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Legion S01E08 [FINALE] Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Legion S01E08 [FINALE] Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

This was a spectacular – and a little unfair – ending to a spectacular series which is undoubtedly one of the best comic book television series ever, certainly from Marvel or DC.

The only part of the episode I didn’t really care for was the opening sequence which showed the aftermath of David’s rescue from the clutches of Division 3. I did not care what was going on with Clark – formerly known as The Interrogator – or what he went through and I questioned why we were seeing it. Of course, by the end of the sequence it was made clear that his experience motivated him to go after David and company, but it felt unnecessary to me. Clark spent the rest of the episode in custody at Summerland.

After his impressive display of his powers, the last thing I expected David to want to do is talk to Clark. Not that I thought that he would try to kill him or anything, but that is the last thing that I would think that anyone would want to do with someone who has interrogated, captured and tried to kill them. Wallace’s insistence on killing Clark was simultaneously hilarious and annoying. His attitude for the past few episodes was a bit irritating, especially toward David. I liked Melanie’s idea of reading Clark’s mind to get information about Division 3. It didn’t look like they got anything though because David’s headband started failing and he passed out.

While David was doing that, Syd was talking to the Shadow King in the White Room. This scene confused me. I assumed that they were in David’s head, which is where they always were when they went to the White Room, but it seemed to have been in Syd’s head this time. If it had been in David’s, I’d think he would have been aware of the conversation. I’m not quite sure what Syd was trying to achieve by telling Clark about the Shadow King. He didn’t seem to believe it. For a brief moment I thought that she was trying to get the Shadow King to possess him. In any case, I was hoping that the Shadow King was bluffing when it said that the only way to remove it from David was if it left willingly.

That seemed to be the case since Cary and Oliver were successfully extracting it from David, as painful as it looked, so Syd didn’t have to take up the Shadow King’s offer of helping it leave David. But good things never happen so easy in fiction and the Shadow King’s threat manifested as it trying to strangle David within his own mind. Which then became David strangling himself which was really confusing. But I digress.

I thought that the Shadow King would have done more body jumping. Syd’s power made her the appropriate person for it to use to find it’s way out of David and Kerry was best suited for fighting it’s way out of Summerland. I was very disappointed in Wallace for not even hesitating to shoot Kerry. I would like to think that he only intended to incapacitate her.

I forgot that the Shadow King had powers outside of those of it’s host and was excited to see it have an all out super powered brawl with David (who seemed to have no qualms about potentially hurting Kerry). All they did was run at each other and knock the other backward when their force fields collided. Luckily for Kerry it knocked the Shadow King out of her, but unluckily for Oliver it knocked it right into him. I found that so unfair.

First Melanie gets him back and he doesn’t remember her at all. Then the second he does, he gets possessed by the Shadow King who runs away in his body. She just got her husband back after twenty years! It looked like he was somewhat complicit in his possession, however, because in the final shot with “Lenny” he seemed pretty okay with it and friendly with his little parasite. That wasn’t the only cliff hanger in this finale; David got trapped in…something. That was an interesting and unexpected way to end the season and I’m really looking forward to seeing where the story goes from there.

Random thoughts:

  1. Took me a while to realise that the bandaged man was The Interrogator.
  2. Clearly he underestimated David.
  3. Forgive Cary, Kerry!
  4. You have an army. They have a David.
  5. You know he’s not going to stay in there Kerry.
  6. Where did David just come from?
  7. So…he’s in a pokeball?

‘Ghost in the Shell (2017)’ Film Review

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
‘Ghost in the Shell (2017)’ Film Review

Ghost in the Shell is an American adaptation of the science fiction manga of the same name by Masamune Shirow. Written by Jamie Moss, William Wheeler and Ehren Kruger, it was directed by Rupert Sanders and stars Scarlett Johansson as The Major; a fully cybernetic human being except for her brain, who works as a counter-cyberterrorist field commander in Section 9. When a cyber-terrorist hacks and kills members of Hanka Robotics – the company that gave The Major her cybernetic body – she must find and stop him and learn the truth about herself.

This film has a simple story and a straight forward, cohesive, concise, utilitarian plot with an organic cause and effect chain. It is not at all complex, there are no subplots and it is easy to follow. It’s unclear whether or not there are supposed to be big twists, revelations or reversals. There is a moment which seems like it was meant to be such, but it does not come off that way because it had been obvious from early on. The other revelation that this moment leads to was itself very strongly hinted at in the film’s trailers and fails to have the impact that it should as a result. There isn’t much of a big moment in the film and the climax is fairly quiet.

The characters lack charisma and aren’t very personable, particularly The Major; she’s distant and it feels like there is a wall separating her from the audience and to some extent the other characters. That, perhaps, was done on purpose. Batou is the closest to a personable character that the film gets and Dr. Ouélet is the closest to a likeable one because of the way that she treats and interacts with The Major. The characters are more or less just there and do what they are written to do. Connecting with and caring about them is superficial at best. The one character for whom this is not the case is an older Asian woman that The Major comes across.

There isn’t much of anything to say about the acting. No one was offensively bad and no one was amazing. The actors did their jobs. If any of them deserve singling out, they would be Scarlett Johansson and Michael Pitt. They both did well in being reserved and also emotive at times when it called for the characters to be either one. Particularly for Johansson’s character, The Major, who spends much of the film somewhat detached and cold. When she does express emotion, there are times when said expression is subtler than others and Johansson convincingly portrays both.

The film moves at break neck speed for the first half and slows down slightly, to a more even pace, in the second half, but still wraps up quickly. For a film with a running time of one hour and forty-seven minutes, it barely feels like an hour.By the time it reaches the middle it feels like it’s hardly gotten through the first act and it’s astounding that the film reached that point – in the narrative, not it’s run time – already. It reaches it’s rising action almost as fast and just as surprisingly. It never feels like it’s as far into the narrative as it is.

The visual effects are amazing and seamless. There is a lot of it and it very rarely looks fake or out of place. There are only a few instances when it does and those are when it is clear that Johansson has been replaced with a CGI figure and at some points when she is in her thermoptic suit, especially when she walks. For the most part the visual effects are so well integrated that you forget that the majority of what you’re looking at frame to frame is computer generated.

If there is one thing about The Matrix Trilogy that is oft repeated, it’s the fact that it was heavily influenced by the original Ghost in the Shell film. That trilogy is deeply philosophical and explores numerous themes, some of which are in Ghost in the Shell (1995). This film has no such themes…or really any at all. It introduces the theme of what it means to be human, as one would expect such a film to. However, it never goes anywhere with it. This despite hitting the audience over the head with it in the first few scenes with dialogue that blatantly spells it out for the audience and is  less discreet than the words “THIS IS THE THEME” flashing on screen.

In fact, there are a few instances of the film spoon feeding the audience through dialogue. Like The Major’s internal conflict and a scene in which the antagonist appears. It’s apparent that the antagonist has made an appearance, but The Major tells the audience explicitly that they have. Her doing this is immediately made irrelevant when the antagonist repeats a phrase that they had used earlier. It felt like the filmmakers, in those moments, were treating viewers like they were stupid.

Despite good action scenes, Ghost in the Shell is not thrilling, exciting or moving. There’s no real high point in the film, the stakes aren’t felt and it’s middling throughout. That being said, it’s a pretty good film that is competently made and good enough to be a leisurely, enjoyable watch.

The Lodge School Model Search 2017: The New Revolution

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
The Lodge School Model Search 2017: The New Revolution

The Lodge School Model Search 2017: The New Revolution was, for the most part, a very entertaining event. Particularly because of M.C. Mac Fingall who did a very good job of keeping the audience occupied and amused in between segments, especially when organisers were not ready to continue the proceedings, which happened fairly often. Not only did the show start roughly thirty minutes late – at which time the M.C. went on stage – the start of the first segment was delayed even after that. Despite the rough start, the opening segment “Cadets and Models” was an impressive demonstration of the talent of the school’s cadet unit drum corps and an exhilarating start to the event.

Click to view full size image.

The obvious winner from virtually the beginning, Kaila Bovell Lewis, deservedly won the the title of Ms. Lodge School Model Search 2017. Joining her in her victory was Shomari Mosely, Mr. Lodge School Model Search 2017. The two were presented with their prizes by the winners of the last Model Search, which was held four years ago.

The eight contestants competed in five segments: Vintage, Retro, Futuristic Career, Avant Garde and Marvel. Of the five segments Vintage (and Marvel in general) were the only ones in which the contestants’ clothing matched the theme. In the other three, Retro, Futuristic Career and Avant Garde, only one or two students embodied the idea.

In Retro only Kaila Bowell Lewis’ and to some extent Shaquille Landers’ looked to be referencing styles from previous decades. Hardly anything in Futuristic Careers looked futuristic except for Futuristic Flight Attendant as worn by Keila Butcher – which was an outdated, 1960’s/70’s idea of what fashion of the future would look like – and Kaila Bovell Lewis’s Futuristic Scientist.

For the avant garde segment contestants were tasked with creating clothing from recycled materials like bubble wrap, glass and tires. However, using unconventional materials barely scratches the surface of what makes avant garde fashion avant garde. Of the contestants, only Sherliza Griffith and Rashida Harrison’s attire fit the theme and Kaila Bovell Lewis’ would have been better suited for Futuristic Careers.

It’s not clear if the Marvel segment was specifically aimed at characters from Marvel Comics and it’s various other properties, but since six out of the eight contestants were dressed as Marvel characters it can be said that this was the intention. Keila Butcher and Kaila Bovell Lewis, however, depicted characters from DC Comics.

The show featured an opening adress from principal Winston Dowrich, vocal performances from students Kadijah Medford, Raheem Searles and Ashley Lashley, Water Warrior David Davis and soca artiste Anderson “Mr. Blood” Armstrong and a dance by the Barbados Dance Theatre. The standout performance of the night was by car impersonator Shamar Weekes, who wowed the audience with his spectacular imitations of cars right down to brand and model.

There were also giveaways of Burger King vouchers and a raffle for an iPad air, which was presented by Major Kellman.

The show lost it’s momentum during it’s anticlimactic and, frankly, messy prize giving ceremony which they attempted to start before the judges had even finished tabulating. The prizes were not on stage, nor were the contestants and in a moment similar to Steve Harvey’s Miss Universe flub and Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway’s at this years Oscars, the wrong winner was read for the first category; Mr. Photogenic. M.C. Mac Fingall, who had done an admiral job all night in moving the ceremonies along, tried to salvage the situation, but the damage had already been done. By the time that winners Kaila Bovell Lewis and Shomari Mosely were announced, the show was a dud and finished two hours later than it’s scheduled time.

That being said, it was a student organised event and that alone was impressive considering that it ran more or less smoothly up until that point.

Click to view full size image.

Mosely won the most prizes, taking home six in total. He won all five of the segments – Vintage, Retro, Futuristic Career, Avant Garde and Marvel – and of course, the title of Mr. Lodge School Model Search 2017. Bovell Lewis also won in the Retro and Futuristic Career segments.

Here is the full list of winners:

Photogenic Male: Nicholi Standard
Photogenic Female: Rashida Harrison

Vintage Male: Shomari Mosely
Vintage Female: Keshawna Straker

Retro Male:  Shomari Mosely
Retro Female: Kaila Bovell Lewis

Futuristic Career Male: Shomari Mosely
Futurist Career Female: Kaila Bovell Lewis

Avant Garde Male: Shomari Mosely
Avant Garde Female: Rashida Harrison

Marvel Male: Shomari Mosely
Marvel Female: Keshawna Straker

Fourth Runner Up Female: Sherliza Griffith

Third Runner Up Female: Keila Butcher

Second Runner Up Male: Shaquille Landers
Second Runner Up Female: Rashida Harrison

First Runner Up Male: Nicholi Standard
First Runner Up Female: Keshawna Straker

Mr. Lodge School Model Search 2017: Shomari Mosely
Ms. Lodge School Model Search 2017: Kaila Bovell Lewis

You can view photos from this event over on our Facebook Page.

Click to view full size image.

Girls S06E07 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Girls S06E07 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

Even Dill thought that Hannah should tell Paul-Louis about her pregnancy (solely because he didn’t have a father when he was growing up). Everyone seems to think that she should. So far, the only person who’s told her that she doesn’t need to tell the father…is her own father. And in this episode she finally did tell Paul-Louis. After sitting around almost all day waiting on him to call her back – and babysitting Dill while Elijah was out at an audition – Hannah got straight to the point and told him.

I liked that she didn’t beat around the bush or anything of the sort. She came right out with it. I was hopeful that Paul-Louis actually did want to get involved in the child’s life and be a father; he immediately asked Hannah if she needed anything. Then the moment that she said that she didn’t want to impose on him and his life, he backed right out. He wanted nothing to do with her and the baby. It made me wonder if he just asked her if she needed anything to be polite and if he was even sincere in his asking.

As much as Hannah didn’t want to tell him or have him involved, it still really hurt that he turned his back on her and their baby. She should not have told him anything. She didn’t even want to to being with. Perhaps that is why it went so badly; instead of doing what she wanted and felt was best, she listened to everyone else and did what they wanted her to do. Hannah didn’t trust her own choice. For better or worse, she now knows exactly where Paul-Louis stands and does not need to spend the rest of her life wondering and/or regretting.

The final shot in the episode felt unfair to me. Hannah was the only woman in the waiting room who was there alone. In my mind, Hannah isn’t really going through her pregnancy alone. Sure, Paul-Louis isn’t there, but she has Elijah. He was the first person that popped into my head when I asked myself why she was there by herself. He said he was ready to do this with her. That being said, he’s the only one she can count on to do this with her; her mother is a mess, Marnie isn’t even an option, Ray and Shoshanna don’t know and Jessa and Adam most certainly are the last people she would want with her.

In fact, I’m not going to dismiss Marnie just yet as someone Hannah can rely on during her pregnancy. Shockingly enough it looks like she has truly learned from an experience she had and is really trying to change and be a better person. I was amazed when she left that message to Desi. When the pawn shop owner gave her the speech about her blaming everyone for her problems and being a liar, I didn’t pay it any mind. More than once I have expected something to be a wake up call to Marnie and it wasn’t. So the fact that this time she was affected by it is astounding.

She was so annoying in the beginning of the episode. Acting like the entitled brat she always has. I had just given up hope that she would grow up and she caught me by surprise. I’m proud of her and hopefully this is real and not just a moment in which she feels bad about herself, but will return to her old ways once she feels better. Of all four of the “girls”, she has matured the least. Jessa is a close second but at least she’s in school trying to earn a degree.

I don’t know how I feel about Elijah and Dill being back together. I just know I don’t want it to be a mistake. I expected Dill’s sudden appearance to throw Elijah completely during his audition (like he thought it would), but thankfully he had Athena Dante. I would like to see her again even though I believe she is just a one off character. She was so vibrant on screen and fun to watch and she and Elijah had amazing chemistry. They got along so well for people who had only just met.

Just when I thought that he was doing well in the dance portion of the audition (I thought he wouldn’t because he looked lost when the choreography was being taught), he messed up spectacularly and it only got worse from there. It all worked out in the end because he got a call back.

Random thoughts:

  1.  I remember Smash. I loved that show.
  2. You don’t get to name it Paul-Louis! Especially not “Grover.”

Girls airs Sundays at 10 PM on HBO.

Once Upon A Time S06E14 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Once Upon A Time S06E14 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

Bringing back The Evil Queen only reminded me of the high hopes I had for her story last season and how disappointed I was when the writers did nothing with and wasted her character. What we got in this episode is what I wish we had gotten in the first half of the season. Finally we got the epic showdown between Regina and The Evil Queen that was promised last season, but it’s still a bit of a disappointment in that it was only for one episode and a filler episode at that.

This thing between Regina and The Evil Queen isn’t relevant anymore. I’d dare say that it hasn’t been relevant all season given how they treated it in the first half. It was built up at the end of the last season only to be trivialised this season. I don’t even think that the whole point of separating The Evil Queen and Regina was ever about her/them learning to love herself/themselves. I’m more convinced that it was an afterthought that the writers only came up with as they were writing this second half of the season. They did absolutely no justice to Regina and The Evil Queen.

The plot of their storyline in this episode was pretty predictable; I knew that the Arrow would lead flashback Regina to herself and I knew that The Evil Queen would end up with Robin 2.0 (I knew that since last week!). The idea that this new incarnation of Outlaw Queen would happen was made even more apparent when Robin 2.0 himself said that the two of them were alike.

I was surprised that we actually got the fight between Regina and The Evil Queen (with swords and barely any magic for some reason) since it looked like they weren’t going to face each other for the longest time (thirteen episodes in fact). Regina giving The Evil Queen some of her love and in turn taking some of her darkness into her heart was a nice touch. I expected her to fuse their hearts together as one so that they would return to being the same person (which I think would have reinforced the idea of her coming to love herself a lot better).

The existence of The Evil Queen let them get away with a few technicalities in this episode. I found it strange that Snow didn’t believe in The Evil Queen’s ability to change when she believed in Regina. But technically, they aren’t the same person. Henry could use his power as the author on The Evil Queen because she technically wasn’t a part of his story. Tinkerbell was right that “Robin” was “Regina’s” happy ending because technically Robin 2.0 and The Evil Queen are “Robin” and “Regina” and those two are the ones who ended up together.

And poor Regina still doesn’t have her happy ending.

The unnecessary drama between Hook and Emma continues. Can anyone on this show have a moment of happiness without it being soured by something? Hook did the most foolish thing imaginable by using the dream catcher at home. Of course Emma would have walked in on him and found out about him being David’s father’s murderer that way. It was such half-assed writing.

Emma had a point when she said that her parents would forgive him. They’d be upset, but Snowing are not so unreasonable that they would not understand that that was in his past, when he was a different person. Emma wasn’t even mad at him for not telling her, she was mat because he was going to burn the memory. The best thing that Hook could have done was confess in the early. But he did say that the issue was not them forgiving him but him forgiving himself.

Running away was not the way to deal with his guilt, especially without telling Emma and after she said that they should be working through things together. She told him that that was the kind of relationship she thought that they had and he was only proving her wrong by doing so. That was his moment to prove her right. He eventually came to his senses – thanks to Snow showing up in the right place, at the right time and saying the right thing – but he was thwarted by Gideon; who I forgot was in the series and that he was plotting to kill Emma until he appeared.

Now Emma is left to believe that Hook chickened out and left her.

Random thoughts:

  1. Why is this guard on a first name basis with the queen?
  2. Henry should hide that pen better.
  3. Of course The Evil Queen is still unhappy.
  4. Your father is on your side Regina.
  5. That was not a smart thing to do Hook.
  6. Dammit Gideon!

Once Upon a Time airs Sundays at 8 PM on ABC.

Shootin’ the Breeze with Shelway Gaskin

Reyda
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Shootin’ the Breeze with Shelway Gaskin

As we settled in the abandoned gallery of the old Oistins library, I was extremely excited to meet Shelway Gaskin, cartoonist, illustrator, and animator, especially after seeing all that he’s been doing on his Instagram account.

Gaskin leaned on the chipped hand rail with his earphones tossed over his shoulders and spoke freely of the random inspirations which birthed most of his personal projects and his humble beginnings as a child scrawling images that were resemble his favorite cartoon characters. At the age of 22, the self-taught cartoonist continues to perfect his art skills in animation all while studying film at the Errol Barrow Centre for Creative Imagination.

Searching through his Instagram feed, I was truly impressed not only by the technical quality of his cartoon portraits of people and animated shorts but also how funny and relatable his more recent comic strips were.

I’ve seen the many memes on Facebook illustrating the annoying person asking an artist “can you draw me???”. But I must confess, while I was able to get through the interview keeping it cool as he showed me some of his other work, I was inwardly screaming “draw me next, puh-lease!” I’m not sure if one of his many talents also include mind reading, but surprisingly enough it was him who offered to do a piece just for this article. And here’s the results!

 

The characters you see up there is from one of Gaskin’s earlier comics, Shootin’ the Breeze, that he just happened to be rebooting around the time of our interview. The look of the comic, he said, was inspired by Chibi Style anime, “I had these three characters and I wanted them to appeal to everyone. They’re cutsey and I really liked how they look”.

They are many types and techniques used in animation, Gaskin said, and his goal is that one day he’d have the technical skill to do them all. But for right now, his specialty is 2D animation; which is done frame by frame.

Not going too deep into the technicalities of film, Gaskin explains that 24 frames or 24 pictures/drawings generally makes up 1 second in a movie. Meaning to animate in 2D, calls for him to draw each frame, or sometimes every other frame, with slight adjustments until “life” is created.

For a better understanding of what his usual artistic process, Gaskin released on his channel a behind the scenes video showing what went into the making of Mama Luigi, a reanimated piece he completed last year.

However, it took him a lot go practice to get where he is today. Starting animation at the age of 8, Shelway simply began with copying what he saw on television as a child which included cartoons like Tom and Jerry and Archie. “They were bad, like really really bad, thank God they’re lost to time” said Gaskin but though the animations weren’t the best, it was something he said he really loved at that young age.

Highly influenced by shows on Cartoon Network most of us 90s kids are familiar with Gaskin listed the shows Courage the Cowardly Dog, Looney Toons, and Dexter’s Laboratory as some of his favourites. However, it was the Pixar movies like the Incredibles which really provoked him to get into animating and creating seriously.

“When it comes to actually doing animation, I’m self-taught but I learned animation from watching a lot of behind the scenes stuff like Walt Disney. I remember I had a Bambi tape that showed you how to draw classical animation, so I tried doing that. Again, I had the Incredibles that really inspired me so I watched the behind the scenes for that” Gaskin explained.

Although he had the passion, Gaskin said that he didn’t always have the finances for everything he wanted to do but had to find creative ways to get around that obstacle and continue to create.

So, we know what has inspired and influenced the look of his comic strips and animations, but what inspires the stories they tell? “Randomness, utter randomness”, he said.

“Anything from an encounter I’ve had that I found humorous [to]something silly that has happened in society or maybe just a random thought. I’m daydreaming and I have this random thought
that makes me think, wow, why did you think that…I’m putting that somewhere” Gaskin added.

His advice for anyone interested in animation, “Do it. I’ve met a lot of people who like animation and want to go into animation but they don’t really do anything. So first off, you have to actually do it, no matter what…use Microsoft Paint if you have to, that’s how I started. It wasn’t great, but it was something”.

Looking at the work of other animators for inspiration is another tip he gave but added that although people list programmes as a major reason they haven’t tried anything, they are a lot of free software out there that people can start with. But his general message for those out there who believe their developing an interest in animation is it’s not as hard or impossible as it seems and “if you’re passionate about it, I say go for it”.

The animation industry in Barbados, Gaskin said, is not even at a stage that it could be even described as a baby. And one of the things Gaskin believes discourages people from pursuing animation, whether as a hobby or career, is its absence from syllabi in teaching institutions. “There’s nobody really here to teach us and…it’s a little sad, a little disheartening. And that’s why I say if you really want to get into animation, just push for it”, he added.

He’s done some graphic work as well, which I know of because he did an awesome poster for my thesis film before I even knew the extent of his talents. He also hopes that one day he would be able to do work for bigger studios but with the freedom to still do a couple of his personal project like Shootin’ the Breeze, which he hopes to make into a fully animated series. Gaskin’s overall future goals is just to make a name for himself doing animation.

He’s on his way to doing that in Barbados with his work reel spanning from commercials shown at Animekon and animations for the TV series Route 10. To see more of the cool stuff Shelway has worked on check out his reel here and follow him on Instagram @smgaskinart.

Grimm S06E12 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Grimm S06E12 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

There were quite a few revelations in this episode. As it turns out, the Zerstörer only went after Eve to use her as bait to lure Nick into “the other place.” He needed a grimm to open a portal and cross over in order for him to get out.

Nick and Eve were able to escape thanks to Diana using the magic stick to open the portal. However, saving them also meant that the Zerstörer crossed over into their world and that doesn’t bode well for anyone. The only good thing to come out of Nick and Eve’s trip to “the other place” was that Eve is no longer a hexenbiest.

The assumed first target on the Zerstörer list would be Diana. When he made it into the real world I thought that he would immediately seek her out. Team Grimm decided to place a spell on her that would hide her from harm and move her – along with Adalind, Kelly and Renard – to the cabin in the woods that once belonged to the first blutbad he faced as a grimm.

While there, Diana had a dream in which the Zerstörer came for not just her, but Kelly as well. Kelly hasn’t demonstrated any unique or special powers. The only notable thing about him is that he is half grimm and half hexenbiest (or maybe zauberbiest?). What use could he be to the Zerstörer?

Diana and Kelly were not the first thing that the Zerstörer went after however.

The magic stick that Nick and Monroe found in the Black Forest is part of the Zerstörer staff; one with the power of the gods, as Monroe quoted from his book, which was shattered into a hundred pieces which were scattered all over the world. The Zerstörer needs the final piece in order to return the staff to full power.

I questioned the wisdom of Nick taking the stick with him when they left Monroe and Rosalee’s instead of hiding it. He made the right decision in the end because that would have left the stick unprotected and easily accessible. At least if it’s with Nick, he can put up a fight and hopefully use it against the Zerstörer.

Judging by its fight with Nick and Eve in “the other place” and its attack on the precinct, facing it will not be easy. It killed Hank and Wu! But conspicuously did not kill Nick. We already know that the magic stick can bring someone back to life, so I expect that Nick will use it on them once he defeats the Zerstörer.

There’s no question in my mind that Nick will defeat it. There’s no way that the hero won’t win. The only question that remains is how he will do it. Seeing as the Zerstörer was able to get the staff into “the other place” but Nick’s piece couldn’t pass through, makes me think that that piece is special. I’m banking on that special-ness meaning that it can be used to kill the Zerstörer. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if it actually completed the staff.

Random thoughts:

  1. Clearly the Zerstörer’s staff is connected to the magic stick.
  2. Diana sit down!
  3. Don’t hope that the Zerstörer didn’t cross over. Make sure that it didn’t.
  4. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy reference!
  5. That is the best acting that we’ve seen from Hannah R. Loyd.
  6. The Zerstörer’s human form is kind of hot.
  7. Trubel’s back!
  8. Nadalind is still weird.

The series finale of Grimm will air next Friday at 10 PM on NBC.

Reign S04E06 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Reign S04E06 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

Henry Darnley is starting to grow on me and I am loving the budding romance between him and Mary. He’s truly gone from the scoundrel that he was when we first met him, to a sweetheart who I can’t help but hope Mary falls in love with and vice versa. The chemistry between them is amazing and after all that she’s suffered, it’s time that Mary had a happy ending.

It was Mary’s past with Francis that prevented her from allowing herself to get closer to Darnley than she has already. Their marriage ended in such tragedy and I didn’t realise the parallels between what happened to Francis and the assassination attempt on Darnley until she pointed it out. Arguably, the situation between herself and Darnley is far more dangerous than with her and Francis because her situation with Elizabeth and England is worse than it was then.

I admired Darnley’s bravado in defying England when he rode away from the diplomat, but not so much after word was received that Elizabeth had sent her forces to retrieve him. He needed to take it down a notch and realise the severity of the situation. Sending him away was the best course of action, even though that was playing right into England’s hand. Had he been at court for the engagement celebration, there would have been no easy way for him and Mary to defy England once again. I do love that he’s not afraid of them.

I was cringing waiting for the moment when Keira would tell Darnley about the letter his mother sent. It’s only a matter of time before he learns the truth now that she’s there. She seems to have gone mad since their relationship ended and was that a threat that she made to Mary? For now Darnley doesn’t seem to be interested in her and hopefully it stays that way. It likely won’t and Keira will stir up trouble.

I was very surprised that Leith had actually agreed to the open marriage. It didn’t last very long though. Catherine’s words came true; seeing Claude, the woman that he loved, sharing her body with someone else poisoned his heart. He even repeated the words to Claude as he was preparing to leave. So much so that he almost let Luc die so that he could have her to himself.

I’m glad he didn’t resort to that because that is not the Leith we’ve come to know at all. For him to have been driven that far says a lot. He couldn’t even take comfort in the fact that nothing happened between Claude and Luc. But like he said, it would happen eventually. As much as I love him and Claude together I just can’t hate Luc. He is a very good man. If Claude and Leith never go back to being a couple, I wouldn’t be upset about her being with Luc.

Things aren’t going well for Catherine and Narcisse and by extension the French throne. Leeza has finally become aware that Charles has fled and gone missing. I knew what Narcisse was doing when he was being flirty with her when she was showing off the art she stole from French protestants. She really is a terrible person for one who is so devout. I was hoping that Narcisse’s flirtations were enough to keep her from conducting her own search for Charles. But they weren’t. She is her mother’s child.

I had a feeling that Agatha was going to die. Gideon kept stressing that Elizabeth doesn’t have the power to control that and I felt like it was a narrative indication of his daughter’s fate. I had hope that the physician she called in could help her, especially when he reported that his treatment had worked. Said hope was short lived the moment that Elizabeth noticed his fingers. I thought he was a sham when he said that the roses would be very expensive. Who wouldn’t take the opportunity to get as much money as they could from a queen?

Random thoughts:

  1. We haven’t heard the theme song in a while.
  2. You aren’t married yet Mary and Darnley!
  3. But how will they know that any child Claude has is Luc’s?
  4. Oh great, Leeza’s back.
  5. Are Greer and James going to be a thing?
  6. Don’t let him die Leith!
  7. Dear Leith, Greer is single. Got to Scotland.
  8. Is Keira crazy now?

Reign airs Fridays at 9 PM on The CW.

Iron Fist S01E13 [FINALE] Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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Iron Fist S01E13 [FINALE] Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

Danny finally got wise to Harold’s wicked ways and the lengths he’d gone to to have Rand all to himself. I’m not surprised that he killed Danny’s parents. It fits into what he had been doing since the beginning the season; trying to keep Danny out of Rand so that he – and Ward and Joy – didn’t lose control of the company. He took Harold’s betrayal really hard. Even before he found out that he killed his parents. Harold simply framing him was enough to make Danny unstable. I’d forgotten about the happy go lucky, bright and happy person he’d been until Claire pointed it out.

His conversation with Madame Gao, despite how much of a bad person she is, made me love her. She is the only villain in the entire Marvel Cinematic Universe that I love besides Loki. She’s an evil person, but you can trust her because she doesn’t really lie. I was so annoyed with Colleen every time she interrupted her. Everything she was saying Danny needed to hear. Except for the part about killing Harold.

Someone else that annoyed me in this episode – and has been annoying me for the past few – was Joy. She was being so infuriatingly obtuse about Harold’s evilness. I’m so glad that Ward had a newspaper with him to show her what Harold was doing to Danny. And for once she didn’t believe Harold when he fed her lies. Finally! She too has become aware that Harold is a villain.

I was hoping that when she saw Ward across the street, now that she had her confirmation that her father is a terrible man, that she’d forgive him. But she was still mad at him. I get that she’s mad that he lied to her and tried to kill Harold, but as someone who fully understands the situation that he was in and was a witness and victim to Bakuto’s – and The Hand’s – wrongdoings she shouldn’t be so stubborn about it.

She shouldn’t be upset with Danny either. Certainly not so much that she’s meeting with Davos (who’s pulled a Baron Mordo and is actively trying to turn her against Danny) and plotting to kill him. And why is Madame Gao there and who is she there with? Is there with Davos, Joy or both of them? Does either of them know that she’s there? In any case, I don’t like Joy now. I never really did honestly.

Who I do like is Ward and he may just be my favourite character in the entire series. He is probably the most complex and developed character out of all of them and he’s the only one I went from despising to sympathising with and eventually to loving. He’s still a douche, but now he’s a lovable douche.

I was surprised that he was still helping Danny. Of course, he was only doing it to serve himself. I didn’t think about getting the tablet from him and neither did Team Iron Fist at first; Madame Gao was their first choice. I imagine he was very happy that he got to kill Harold again (I was happy for him). Cremating Harold was a very good idea. Although Ward wanted nothing to do with Rand Enterprises anymore, I’m glad that in the end it’s in his hands.

Danny’s fight with Harold ended very abruptly. Given that Danny is a martial arts expert and that Harold is not, it does make sense that when he got that burst of energy and confidence that he would defeat him very quickly. I would have liked it to be a little less sudden though. One thing I’m not certain about, is whether or not Danny kicked Harold onto the spike accidentally or on purpose.

I knew that The Hand would attack K’un Lun. They knew that the Iron Fist wasn’t there. It was the perfect opportunity for them. I’m curious as to how long the entrance stays open since Danny was gone for several weeks and was able to go back and find it still open. Unfortunately for him, K’un Lun is gone. I don’t think that The Hand destroyed it. I think that the monks moved it (somehow) to a new hiding place to protect it. Whatever happened to it is going to remain a mystery until The Defenders.

Overall the series was fine. It was in no way the pile of trash that critics portrayed it to be. It was slow in the beginning and it took too long to wrap up those story lines, the writing wasn’t the best, the character development wasn’t all there and the fight scenes for the most part were not very good, but it really picked up and got more interesting in the second half. It’s by no means bad. It was quite enjoyable.

Random thoughts:

  1. How is Harold going to explain his absence?
  2. They just left Madame Gao there?
  3. Listen to Claire and Colleen, Danny.
  4. There is no version of this in which we don’t kill Harold.
  5. Where did Danny come from?
  6. Really Davos? Really Joy?
  7. I think this is the part where you say “Oops” Danny.

All 13 episodes of Iron Fist are currently available for streaming on Netflix.

Scandal S06E07 Recap

K.F. Cumberbatch
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0
Scandal S06E07 Recap

SOME SPOILERS AHEAD.

Once again, Liv almost destroyed everything her father worked so hard for and in the process very nearly nearly got herself killed. And two episodes in a row. She has been wrong and blind for this entire season and quite frankly I’m tired of it. I really don’t like Liv this season; she’s been so desperate and her emotions have been clouding her judgement.

I don’t blame her for not believing that her father was under someone else’s control. It’s Eli Pope! Who could control him? But she never once entertained the possibility that he was telling the truth or tried to uncover the truth on her own. She went digging, but only for proof to discount Huck’s assertions. She didn’t even listen to Huck when he made the valid point that Papa Pope always served the republic and killing Frankie was the opposite of that.

I’m so glad that Huck didn’t just follow her orders and realised that there was something fishy about the whole situation and did his own investigation. I had no idea who the mole could have been. I immediately ruled out Jake and Charlie. I thought that it could be Quinn until Huck caught her with Jake. She was the one person who wanted to look deeper into the conspiracy against Cyrus, despite Liv’s stubbornness about it. Plus, she would have already killed Jennifer if she was the mole.

I didn’t consider Meg until Quinn suggested her. I honestly never liked the girl. Huck’s visit with Becky only strengthened the case against Meg, but I still kept open the possibility that it wasn’t her.  Her meeting with the woman in the red dress, whose name I don’t think we’ve learned yet, wasn’t definitive proof for me that she was the mole. For all we knew, she’d caught on to what Huck was doing and was threatening Meg. When Huck went after Meg at his place she convinced even me that she was could well be innocent, but I thought that she could just have been genuinely scared and saying all the right things to get Huck to back off. I wanted Huck to inject and interrogate her just be to safe. I really wish he had.

Because it was Meg. As much as I gave her the benefit of the doubt I wholeheartedly believed that it was her. She was unreasonably paranoid the first time that we met her. I always thought that she was strange and off and I had no idea what Huck saw in her. He didn’t even look her up which should have been the first thing he did when he started to suspect her.

Jennifer Fields is actually dead now and Huck is to be determined. Hopefully Jake – who was nowhere to be seen even though he was supposed to be protecting Jennifer – shows up in time to save Huck. He can’t die. Not like this and not for this reason. Further, if he’s dead he won’t get to kill Meg.

For some reason when Papa Pope said that there was a mole in Team Pope, my first thought was Abby. Her name just popped into my mind immediately, but I dismissed it because I can’t see what Abby has to gain from all of this. She did interfere in the FBI interrogation of Nelson, but she was against the idea that Cyrus had anything to do with Frankie’s death and was pushing for Cyrus not to get he death penalty. All of that must have been a ruse because all of that was part of the plan from the beginning.

I can’t wait for Liv to find out that she had a hand in this. Abby is going to have hell to pay. Liv is going to bring the thunder and absolutely destroy her.

Random thoughts:

  1. “Hucky?” Really? Could she be more annoying?
  2. You have no idea what you’re messing with Liv.
  3. You know he knows that you’re following him Huck.
  4. I do not remember Becky. At all.
  5. Calm down Liv.
  6. Huck: “I am right. You are wrong.” Liv’s been wrong all season.
  7. How did Huck know to look for that there?
  8. Is Huck dead? Please don’t let Huck be dead.
  9. I knew Abby had something to do with this!

Scandal airs Thursdays at 9 PM on ABC.

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