#1. Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G. – September 4th
Will Air On: A&E
Genre: Documentary
Synopsis: Directed by Mark Ford, Biggie: The Life of Notorious B.I.G. is the first biography to be authorized by his estate and will be the most personal and revealing documentary about the late Christopher Wallace that anyone has ever seen. It will provide interviews with those closest to him including his widow Faith Evans, his mother Voletta Wallace, his close friend Lil Cease and members of Junior Mafia as well as cultural icons Sean “Diddy” Combs, Shawn “Jay Z” Carter and Nas. Twenty years after his death, this intimate documentary will also focus on Faith Evans as she embarks on an emotional journey to reconcile her own turbulent memories. In addition, the special will explore the people and places that shaped his life including his youth hustling on the streets of Brooklyn, NY, his rise to fame with his confidante and collaborator Sean “Diddy” Combs, his relationships with Faith Evans and Lil’ Kim, his feud with Tupac Shakur, and his shocking murder on the streets of Los Angeles. –A&E.
#2. The Deuce – September 10th
Will Air On: HBO
Genre: Period drama
Starring: James Franco, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Gbenga Akinnagbe, Gary Carr, Dominique Fishback, Lawrence Gilliard Jr., Margarita Levieva and Emily Meade.
Synopsis: The Deuce follows the story of the legalization and subsequent rise of the porn industry in New York’s Times Square from the early 1970s through the mid-1980s, exploring the rough-and-tumble world at the pioneering moments of what would become the billion-dollar American sex industry. George Pelecanos, David Simon, James Franco and Nina K. Noble executive produce. –HBO.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7YMlL8x8GE
#3. American Vandal – September 15th
Will Air On: Netflix
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Tyler Alvarez, Eduardo Franco, Gabriela Fresquez, Griffin Gluck, W. Thomas Henry, Camille Hyde, Carla Jeffrey, Jessica Juarez and Carlos Luna.
Synopsis: A high school is rocked by an act of vandalism, but the top suspect pleads innocence and finds an ally in a filmmaker. A satirical true crime mystery. – Netflix.
#4. The Good Doctor- September 25th
Will Air On: ABC
Genre: Drama
Starring: reddie Highmore, Antonia Thomas, Nicholas Gonzalez , Chuku Modu, Irene Keng, Beau Garrett, Hill Harper and Richard Schiff.
Synopsis: Shaun Murphy (Freddie Highmore, Bates Motel), a young surgeon with autism and savant syndrome, relocates from a quiet country life to join a prestigious hospital’s surgical unit. Alone in the world and unable to personally connect with those around him, Shaun uses his extraordinary medical gifts to save lives and challenge the skepticism of his colleagues. – ABC.
#5. Law and Order True Crime: The Menendez Murders – September 26th
Will Air On: NBC
Genre: True Crime, Anthology
Starring: Edie Falco, Anthony Edwards, Gus Halper, Miles Gaston Villanueva and Julianne Nicholson.
Synopsis: When the Menendez brothers were tried on national TV for brutally killing their parents in Beverly Hills, their story became a national obsession. The first edition of this anthology series delves into the players, the crime and the media circus, detailing the day-to-day battles of the trial and unveiling the shocking truth of what really went down when the cameras stopped rolling. – NBC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-pKPuBdVY0
#6. Big Mouth – September 29th
Will Air On: Netflix
Genre: Animated sitcom
Starring: Nick Kroll, John Mulaney. Maya Rudolph, Jason Mantzoukas, Jordan Peele, Fred Armisen, Jenny Slate and Jessi Klein.
Synopsis: A surreal animated comedy series from real life best friends Nick Kroll and Andrew Goldberg explores teenage adventures in puberty. – Netflix.
#7. The Gifted – October 2nd
Will Air On: Fox
Genre: Action Adventure, Sci-fi, Superhero, Comic Book
Starring: Stephen Moyer, Amy Acker, Sean Teale, Jamie Chung, Coby Bell, Emma Dumont, Blair Redford, Natalie Alyn Lind and Percy Hynes White.
Synopsis: Family adventure series THE GIFTED, from 20th Century Fox Television in association with Marvel Television, tells the story of a suburban couple whose ordinary lives are rocked by the sudden discovery that their children possess mutant powers. Forced to go on the run from a hostile government, the family joins up with an underground network of mutants and must fight to survive. – Fox.
#8. The Mayor – October 3rd
Will Air On: ABC
Genre: Comedy
Starring: Brandon Micheal Hall, Lea Michele, Bernard David Jones, Marcel Spears and Yvette Nicole Brown.
Synopsis: Young rapper Courtney Rose runs for mayor of his hometown to generate buzz for his music career. Unfortunately for Courtney, his master plan goes wildly awry, ending in the most terrifying of outcomes: An election victory. – ABC.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtbzQi6c9mM
#9. Dynasty – October 11th
Will Air On: The CW
Genre: Soap Opera
Starring: Grant Show, Nathalie Kelley, Elizabeth Gillies, James Mackay, Alan Dale, Sam Adegoke, Robert Christopher Riley and Rafael de La Fuente.
Synopsis: Follows two of America’s wealthiest families as they feud for control over their fortune and their children. – IMDB.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uxacuu_vg8Y
#10. Mindhunter – October 13th
Will Air On: Netflix
Genre: Drama
Starring: Jonathan Groff, Holt McCallany, Anna Torv and Hannah Gross.
Synopsis: An agent in the FBI’s Elite Serial Crime Unit develops profiling techniques as he pursues notorious serial killers and rapists. – Netflix.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7gZCfRD_zWE
Honourable Mentions
Final Fantasy XIV: Dad of Light – September 1st
Young Sheldon – September 25th
Marvel’s Inhumans – September 29th
Marvel’s Runaways – October 21st (No trailer available).
Ghosted – Octber 1st
![Game of Thrones S07E07 [FINALE] Recap](https://www.zgemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/GOT-707-Header.png "Game of Thrones S07E07 [FINALE] Recap")
The armistice discussion went about as well as anyone could expect; unpleasant for the most part. Cersei was as acid tongued and impertinent as always, right up until the Hound released the wight they’d captured.
Tyrion and Cersei had so much to work through. With all of it laid bare there before them and us, I hadn’t realise how much had transpired between the two up to this point. Their conversation was perhaps the best scene in the episode. Headey and Dinklage have always had excellent chemistry and played off each other so well. I felt for both Tyrion and Cersei and it was all because of their performances. I would have liked to see what their conversation was after Tyrion noticed her pregnancy though.
Thankfully, her refusal to do the smart thing finally pushed Jamie away from her. As he said, no matter how you slice it she is doomed to lose. If the Night’s King and his army don’t kill Cersei then Daenerys and her Dothraki screamers will. There is no way Cersei can win and yet she remains resolute in taking a kingdom that she will not be able to keep no matter how hard she tries. It’s truly inexplicable why she can’t see reason.
I didn’t think that Daenerys would take Drogon and Rhaegal to King’s Landing with her. One, because she just lost Viserion and I would think that she would want to keep the other two out of harm’s way. Two, just so she wouldn’t show her enemies that she lost one of the dragons (Cersei noticed she was short by one). Sure, they’re an excellent show of force and a wonderful deterrent had Cersei tried anything. I don’t blame her for taking her most powerful weapons. As Cersei showed us, she’s not at all trustworthy and quick to betrayal. Who knew how that meeting would have gone. At least some of the other main players at last got to see a dragon and one had set foot in the dragon pit after a couple hundred years.
The Jonerys sex scene left a lot to be desired for me (no pun intended). I love that we got it and that Jonerys is now an official thing and not just steamy glances and hand holding, but I wish there was more to the scene. They kind of just lied there and kissed and they were holding each other so very, very awkwardly. Also, why did they have to go and ruin it with Tyrion’s worried face? Couldn’t we Jonerys shippers just have that moment without a bad omen looming over it?
She, of course, won’t be happy that he bumps her down the line of succession but Jon wouldn’t want the Iron Throne to begin with. The obvious solution would be they simply get married. However, that would still make Jon ruler and not Daenerys and it would put him in a position of power that I can’t imagine he’d want. Perhaps Jon will renounce his claim so that she can take the throne, but then their relationship will have to end? Her getting pregnant, though, would force a marriage between them. He wouldn’t leave his child to be a bastard.
I’m happy that the drama between Arya and Sansa is finally over. It was a ridiculous story line to begin with and some of the most contrived drama ever in the series. It ended exactly how we all knew it would; with the sisters coming together to pull a fast one on Littlefinger and Arya being the one to execute him. I only wish we had seen the moment when the two realised his deception, or at least had one of them mention said moment in passing. That resolution came out of nowhere.
The Night’s King using Viserion to burn down the section of the Wall at Eastwatch (Why there?) was as spectacular as it was dreadful. It was awesome seeing Viserion breathing his blue flames and the section of the Wall crumbling, but now the army of the dead is past the Wall. The Great War, the War for the Dawn really is here.
![The Defenders S01E08 [FINALE] Recap](https://www.zgemag.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Defenders-108-Header.png "The Defenders S01E08 [FINALE] Recap")
I was underwhelmed by the reveal of what was behind the door going into this episode and I remained underwhelmed well into it. It really was just dragon bones and said bones were the substance. Beyond just being underwhelmed, I was also very confused.
Firstly, Elektra was a glorified retriever. Her key role in all of this was securing Iron Fist. Given that Alexandra had said in a previous episode – the fourth to be exact, right before the boardroom right – that she had killed previous Iron Fists, she clearly didn’t need a super being like Black Sky to capture him. In fact, given that the Hand had done this exact thing several times in the past without a Black Sky further proves how unnecessary she was. She served no vital purpose.
The big, all out brawl in this episode was a good example of not having disorienting tracking shots in an action set piece. Why they were able to do it in this episode and not episode four is beyond me. I kind of like the music they chose for this scene. It was jarring at first because you don’t really hear hip hop as background music for fight scenes, but it grew on me. The fight choreography here was, again, really good and the fight was fun to watch.
I wasn’t convinced that he could get through to her like he said he was going to try to do because there was nothing to “get through.” She was no longer the Black Sky. She was Elektra. She’d regained her memories and remembered who she was. She wasn’t doing anything she did under the influence of the Hand. It was all her. She made that choice.
Kudos to her for having their backs the whole time they were being held at the police station. I think that even if she had known everything though, she wouldn’t have been able to do more for them in that particular situation than she already had. But they could have trusted her with more information I think. Because of her they weren’t arrested or charged with anything and they got their opportunity to escape.
While they were busy doing that, Elektra was busy securing her position with the three remaining Fingers. She killed Alexandra because she wanted to be free and she doesn’t want to join the Hand, let alone lead them. All she wants is the substance.
I agree with Colleen that they should blow up Midland. With the remaining Fingers there, as well as the one thing they had been after this whole time right there, they could kill two birds with one stone; end the Hand once and for all and cut off access to what was behind the door. If the Hand is at all like Hydra killing Murakami, Gao and Bakuto would not end them completely so sealing it would keep away and new Fingers who would wish to pop up.
Stick double confirmed that Danny is the “key” to the Hand’s plans, which the Defenders didn’t seem to have gathered already. Even though they don’t know exactly what the Hand wants Danny for, Alexandra has twice tried to capture him alive, the second time saying right in front of them that that’s what she was trying to do.
Matt really needs to sit down with everyone and ell them everything that happened when he last face the Hand. To the smallest detail. Because knowing that the giant hole from Daredevil season two was under Midland would have been a very useful thing to know a good long while ago. I knew that he was looking for something in the piano when he asked about it and the building plans for Midland were tucked away safely inside it. The plans only confirmed my theory that the door Danny has to unlock is right at the bottom of the hole.
I never really had any thoughts or ideas about what the door led to, only that whatever was on the other side of it be what the Hand needs to complete their goal; immortality. I don’t recall it being said before this episode that they also want to return to K’un L’un. Alexandra pretty much confirmed my theory that the city had not been destroyed. So I think that perhaps the door will lead them there. It could even be one they can use at any time without waiting every fifteen years for the entrance to open.
Matt let his feelings get the best of him! Separating himself and Elektra from everyone. It kind of worked out in the end though because he managed to get through to her. She paused and was actually listening to him when he tried to talk to her. And she attacked Murakami when he interrupted them! That was not a good thing for Alexandra because he already questions her leadership and doesn’t seem to like her reliance on Black Sky. Alexandra saw the entire thing and looked really worried.
Speaking of training, Jessica should probably learn how to actually fight at some point. Beyond just swinging somewhat wildly and relying on her strength. She’s not like Luke, she can be hurt and killed. She got her ass handed to her a little when she went for Trish, who I expected to jump in and fight given her aforementioned training. Not that she’d have been able to take down a Finger of the Hand, but her friend was fighting and she would have been capable of helping out. It’d make sense if she jumped into action to defend not just herself, but Jessica as well (even though Jessica has powers).
I really thought that the Hand had finally gotten a hold of him and Sowande’s repetition of the word “key” confirmed my theory that Danny is the literal key to unlocking the door. But nope! Stick just calmly and easily decapitated Sowande. No hesitation or anything. He just dealt with the problem. No one saw it coming. Not even Sowande. And without the resources to bring him back, the Hand lost a finger, reducing their number to four. Or rather, three, since Alexandra was kicked out more or less.
Matt is the most resistant to everything; continuing to investigate, coming together as a team and especially revealing his identity. He didn’t even tell them about Elektra, which I thought that he would. But he’s still very obviously reeling from her death and his last encounter with the Hand. Even if he doesn’t tell them about Elektra (and they’ll find out about her being his ex eventually), he should still share what he knows about the Hand. Like Stick said, Matt and Danny could learn a lot from each other.
Stick gave us a little history lesson about the Hand. The organisation came out of K’un L’un, the current five Fingers having been its founders who were kicked out of the ancient city. Alexandra is the chief Finger – which we already knew – and had been leading them since their inception. We also learned the name of the Finger operating out of Harlem; Sowande.
It took me a while to realise that Alexandra and Murakami were speaking to each other in different languages and were still understanding what was being said. It looks like she’s assembling her own team by bringing together the five Fingers of the Hand. Of which I think he is the last one we have yet to meet. I don’t recall seeing him in Daredevl or Iron Fist, but my memory is terrible.
There was a fair bit of talk about fathers in this episode, kicked off by Jon and Jorah talking to each other about theirs. That Lord Commander Mormont served as a sort of father figure to Jon and that he saw him as sort of a surrogate son, it was interesting to see them talk to each other about him. And I suppose they kind of bonded over their fathers being honourable men who died because of their honour. And as many fans speculated, Jon did give Jorah Longclaw! But he immediately gave it back. I honestly didn’t think he would keep it.
Seriously, this thing of Arya being unnecessarily antagonistic toward Sansa is annoying and frustrating. She can’t blame Sansa for writing the letter. She explained it to her; she was forced to do it and was only trying to save their father. Arya refuses to accept that as justification. Given that she knows how timid and naive Sansa was back then you’d think that Arya would understand. Instead, she’s just being indignant.
Speaking of the slimiest person in all of Westeros, why is Sansa even going to him about this? Not too long ago she wanted nothing to with him and or to hear anything from him. Every time he spoke to her she immediately shut him down. She knows he’s a schemer and manipulator and cannot be trusted. So why is she seeking council from him? It makes no sense at all. He 100% set her up to send Brienne away. It can’t be a coincidence that right after he told her that Brienne would defend either of the sisters should the other attack them, she got an invitation to King’s Landing; the perfect excuse to have Brienne leave Winterfell.
Tyrion raised some very good points about the succession if she wins the thrones. I really don’t think that Daenerys is barren. I think that somehow Mirri Maz Duur’s prophecy will play itself out before the series ends and she will be able to have children. I’m hoping that’s the case, because I really want her and Jon to make Stark/Targaryen, Ice and Fire babies. Introducing voting is one to go about the succession and it’s not a foreign concept to the Westerosi as Tyrion pointed out. The only thing is how the would specifically implement that.
I do feel it necessary to point out that we didn’t see this happen at Hardhome when Jon killed his first White Walker. Granted, at the time there were no wights around for him to see that happen to. And with it being a huge battle, wights were dropping left and right anyway so if it had happened no one would have noticed that that was why. Still, I don’t think that this was always a thing and that the writers only just came up with it. Of course, it could also be something they got from George R. R. Martin that they only now decided to include.
Not that I didn’t care about the other six, but I really wanted Tormund to live more than anyone else. I was certain he was about to bite it when those wights tried to pull him into the water. Mostly because he’d spoken about how taken he is with Brienne and how he wants to start a family with her. That’s my dream for him too! I really want Tormienne to happen. Maybe a little more than Jon and Daenerys (Jonerys? Jaenerys? Jany? Don?). Characters who discuss their dreams usually die in an episode with a big battle.
As soon as I saw those wights hauling giants chains I knew what was about to happen. I was lulled into a false sense of security. Because the Night’s King hadn’t immediately raised Viserion after killing him, I thought that it wasn’t going to happen. But it did! Seeing Viserion die hurt, but seeing him turned into a wight broke me. I was fine-ish until that happened.