to the dungeons and freed the man that's been
asking for the fighting pits to be reopened. She decreed that they
would resume operations, but only with free men, and that she would
marry him to help placate the citizens of the city.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Jorah
and Tyrion are still trying to reach Dany by boat. Jorah decided to
plot a course through the ruins of Valyria because pirates are too
superstitious to traverse the destroyed city. At one point Valyria
was the most advanced kingdom in the world, but some cataclysm
destroyed it, referred to only as the Doom. It didn't sound like a
good idea at the time, but I suppose we are to assume that Jorah is
so overcome with his desire to regain his position in Dany's council
that he'll do anything. After a moment of poetry, which seemed like
a bit of a bonding moment for the two, they witnessed Drogon flying
overhead. While they were distracted they were attacked by stone
men, victims of greyscale that have been exiled to Valyria.
Apparently all it takes is a touch to contract the disease and they
fought valiantly to escape their attackers. Tyrion went overboard,
and the next thing we know he and Jorah are on the coast. Jorah
rescued Tyrion and got him to safety, but was most concerned with
whether or not he'd been touched. It was very much a zombie movie
moment as both men denied contact before Jorah turned away from
Tyrion and revealed to the audience that he had in fact been
infected.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Although the conflict around which this season will revolve is still
rather nebulous, the bigger picture was the focus of a decent part of
“Kill the Boy.” Jon Snow's arc remains the best thing about
season five so far. Sansa's inability to keep a cool head after
seeing Theon was disappointing, as I was looking forward to her being
a better player of the game at this point. Dany's struggles in
Meereen are dangerously close to resembling a certain Mad King to
whom she's related. Her story this season still interrupts the
rhythm of the rest of the show, causing me to hope that her scenes
are short and sweet; allowing me to get back to the more interesting
stuff.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
7.75/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-80233157094875484402015-05-09T19:09:00.003-04:002015-07-05T00:16:55.754-04:00Saturday is Haul Day 42!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQF80oSYL3KeQpgoh7xWdd_C22vQ508VrDe6AXC7Vxxi1pFyUmuDRV5YtlHFK7on1HBcOiS5Y6t-Sbq_Zr16P5tUN0U9Q9kQl4gHdozRlQSuU_Kaps1q62quJI6A9qK6j7cGhHZtpLKe4/s1600/Haul+Week+of+5-9-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="112" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQF80oSYL3KeQpgoh7xWdd_C22vQ508VrDe6AXC7Vxxi1pFyUmuDRV5YtlHFK7on1HBcOiS5Y6t-Sbq_Zr16P5tUN0U9Q9kQl4gHdozRlQSuU_Kaps1q62quJI6A9qK6j7cGhHZtpLKe4/s400/Haul+Week+of+5-9-15.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
Only picked up comics this week, but it was a good week in that world as some exciting stuff came out. <b>Afterlife with Archie #8</b> by Roberto Aguirre-Sacasa and Francesco Francavilla, <b>Rachel Rising #33</b> by Terry Moore, <b>Rocket Raccoon #11</b> by Skottie Young, Jake Parker and Jean-Francois Beaulieu, <b>Secret Wars #1 of 8</b> by Jonathan Hickman, Esad Ribic, and Ive Svorcina, <b>The Wicked + The Divine #10</b> by Kieron Gillen, Jamie McKelvie, Matthew Wilson and Clayton Cowles, and finally <b>Wolf Moon #6 of 6</b> by Cullen Bunn, Jeremy Haun, and Lee Loughridge.One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-8718373975722562762015-05-06T22:42:00.000-04:002015-05-06T22:42:46.462-04:00Arrow: Season 3, Episode 22<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5riedOvp9dJdZ56BAgKExFN2WKczdJsoTpve25JtCMBkTYnJOaarFlD9IzI1JBNzx4PNjOtZgrY4kRN0t_zIO50-CZDK5ZKVBdN4r68WSCaC1NHuJQpNq5LuSW-JT04e62l4_fYffoug/s1600/Arrow+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5riedOvp9dJdZ56BAgKExFN2WKczdJsoTpve25JtCMBkTYnJOaarFlD9IzI1JBNzx4PNjOtZgrY4kRN0t_zIO50-CZDK5ZKVBdN4r68WSCaC1NHuJQpNq5LuSW-JT04e62l4_fYffoug/s1600/Arrow+title.jpg" height="176" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Arrow</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title: </b>“This Is Your
Sword”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CW</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Wendy Stanzler</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> Ben Sokolowski and
<span style="font-weight: normal;">Brian Ford Sullivan</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">42
min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-14</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 6<span style="font-weight: normal;">,
2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
“<span style="font-weight: normal;">This
Is Your Sword” is the next to last episode of this season of </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Arrow</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
and it's too bad that it took so long to get to this point. The past
few weeks have been some of the strongest episodes of the season, and
this was no exception. It'll be pretty much impossible to talk about
this week's </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Arrow</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
without spoilers, so be warned.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Diggle,
Laurel, and Felicity have gone back to crime fighting in Starling
City, having accepted that Oliver is gone. The episode opened with
Diggle giving chase to a random perp, who led him to an enclosed area
with the rest of his gang waiting. Things look bad for a moment
before Laurel makes an appearance with the Canary Cry. I really wish
there was another way for them to convey that power on the screen;
while it might work on the page it just looks ridiculous on
television. Diggle lost it on the last guy and beat him to a pulp.
Back at Diggle's, after an awkward attempt at a humorous moment
regarding Laurel sneaking in the back to avoid questions from the
neighbors, Diggle blew up in anger over Oliver's betrayal.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Back
at Nanda Parbat Oliver and Ra's are seen discussing the next part of
Oliver's ascension, his marriage to Nyssa and the destruction of
Starling City. Oliver left to get some air, and met up with Malcolm
for a clandestine meeting. Oliver dropped the facade and revealed
that he's thought he'd have more time to bring the League down from
the inside, but Ra's is forcing his hand. He and Malcolm hatch a
plan to enlist the help of his former friends, and Malcolm departed
just before Maseo showed up.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Felicity
went to visit Ray again, and it's getting incrementally harder to
like her character. She shows up to mope to him for a while, knowing
that his feelings for her will keep him from sending her away. He
had her sign a document, that is shown to be some sort of transfer of
ownership papers. The audience is supposed to believe that the
transfer is to Felicity, and while that seems probable I think a
swerve might be in store; with Oliver regaining control of his
company. Felicity received a text from Malcolm asking for a meeting
and surprisingly she went.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
entire team showed up for the meeting with Malcolm, and of course he
couldn't convince them of Oliver's plans, because Oliver had been too
successful in convincing everyone of his turn. Malcolm breaks out
his secret weapon, and it's Tatsu. I'm happy to see Tatsu joining
the fray, but I was a little unclear on how her presence suddenly
convinced the team to go back to Nanda Parbat. The script was really
lacking in that regard, but the action is in Nanda Parbat, so if the
team needs to get back there I guess any excuse, no matter how
nebulous, is a good one. Tatsu also took a moment to share with
Felicity how often Oliver spoke of her during his recovery.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Thea
has gone off in search of Roy, who is working as a mechanic under the
assumed name Jason. She managed to track him down with little effort
and they had a quick reunion. They go back to his place and she
presents him with his old vigilante costume, thinking that he could
get back to what made him feel alive. She spent the night, but awoke
in an empty bed. When she went to his place of employment she was
told that he quit and took off, leaving a note for her. I don't know
how sudden Colton Haynes decision to leave the show was, but I wish
there had been a better way to handle his exit. His final words to
Thea didn't really seem like a good way to end things, but he did
leave his costume for her, so we'll be seeing Speedy in the near
future.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
flashbacks this week were more of the same, A Quest for A Vial. Akio
has fallen ill and Maseo and Oliver go to General Shrieve's hideout
to get a cure. A cure that they have no proof of, they assume he'll
have it anyway. After breaking in they briefly tortured Shrieve and
he told them the cure was in a safe. They get it an bring him back
to Akio to administer the cure. Akio is already dead and the cure
was a rouse. He just wanted them to lead his men to their hiding
place so he wouldn't have to hunt them down. It's important to
remember that the vials didn't contain what we thought they did.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Another
confrontation at Nanda Parbat! Merlyn, Diggle, Laurel, and Felicity
team up with Tatsu, who is now in her costume as Katana, to storm the
fortress. Felicity tried to hack into the airplane the League is
going to use to spread the virus, but she is unsuccessful. Most of
the action in this scene is pretty good, but the League of Assassins
is more like a collection of Imperial Stormtroopers. At one point
Laurel fights three of them at the same time. I'm all right with her
taking down street criminals at this point, but there is no
explanation for her ability to engage three of the supposed best
killers in the world. When the airplane took off all appeared lost
until Ray Palmer showed up and managed to bring the plane down. The
highlight of this entire sequence was the duel between Tatsu and
Maseo. The fight choreography and the final words between them were
spot on, and easily one of the more emotional moments of the season.
The League overcame its Stormtrooper-itis when reinforcements and
Oliver showed up. The entire group was captured Malcolm tried in
vain to reveal Oliver's duplicity, but it didn't seem like Ra's
bought it. Ra's must have decided that it wasn't necessary to
destroy Starling City, the friends of the former Oliver Queen would
be good enough, and he broke the vial of Alpha/Omega in their holding
cell. The marriage of Al Sah-Him to Nyssa was intercut with shots of
Olivers friends apparently dying. I usually don't reference the
previews for the next episode, and honestly the trickery out of
General Shrieve should have been enough foreshadowing to convince the
viewers that none of the rescue squad was in danger, but couldn't the
previews be cut in such a way that the tension wasn't immediately
sucked out of the end of the episode?</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Despite the fact that some of the motivations were quite muddy, with
the script doing no one any favors, “This Is Your Sword” finally
got this season to where it should have been episodes ago. The
action was high quality, and the Maseo/Tatsu drama was some of the
best stuff of the season. We all suspected Oliver had bigger plans,
now we just have to find out if those plans cost him the friends he's
made along the way.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
8/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-70263552037143812152015-05-06T00:32:00.000-04:002015-05-13T00:36:05.723-04:00The Flash: Season 1, Episode 21<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkI7QDlSzcxEoAS8wlYMxQt22K8pwh6CPnWXSwD9mzChXkXJndsJSRAHfs3PPCObt0xWBhSpqvAxGi_xnSs4BOgMbXMYmR24QNZ4j7uBM6yx4JkJvPwkm2n8Co7xgp1RU8lrvJTqYAwc/s1600/the+flash+tv+logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpkI7QDlSzcxEoAS8wlYMxQt22K8pwh6CPnWXSwD9mzChXkXJndsJSRAHfs3PPCObt0xWBhSpqvAxGi_xnSs4BOgMbXMYmR24QNZ4j7uBM6yx4JkJvPwkm2n8Co7xgp1RU8lrvJTqYAwc/s1600/the+flash+tv+logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>The Flash</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “Grodd Lives”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CW</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Dermott Downs</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> Grainne Godfree and Kai
Yu Wu</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">43
min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-PG</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 5, <span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
As the title indicates, the majority of
this episode revolves around Gorilla Grodd. Grodd is the product of
experimentation by General Eiling and Harrison Wells and their
attempts to create a telepathic and telekinetic soldier. Well, Grodd
holds a grudge. There have been a rash of gold robberies in Central
City and when Joe and the Flash apprehend the culprit he's revealed
to be none other than General Eiling. The last we saw of the general
he had been taken by Grodd, after being delivered to the sewers by
Wells. Grodd has broken his mind and is using him as a puppet,
ostensibly on orders from Wells/Eobard.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Grodd was well done, the CGI the best
one can expect from a show with such a limited budget. We got our
first good look at him after he had kidnapped Joe. This episode had
a definite horror movie vibe, and the tension was strong enough that
when Grodd was forcing Joe to turn his gun on himself I believed that
it might be the end of the line for Joe. Eventually the team figures
out a way to stop the psychic barrage that Grodd is capable of and
Barry set himself up to deliver another super sonic punch. Amazingly
Grodd was fast enough to catch Barry and hurl him away. The device
Barry was using to block Grodd's telepathy was damaged during the
fight, only Iris talking to Barry was enough to get him to focus
through the attack and stop the gorilla. Although the good guys won
the day Grodd escaped and will hopefully wreak havoc in the future.
Due to the tidbits revealed here and there, and now this episode,
Grodd is one of the more developed secondary villains this season.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Speaking of Iris, don't let the help
she gave Barry at the end of the episode fool you. She trapped Barry
into lying to her again, it should have served as no surprise that
with no new information he was going to continue the same lies. When
she finally confronted him on it she resorted to that favorite line
from our childhoods, she's not angry, only disappointed. Honestly
her unwillingness to see the validity of their motivation for lying
to her got old pretty quickly. It doesn't take much critical
thinking to know that everyone's concerns for her safety were
warranted. After some heated discussions with Barry and Joe she
finally came around, and I'm glad for the end of that aspect of the
story.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The rest of the episode revolved around
Eobard and Eddie. It's fun to see Tom Cavanagh really embracing the
villainous side of his character. The changes in the way he's
playing the character since the big reveal are great. One of my
favorite little things was seeing him jump down a number of steps on
a ladder. After pretending to be paralyzed for a year he's reveling
in his freedom. The way he antagonized Eddie was very effective.
First telling him that he's one of the only Thawnes to never amount
to anything, and then showing Eddie the newspaper from the future,
revealing that Eddie will not be the one to marry Iris. I doubt it's
enough to get Eddie to change sides, but the pleasure Eobard takes in
torturing him just that little bit was evident. Eobard revealed the
next step of his plan when he finished manufacturing what he called a
key. He plugged it in to a wall and the camera zoomed out, showing
the inside of a particle accelerator. I may have missed something,
but it was unclear whether it was the accelerator at STAR Labs or a
new construction. If it's a new one then it must be part of his plan
for returning to his time, if it's the one in STAR Labs then it would
seem that emptying the pipeline of its metahuman inhabitants is the
next step in his scheme. Either way I can't wait for the next
episode.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Conclusion:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Aside from the Reverse Flash, Grodd may be the more well-developed
villain on the show, and he's a ton of fun. With Iris finally on
board with Barry's secret I have hopes that they'll allow her to move
on and contribute more to the show than the obstacle she's been for a
while. Wells/Eobard has become even more entertaining with his
secret out of the bag, having become a true bad guy. I hope we don't
see his demise at the end of the season, I feel like the show would
suffer if the threat of Eobard's meddling was somehow snuffed out
completely in the future.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rating:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
8.25/10</span>
</div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-29142192406493480182015-05-04T23:58:00.001-04:002015-05-04T23:58:48.896-04:00Gotham: Season 1, Episode 22<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ezOaMOXc5HSYvRTkWkczlOLTFllCdtB6MUdeWE9UwAmmwYumbTuKqj0R9bwUgvk_nKcfNkbNPO7K9qIFaF6NjTBuDIzcrf_AgnZWB4Z40WrkBkPvyMQpNiT20mlEe9LsQthE_ME-VYs/s1600/gotham+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6ezOaMOXc5HSYvRTkWkczlOLTFllCdtB6MUdeWE9UwAmmwYumbTuKqj0R9bwUgvk_nKcfNkbNPO7K9qIFaF6NjTBuDIzcrf_AgnZWB4Z40WrkBkPvyMQpNiT20mlEe9LsQthE_ME-VYs/s1600/gotham+title.jpg" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Gotham</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “All Happy
Families Are Alike”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.fox.com/" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Fox</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Danny
Cannon</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writer:</b> Bruno Heller</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Crime,
Drama, Thriller</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> 42 <span style="font-weight: normal;">min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-14</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 4<span style="font-weight: normal;">,
2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
What's a show to do when it's struggled
to tell a coherent story through its first season? Apparently you
escalate the violence and continue to make the same mistakes as far
as story telling goes, hoping the audience doesn't notice past all
the blood flying.</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
Lets start with Fish Mooney. She made
landfall back in Gotham with a new haircut and in apparent good
health. Remember her getting shot in the stomach during her flight
from the Dollmaker's headquarters? Well, the writers didn't. It's a
good thing the crew she escaped with included a surgeon talented
enough to save her life while she piloted a helicopter <i>and</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
a stylist capable of giving her new look. Otherwise the audience
couldn't have been treated to her triumphant return. Ugh. Fish
crossed paths with Selina on her way into town and after Selina gave
her some lip, Fish decided this was a child she definitely needed on
her crew.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Maroni's
men tried to take Falcone out while he was picking up a chicken for
dinner. Yeah, that's the errand Falcone is running when the hit goes
down. The initial hit was unsuccessful and Falcone ended up in the
hospital, strapped to a gurney. Everyone realized that this was the
moment to take the throne away from him so he's in a bit of trouble.
Penguin and Butch showed up first, but Penguin's desire to gloat
caused him to miss his chance at slitting the old man's throat.
Gordon arrived, arrested Penguin and Butch, and then decided that
having Falcone in charge was the lesser of the available evils.
Commissioner Loeb showed up escorting Maroni's men, told Gordon to
beat it, and then following Gordon's predictable refusal set Maroni's
men on him. Gordon managed to take out five armed men before Bullock
arrived and they hustled off with Falcone to one of his safe houses,
someplace no one living knows about, with Penguin and Butch in tow.
Why did they bring those two? Because even through all of this
Gordon won't leave them because they're “in his custody” which
felt more than a little ridiculous.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Of
course, Fish is waiting for them at the safe house. She and her band
of ruffians, with Selina in a prominent role, capture the lot of them
and tie them up. Fish promises all of them, save Bullock, death.
Then she calls in Maroni to trade Falcone for her old territory back.
Selina is perfectly willing to be involved with Gordon's death,
which seemed really strange. She scoffed at the fact that they were,
“sorta friends,” but her joining Fish's cause was absurd. Maroni
showed up, and after a few minutes of being his charming self had the
entire meeting looking dangerous. It was around this time that I
found </span><i>Gotham</i><span style="font-style: normal;">'s lack of
tension really hitting hard. I knew all of these characters had to
survive this encounter, after all they make appearances in Batman's
time. How can I feel that any of them is in danger...BLAM. One of the
few good choices made in this show so far, Fish shot Maroni in the
face. If that's a trend that will continue then we may finally have
dramatic moments in store going forward.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">In the
confusion Gordon, Bullock, and Falcone got away. To be recaptured
minutes later by Selina and company. The only purpose to their brief
escape was to reveal that Falcone doesn't want to play the game
anymore. After all the things Fish did to him this season, and
everything he's presumably had to endure climbing to the top of the
underworld, this seemed like an odd time for him to take his ball and
go home. As he explained to Fish that he was done machine-gun fire
erupted and Penguin burst onto the scene mowing down Fish's men. He
moved to chase her down and Gordon and friends fled yet again. On
the roof of the building Penguin and Fish are locked in hand-to-hand
combat until Butch arrives. Apparently the writers </span><i>did</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
remember that he's supposedly been brainwashed, although there's been
no hint that particular story element was still in play for weeks.
He ended up shooting them both, then Penguin pushed Fish off the roof
and into the ocean. A suitably comic-like ambiguous ending to the
villain, just in case they ever want to bring her back. Penguin then
annoyingly screamed into the night that he was the King of Gotham.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Over
to the slightly less violent happenings. Dr. Thompkins declared
Barbara physically healed from her ordeal, but in need of counseling.
After a half-hearted attempt at refusing, Leslie agrees to have a
sit down with Barbara and help her talk through what she endured. It
goes exactly as suspected. Barbara's wide-eyed stare was pretty
unnerving during the entirety of those scenes, and when she admitted
to killing her parents it wasn't much of a surprise. She then
attacked Leslie, who after some rough housing managed to subdue her.
Gordon, Bullock, and Falcone walked in just in time to find Leslie
over Barbara's unconscious form. Although the 'twist' with Barbara
wasn't surprising, I do find it an interesting direction to take.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Bruce
finally made some headway in his investigation into his father.
After he and Alfred tore apart the late Thomas Wayne's study, Bruce
remembered Lucius Fox's words from the episode before and tracked
down his father's secret. A remote control that opened a passage
into an underground portion of the grounds, hello Batcave. The only
other thing of note was Ms. Kringle's discovery of Nygma's clue in
her dead boyfriend's good-bye note. She didn't seem convinced of
Nygma's professed innocence, and after she left he went off the deep
end. Not only does he like riddles, he's also suffering from
multiple personality disorder. The crazy went from minimal to
extreme in a matter of seconds, which was off putting.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
A fitting conclusion to the first season of </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Gotham</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">,
“All Happy Families Are Alike” was just as hit and miss as the
entire season, with more misses than hits. The biggest positive
takeaway from the episode is that they may finally be willing to
deviate from the source material. This should help the series find
some dramatic tension, I just wish it hadn't taken this long to get
there.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
6/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-54961631763607306682015-05-04T00:57:00.003-04:002015-05-10T22:10:05.477-04:00Game of Thrones: Season 5, Episode 4<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s1600/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="191" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNNMNEhM6BxveTlo8kVpuDzxTS4h8hnDhVPMk83ZgoLWcFWLdWrL0v6GKZan-xf087_WqgfPZ1newaWLYa_uU34jR67JMAYqn2Gng-lnfBnkn4_nYT0GXTkFzniDVrv-7zQUQwV8-iw4c/s1600/Game-of-Thrones-Season-5-Title-Card.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Game of Thrones</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title:</b> “Sons of the
Harpy”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.hbo.com/#/" target="_blank">H<span style="font-weight: normal;">BO</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Mark Mylod</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writer:</b> Dave Hill</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Drama, Fantasy</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> 55 <span style="font-weight: normal;">min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-MA</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> May 3,
<span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><b>Spoiler Alert</b></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i>Game of Thrones</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
made up for this season's lack of violence thus far. After a meeting
between Ceresi and the High Sparrow, during which she seemed to name
him High Septon, she also authorized the recreation of the Faith
Militant. The Faith Militant was disbanded when the Targaryen's
assumed control of Westoros, they were the fighting branch of church.
They immediately began trashing everything they saw as blasphemous
and assaulting the people they saw as sinners. The most important of
those detained by the Faith Militant was Ser Loras, the queen's
brother. Margaery tried to convince Tommen to free her brother, but
he was unwilling to begin a fight on the steps of the sept. Ceresi
is now playing the game at a dirtier level than we've seen, and she's
done a lot of dirty stuff over the course of the series.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">It
looks as though Sansa is going to go along with a wedding to Ramsay
Bolton. The entirety of these scenes took place between Sansa and
Littlefinger in the crypts of Winterfell. He's going to be leaving
her there and returning to King's Landing, a plan that she's not fond
of. They also discussed Lyanna, her aunt, and her relationship with
Rhaegar Targaryen. The only information we've really gotten up to
this point on that situation is that he kidnapped and raped her. A
story about which Littlefinger obviously knows more than he's
revealed.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Things
at the Wall stayed interesting this week. In what was probably the
best scene of the episode, Stannis recounted his Shireen's illness
and recovery. The writers have done a good job taking a character
towards whom the audience as been, at best, ambivalent. It was a
touching moment for a character that hasn't had a lot going for him.
Melisandre was the latest of Stannis' retinue to attempt to persuade
Jon to go south to Winterfell and aid in the retaking of the North.
With the failure of her tactics I feel pretty sure in concluding that
there is nothing, short of Sansa's presence there becoming known,
that will drive him into that particular conflict.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Jaime
and Bronn had a decent amount of screen time this week, and while it
wasn't highly consequential it was fun. The differences between the
two characters give them an entertainment value when they're
bantering that keeps things light. They managed to make it to Dorne,
but were set upon by soldiers shortly after arriving. Bronn did the
majority of the work, although Jaime did managed to kill one soldier;
even if he did get lucky for even that to happen. Also in Dorne,
Ellaria returned to the Sand Snakes, a fighting unit of Prince
Oberyn's female bastards, and readied them for a fight. A
significant portion of an upcoming episode needs to focus on Dorne.
We were introduced to three of the Sand Snakes in this episode, but
we know virtually nothing about them. If the writers want me to care
about their claims and grievances than do more than give them four
minutes of screen time please.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">There
was another check-in with Tyrion this week. Very little happened
though; Tyrion deduced who is kidnapper was and found out where Jorah
was taking him. He had a good chuckle when he learned that Jorah was
taking him to the destination he already had in mind. I'm not sure
the scenes with these two were really necessary, Jorah ambiguously
mentioning that he was taking Tyrion to the queen didn't make anyone
think of Ceresi. Show me these two when things actually happen.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Finally,
the situation in Meereen is deteriorating quickly. Ser Barristan
regaled Dany with a story, the subject of which was Rhaegar, her
older brother. It was a dead giveaway that following that deeply
personal and humorous story that Barristan's continued presence on
the show was coming to an end. I'm not saying that situations like
that always lead to a character's death, but much like a cop in the
movies mentioning how close they are to retirement, moments like that
never help their odds of survival. The Sons of the Harpy escalated
the conflict in Meereen by going after Dany's soldiers in much larger
numbers that they had previously. A squad of Unsullied, including
Grey Worm, was ambushed in an alley and rather easily dispatched by
the Sons of the Harpy. While it wasn't a horrible fight sequence it
really made me question the prowess of the Unsullied. The majority
of them went down with little fight, with only Grey Worm really
holding his own. Barristan arrived on the scene and did his best to
swing the odds back to the side of Dany's forces. It was for naught
as he was finally beaten, Grey Worm arriving just too late to save
him. The episode faded to black with both of the men bleeding onto
the street, Barristan having seemingly expired.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I think I've finally gotten to the point where I don't compare every
episode to the books in my head. Enough has finally been changed
that I look at them as separate stories, which is a good thing. Even
though this was a stronger week for the events in Meereen it's still
tedious. The power plays at the capitol have risen to such a level
that I'm actually enjoying those moments nearly as much as the events
at the Wall. There were two mentions of Rhaegar this week, leaving
me to wonder if there's going to be a big reveal concerning the
nature of his relationship with Lyanna soon.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
8.25/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-44371321935329015802015-05-03T18:33:00.000-04:002015-05-03T18:33:43.562-04:00Avengers: Age of Ultron<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDferbygzWYuz6JTQOZBvFHKBLIHdoM6X-ULt9V037gKmBjhNgviTeUmHNhDpkETrnIP92ABV6VzYU9AOk5S8UBRnkhXQX2sW6YP9JgIypA9ZKmRoGqcgVN0nuntCLk8xaOKR6j_5Sd_A/s1600/Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDferbygzWYuz6JTQOZBvFHKBLIHdoM6X-ULt9V037gKmBjhNgviTeUmHNhDpkETrnIP92ABV6VzYU9AOk5S8UBRnkhXQX2sW6YP9JgIypA9ZKmRoGqcgVN0nuntCLk8xaOKR6j_5Sd_A/s1600/Avengers-Age-of-Ultron-Poster.jpg" height="320" width="216" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Avengers: Age of Ultron (2014)</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Producers:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Kevin
Feige, Victoria Alonso, Stan Lee, et al.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Joss
Whedon</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">PG-13
for intense sequences of sci-fi action, violence and destruction, and
for some suggestive comments </span>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">141
min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Adventure, Sci-Fi, Comic</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Avengers are back, and right off
the bat you get to see them in action. The opening sequence
reintroduced us to a team that has been working together for a while,
and it shows in their tactics. One of the things about the first
<i>Avengers</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> that bothered me was
the lack of team work. I think there was one instance of two heroes
combining their abilities to take down enemies in the first film,
there are several in the sequel; serving to highlight their growing
familiarity with each other. The initial action sequence also
brought to light one of the difficulties of working in such a huge
shared universe. At the end of </span><i>Iron Man 3</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
Tony retired and destroyed his suits. Here we are in </span><i>Age
of Ultron</i><span style="font-style: normal;"> and he's right back in
the thick of things without an explanation for his return. Just an
acknowledgment from someone else on the team that this was his return
to action would have been preferable to ignoring the situation
entirely.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
villain of the film, Ultron, was short-changed in they early
development of his character. Upon capturing Loki's scepter from
Baron von Strucker, Tony and Bruce decide to use the properties of
the staff to create a true artificial intelligence. Their first
attempts are unsuccessful and with a celebration looming they leave
JARVIS to continue their work. Tony's program and the capabilities
of the staff are merged while all of the heroes are occupied and
Ultron is born. Ultron and Jarvis have a verbal confrontation as
Ultron undergoes a Leeloo-esque education on the state of the world.
He immediately decides that the only way to fulfill his mission of
world peace is to rid the planet of humans. Ultron goes full Skynet
in a matter of moments, and I was left wondering how many Hollywood
blockbusters would be entirely different films if the inventors
depicted in them had read a little Isaac Asimov.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
new additions to the cast all leave you caring about them. Andy
Serkis' brief appearance has me excited to see what he can do in a
villainous role in the upcoming </span><i>Black Panther</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
The Maximoff twins were manipulated by different villains until they
made their way to the light side, and the progression worked with
what the audience is told about their lives. James Spader brought
equal amounts of humor and a sinister tone to Ultron. I was left
feeling as though he had too many jokes and one-liners, although I
suppose as a creation of Tony Stark some part of his personality
leaking through makes sense. Vision was amazing, a being that
possesses that much power but was, as he mentioned, “born
yesterday” had to played with a strangely confidence naivete that
Paul Bettany conveyed wonderfully. The moment after he was born when
he looked at Thor and decided he'd like to have a cape too, so he
materialized one out of thin air encapsulated his child-like side.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Most
of the preexisting characters are much as we remember them, with the
notable exception being Hawkeye. After getting shafted in the
character development area in the first </span><i>Avengers</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
a lot of time is spent making us care about him. He has a personal
side the audience never suspected and an entertaining awareness of
his own apparent shortcomings in a group like the Avengers. Black
Widow was also a recipient of some much needed back story that made
me more confident than ever that a Natasha Romanoff led movie could
be successful. The romance between Natasha and Bruce Banner was a
little forced. Not because I didn't understand the motivation, they
both view themselves as monsters in their own way, more because
Scarlett Johannson and Mark Ruffalo didn't seem to have much on
screen chemistry. The only returning character that rubbed me the
wrong way was Don Cheadle's War Machine. I don't know if it was his
sullen reaction when his story of taking out a tank wasn't met with
guffaws from the Avengers, or something else, but I just couldn't get
into his character this time around. Which is strange since I've
enjoyed his previous appearances in </span><i>Iron Man</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
movies. His inclusion in the film felt obligatory since Marvel needs
every hero they can find for the upcoming </span><i>Captain America:
Civil War</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">Speaking
of setting up future movies, for the most part the attempts to do so
succeed in </span><i>Age of Ultron</i><span style="font-style: normal;">.
It wasn't as prevalent as I expected, but the philosophical
differences between Tony Stark and Steve Rogers will make for a
compelling story. Andy Serkis' Ulysses Klaue will most likely serve
as the main villain in </span><i>Black Panther</i><span style="font-style: normal;">,
and getting some of the development for him out of the way will allow
that movie to focus on its hero more. The one swing-and-a-miss I saw
in the setups for future films involved Thor, whose upcoming </span><i>Ragnarok</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
has the potential to really shake-up the MCU. The teases of his
future were disjointed and incomplete, giving the audience no idea of
what to expect, or a reason to be excited for what's to come.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;">The
final battle was what you'd expect from an Avengers movie. The need
to differentiate itself from </span><i>Man of Steel</i><span style="font-style: normal;">'s
disregard for collateral damage got a little old, but served to add a
different dynamic to a fight the audience knew the Avengers would
win. I had hoped Ultron would provide more of a threat to the team
as an individual than he did. We've already seen this group beat
down hordes of generic enemies, earlier in this very movie and during
the Chitauri invasion from the first film, so I was really hoping for
a villain powerful enough to threaten the entire group. None of that
is to say that the action was disappointing, it wasn't. There was
more teamwork than before and the new characters meant new powers, so
there were fresh and inventive ways for the enemies to be ripped
apart. I was just looking for something </span><i>different</i><span style="font-style: normal;">
in the overall type of action we got.</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Whereas </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Avengers</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
was the culmination of Phase One of the MCU, </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Avengers:
Age of Ultron</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
felt more like an intermission. I realize one of the Infinity Stones
makes an appearance, and that there was a lot of setup for future
movies, but overall it felt more like a standalone movie than the
rest of Marvel's recent offerings. It wasn't as dark as the trailers
led me to believe, which was a good thing, the humor came at the
right times, even if the source of the humor was odd at times. The
new characters, and the deeper exploration of some existing ones,
left me feeling better about the fate of the MCU after old favorites
move on to other things.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
8/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-64913343305808463642015-05-02T17:58:00.000-04:002015-05-02T17:59:08.668-04:00Saturday is Haul Day 41!!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OnhSZ2bU8XBXBUl6M_0iHafi0KwaqNPIhG7hf9kHCQWFXtb2CeVHiCWACGhEt75WeZu1CgSIBrH_DC2XV3NUJ_OO8fmH41yggtMmSJWy7iIkhCtD05NgvjiJn2azL5-37Jidjk8Nnm8/s1600/Haul+Week+of+5-2-15.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4OnhSZ2bU8XBXBUl6M_0iHafi0KwaqNPIhG7hf9kHCQWFXtb2CeVHiCWACGhEt75WeZu1CgSIBrH_DC2XV3NUJ_OO8fmH41yggtMmSJWy7iIkhCtD05NgvjiJn2azL5-37Jidjk8Nnm8/s1600/Haul+Week+of+5-2-15.JPG" height="200" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
With the release of <i>Mad Max: Fury Road</i> less than two weeks away I figured it was a good time for me to revisit the original <b>Mad Max</b>, starring Mel Gibson. It's been years since I saw this movie and I'm really looking forward to watching it again.<br />
<br />
Today was also Free Comic Book Day, and <a href="http://www.galacticquest.com/" target="_blank">Galactic Quest</a> was hopping. It was a smallish pull list this week, and here's what I got! <b>Batman #40</b> by Scott Snyder and Greg Capullo, Danny Miki and FCO Plascencia, <b>Moon Knight #14</b> by Cullen Bunn, Ron Ackins, Tom Palmer, and Dan Brown, <b>Postal #2</b> by Matt Hawkins, Bryan Hill, Isaac Goodhart, and Betsy Gonia, and <b>Princess Leia #3</b> by Mark Waid, Terry Dodson, Rachel Dodson and Jordie Bellaire.One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-20471419788014833842015-04-30T00:12:00.000-04:002015-04-30T00:12:26.220-04:00Arrow: Season 3, Episode 21<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5riedOvp9dJdZ56BAgKExFN2WKczdJsoTpve25JtCMBkTYnJOaarFlD9IzI1JBNzx4PNjOtZgrY4kRN0t_zIO50-CZDK5ZKVBdN4r68WSCaC1NHuJQpNq5LuSW-JT04e62l4_fYffoug/s1600/Arrow+title.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh5riedOvp9dJdZ56BAgKExFN2WKczdJsoTpve25JtCMBkTYnJOaarFlD9IzI1JBNzx4PNjOtZgrY4kRN0t_zIO50-CZDK5ZKVBdN4r68WSCaC1NHuJQpNq5LuSW-JT04e62l4_fYffoug/s1600/Arrow+title.jpg" height="176" width="320" /></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Arrow</b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Episode Title: </b>“Al Sah-Him”</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CW</span></a></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Director:</b> Thor Freudental</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Writers:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Brian
Ford Sullivan and Emilio Ortega Aldrich</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Adventure, Crime, Drama, Mystery, Sci-Fi</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Runtime:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">42
min</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-14</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Original Air Date:</b> April 29<span style="font-weight: normal;">,
2015</span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">This
week on </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">Arrow</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
we heard a new intro voice over from Stephen Amell, proclaiming that
he </span></span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">was</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
Oliver Queen. What followed was a montage of his training at the
hands of Ra's. We're supposed to believe that he was broken down and
brain washed into following Ra's orders without question. There just
wasn't enough in the montage to give me the feeling that such a thing
had happened over the course of the three weeks he'd been there.
Even with the herb they've been giving him making him think he'd
killed Diggle I didn't really get the feeling that Oliver had gone to
the dark side. After three weeks of training Oliver was ready to go
out and do Ra's' bidding, and he was sent out to deal with Nyssa, who
is apparently a threat to his heir-ship (Heir-ness? Heirity?). This
sets “Al Sah-Him” up as a villain of the week episode, with
Oliver as the villain.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
rest of team Arrow is learning how to do things in Oliver's absence,
again. Nyssa is still training Laurel, and we saw that the training
isn't coming along very quickly as Nyssa had to step in and keep
Laurel from getting hurt. This is important to a gripe I have
regarding a moment later in the episode. Then they went to a diner
for food, which was actually a good scene. Seeing Nyssa act more
like a human was important because otherwise we wouldn't really care
that she was Oliver's target. After Laurel told her that Oliver had
accepted Ra's' offer Nyssa realized her time was short and went out
to meet the threat headed her way. Diggle carried the load for the
rest of the team, doing his best to pull them together during such a
trying time. When Laurel told the team that Oliver would be coming
for Nyssa they decided to face him and see if they could talk some
sense into them.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
confrontation didn't go well for Nyssa. She was quickly subdued by
Oliver and only saved when Diggle and Laurel made an appearance. We
got our first look at Laurel's 'Canary Cry' and it was a
underwhelming to say the least. Laurel looked as if she was
screaming, but the sound coming out barely resembled a voice at all,
which made her look a trifle silly standing there with her mouth
hanging open. Oliver fled the scene and realized that now the team
would be protecting Nyssa so he'd need to draw her out. What better
way to get them to do what he wants than to kidnap and threaten Lyla?
Diggle did the predictable thing and advocated turning Nyssa over to
Oliver and the League.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">Of
course it was a swerve from Diggle and Co. Once Lyla was handed over
they started an all out battle with Oliver and the League. During
the rumble Laurel held her own for a period of time against two
assassins, which is ridiculous after seeing her have trouble with a
single mugger. The battle turned in Oliver's favor and he was
prepared to strike a killing blow to Diggle when an arrow pierced his
arm. The camera panned over to reveal Thea, in full vigilante
regalia, with another arrow aimed at Ollie. She threatened to shoot
him in the eye, and he retreated with Nyssa as his prize. There were
moments each time we saw Oliver that make me think he's pulling a
long con on the League. He gave up easily twice when confronted by
his former friends and family, and if he's really wanted to get a
reaction out of Diggle, little Sara would've made a far better
incentive. Maybe it's wishful thinking, but I just can't see them
making him the villain in his own show, no matter how briefly he may
occupy that role.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
flashbacks this week were more of the same. Oliver, Maseo, and Tatsu
doing their best to stop the release of the Alpha/Omega virus, and
failing. In the last flashback sequence they're trying to get out of
Hong Kong when Akio develops a nosebleed, signifying that we may
finally see what drove the wedge between Maseo and Tatsu. The
flashbacks this season have felt like there was enough content for
half a season and it's been stretched to cover all twenty three
episodes. At least the importance of the events in Hong Kon was
finally made apparent when Ra's revealed the final part of Oliver's
transformation.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">When
Oliver returned to Nanda Parbat, with Nyssa in tow, Ra's found the
item Nyssa had stolen from him. The culmination of Oliver's
metamorphosis into the Heir of the Demon is to be his destruction of
Starling City. His tool for doing so is to be the stolen item, a
vial of the Alpha/Omega virus. Ra's told Oliver to kill Nyssa, which
he seemed willing to do, but Ra's stopped him at the last second to
reveal his real plan. He intends for Oliver and Nyssa to marry and
assume control of the League in his stead. Neither of the two seemed
thrilled at the prospect of their union.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Conclusion:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
The flashbacks finally matter to the present day in a more important
way than simply containing the Yamashiros, but they feel as if they
were spread too thin over the course of the season. Seeing a
cold-blooded and detached Oliver do whatever it takes to get to Nyssa
was a fun concept, but I just can't shake the feeling that Oliver is
still in there and waiting to make his move.</span></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
7.75/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7273441134398050936.post-90101052296977573582015-04-29T00:16:00.000-04:002015-04-29T00:16:11.225-04:00The Flash: Season 1, Episode 20<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<b>The Flash</b></div>
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<b>Episode Title:</b> “The Trap”</div>
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<b>Channel:</b> <a href="http://www.cwtv.com/"><span style="font-weight: normal;">CW</span></a></div>
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<b>Director:</b> Steve Shill</div>
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<b>Writers:</b> Alison Schapker and
Brooke Eikmeier</div>
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<b>Genre:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">Action,
Adventure, Drama, Fantasy, Sci-Fi</span></div>
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<b>Runtime:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">43
min</span></div>
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<b>Rated:</b> <span style="font-weight: normal;">TV-PG</span></div>
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<b>Original Air Date:</b> April 28,
<span style="font-weight: normal;">2015</span></div>
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With a big confrontation on the
horizon, and only a few episode left to set it up the audience knew
this week was going to be a big one. “The Trap” picked up right
where we left off in “Who is Harrison Wells?” with Barry,
Caitlin, and Cisco in Dr. Wells secret hideout. The new facts being
discovered by the team came fast, the newspaper article we've gotten
so used to Wells staring at contains a lot of information. For one,
Iris ends up married to Barry. Also the Flash teams up with the
Green Arrow, the Atom, and Hawk Girl to take on the Reverse Flash.
When Gideon, Wells' AI companion, awoke she revealed that the Flash
is a founding member of … before Barry cut her off, which has to be
a Justice League reference. Also, she will follow any orders Barry
gives her, because he's her creator. Although in light of the ending
of the episode I don't think we can trust anything she said, after
all, Wells has been planning for every contingency.</div>
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The team concludes that the visions
Cisco has been experiencing are memories left over from Barry's foray
into time travel. They concoct a convenient to the plot, but
completely unbelievable way for Cisco to relive his dream in a lucid
state and relay what he's seeing to the others. It was chilling to
see that moment play out again, and Cisco's terror at seeing his
death approaching made me worry for his well being, even in a dream.
After learning the particulars they came up with a plan to coerce a
confession out of Wells, by recreating the circumstances of the
dream.</div>
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This week contained several flashbacks
dealing with Barry's time in a coma and how those around him handled
it. Joe was distrusting of Wells from the beginning, Iris told him
how important he was to her, and Wells laid out his master plan,
speaking mostly of his hate for the Flash. Besides some vitriolic
background from Wells the most important part of theses scenes was a
tiny static spark in the scene with Iris. It would play a big part
by the end of the episode.</div>
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There were a couple of distracting
side-arcs that threatened the pace of the show. The major one dealt
with Eddie's plan to propose to Iris. Joe refused to give his
blessing and Eddie went to Barry to see if he could change Joe's
mind. Joe is convinced that it would be a mistake for Iris to marry
Eddie, since she would realize she was with the wrong man, but would
stay out of commitment. It was an awkward situation, with Barry
arguing Eddie's case despite his feelings for Iris. The other
distraction was a brief building fire, in the exact building and
floor where Capt. Singh's fiance works. I guess the purpose of this
scene was to provide a bit of action and to reiterate to the audience
that Wells so often appears helpful that it's hard to believe he's
the villain. It just felt extraneous though. We've had plenty of
moments when Wells has seemed like a good guy, and the episode didn't
need any action; there was plenty going on to keep it interesting.</div>
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The team set their trap for Wells and
waited for him to show up. When he did everything proceeded just as
it should. Cisco had set the force field they intended to trap the
Reverse Flash in to keep speedsters out instead, it was intended to
be his safety net upon getting Wells to confess to the murder of Nora
Allen. He doesn't quite confess, fearing for his life Cisco
activated the force field, which Wells walked right through. Joe
fired three bullets at Wells, Barry manages to stop two of them, but
one hit Wells in the chest and killed him. I'm not sure they'll
broach the subject, but in the next couple of episodes Cisco might
wonder if Barry was willing to sacrifice him to get the confession
they needed.</div>
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In an amazing twist Barry's phone rang
and Wells was on the other end of the call. The body on the floor we
thought of wells reverts to last week's villain, Everyman, and Wells
revealed that he has been watching every aspect of Barry's, and his
friends', lives and knew exactly what they were planning. This
explains some of the subtle, significant looks we've seen out of
Wells in the past few episodes. Fearing for Iris' safety Barry
speeds out to find her, but the Wells gets there first. He
interrupted Eddie's proposal and threatened Iris before Barry showed
up. When Barry arrived Wells made off with Eddie, and the Flash
promised Iris he would get him back. They touched hands briefly and
the same static discharge happened again. It dawned on Iris that
Barry is the Flash. I'm glad she figured it out for herself, instead
of being told. We are left to wonder why the Reverse Flash took
Eddie with him. Since he is a descendant of Eddie I supposed Barry
could end all of his problems by getting rid of the present day
Thawne, but that just doesn't seem like a move Barry would make, so I
guess we'll have to wait and see.</div>
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<b>Conclusion:</b><span style="font-weight: normal;">
I'm really excited to see how they wrap up the first season of </span><i><span style="font-weight: normal;">The
Flash</span></i><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">.
There was so much going on in this episode I'm glad they decided to
forgo the villain of the week formula and focus on the story.
Hopefully, now that Iris knows Barry's secret she can get back to
being a good character, and not just a source of conflict. The
middle dragged a bit as everything lost focus, but overall “The
Trap” was a great episode.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-style: normal;">Rating:</span></b><span style="font-style: normal;"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
8.5/10</span></span></div>
<br />One Blog to Review Them Allhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/01371366196353595249noreply@blogger.com0