’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’ 4.12 ‘Hot Potato Soup’ Review:

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. continued the LMD story as the team continues to use the LMD-Radcliffe to find out more about the real Radcliffe’s plans and more. The episode opens up with the return of the Koenig brothers as they are hanging out at arcade, but Billy ends up getting kidnapped by the Watchdogs. He is taken to Radcliffe and the Superior who try to access his mind and find out what Billy did with the Darkhold.

Back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Fitz, Simmons and Mack are trying to find out more information through the LMD-Radcliffe, but he is making it incredibly difficult. During their attempt, the LMD-Radcliffe reveals that the real one knew Fitz’s father. Simmons points out to Mack that Fitz’s father was a troubled man who left his family behind when Fitz was ten years old.

Coulson, “May” and Quake are assisted by Lieutenant Koenig and another Koenig brother, Thurston, to get the Darkhold out of the Labyrinth library. During the collection of the Darkhold, Coulson and “May” grow closer as the two agents goes in for a kiss. But as the Koenig family learns that armed men are on their way, one of the Koenigs hand over the Darkhold to “May” and when Coulson asks for it, she refuses to give it to him. Coulson figures out that this May is a LMD who gets stopped by Quake as they take the book back. During a gun fight, Billy gets the Darkhold and finds the damaged “May” who he tries to help, but gets knocked by her before she takes the book back.

Radcliffe shows up and takes the Darkhold from her before telling the LMD that she has fulfilled her purpose. The episode concludes with the Superior and Radcliffe having a few drinks as the Superior reveals his motives and it involves Coulson. Given everything that happened in tonight’s intense episode, there is a lot of things we want to discuss. With all of that said, hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of tonight’s biggest highlights and important moments in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 episode: “Hot Potato Soup”

#5: Fitz’s Daddy Problems

#4: The Koenig Secret Revealed

#3: Coulson Learns The Secret Behind “May”

#2: The Superior’s Motive Revealed

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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‘Legends Of Tomorrow’: ‘The Legion Of Doom’ Review

The Legion of Doom takes center stage in this week’s episode of DC’s Legends of Tomorrow. The L.O.D. has Rip Hunter (Arthur Darvill) in their grasp and the Legends haven’t a clue as to where to even begin in finding him. They don’t even know who Eobard Thawne/Reverse Flash is.

While the idiots, I mean Legends, are busy trying to put a name to the “mysterious” speedster and crack the secrets of the Longinus Medallion, the Legion of Doom is busy trying to pry the location of the other half of the Spear of Destiny from Rip/Phil’s empty brain. While Malcolm Merlyn and Damien Darhk spend most of the episode butting heads, we finally learn a little more about Thawne’s motivation, including what it is he is running from.

There’s a lot to talk about in this week’s episode, so hit the next button below to follow along as we break down the highlights and critical moments of “The Legion of Doom.”

5. The Undead Darhk

4. The Magician

3. The Man in the Yellow Suit

2. The Idiots

1. Final Thoughts

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‘The Flash’: ‘Dead Or Alive’ Review

The Flash picked up right where they left off last week with DC Comics’ Gypsy making her debut as she has come to Earth-1 to take H.R. back to Earth-19 since he broke the law. She tracks him at Star Labs and demands that he leaves with her right away. Gypsy vibe herself into the building and try to take H.R Despite being able to stop them, Gypsy warns H.R. to get his affairs in orders within 24 hours before she comes back for him. H.R. explains to the team who she is and why she has come for him. When Gypsy comes back to Star Labs the next day, Cisco challenges her to a trail by combat. She gives him a day to prepare before taking off again as Cisco starts to train and grow his powers.

While Team Flash is continuing to try and find ways to change the future to save Iris, she isn’t letting herself get scared of what Savitar is going to do to her in May. She gets Wally to help her find out where the Electric Gang is hiding, as one of her stories for the newspaper. Despite that they manage to find their hideout, Iris and Wally are busted by Joe who is furious at them both. Barry talks with Iris who reveals that she doesn’t have a death wish, but that she is worried about not leaving a mark after herself when she dies in May.

Gypsy and Vibe have a showdown later that evening as they travel between different Earths, including Earth-2 and Earth-38. Once back on Earth-1, Vibe uses Julian’s advice on how to stop her and blast vibrations at her as she is coming out of a breach. Despite the rules of trial by combat, which says that the loser has to die, Cisco lets her live as it’s not their style on Earth-1. The next day, Gypsy explains that she will have to lie to the people that hired her at Earth-19 that she killed H.R.

The episode concludes with Barry talking to Wally as he explains that he has been looking at the plan of saving Iris from Savitar all wrong. He needs Kid Flash to be the one that saves Iris in the future. A lot went down in tonight’s big episode that we want to discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the important moments and highlights of The Flash Season 3 episode: “Dead or Alive”.

#5: Gypsy From Earth-19

#4: Iris’ Quest To Leave A Mark

#3: The Evolution Of Cisco’s Powers

#2: Vibe Vs Gypsy

#1: Barry Changes The Plan

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’Supergirl’: ‘We Can Be Heroes’ Review

Supergirl had a lot of tension in this week’s episode as secrets come out, conflicts are resolved and more. The episode opens up with Kara continuing to train Mon-El as he is now focusing on becoming a superhero just like her. Livewire is having a talk with her psychologist in prison, but suddenly a guard unlocks her cell and while it appears that Leslie was in control of the situation, that wasn’t the case. It was revealed through security footage at the D.E.O. that Livewire was abducted by a scientist who was using her to stage attacks so that he could put his super-soldiers to use.

James decides to tell Kara his secret, but she finds out before he gets a chance to after Guardians gets taken down during a fight with the baddies. The two argue about it as Kara thinks James is being reckless for going out there. Despite her warning, James and Mon-El, who ended up getting benched by Kara, tries to save Livewire on their own. They end up getting taken themselves and are getting prepared to be turned into electric super-soldiers by the head scientist. While Kara manages to save Livewire, Leslie tries to kill the scientist. But Kara offers to make a deal with Livewire, as she will let Leslie get a head start to escape if the scientist gets to live. The electric villain agrees to it and takes off.

While all of that was going on, M’Gann was mysteriously attacked mentally and the only way she can be saved is if J’onn goes into her mind, but he isn’t willing to do it. However, after realizing that he had no other choice, J’onn decides to meld with her and goes into M’Gann’s mind. Inside, he sees her witnessing those horrific events back on Mars. J’onn forgives her and asks M’Gann to consider him a friend. However, she reveals to J’onn that it was the White Martians that attacked her as they are on their way to National City.

A lot went down in tonight’s big episode that we have to discuss. So let’s go through the top 5 highlights and important moments of the Supergirl Season 2 episode: “We Can Be Heroes”

#5: The M’Gann & J’onn Resolution

#4: The Guardian Conflict Between James & Kara

#3: Mon-El’s Complicated Superhero Training

#2: The Return Of Livewire

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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’Gotham’: ‘The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies’ Review

Gotham picked up right where we left off last week as tonight’s episode, the winter finale, featured Jerome’s next terror attack in Gotham City. He had one target specifically: Bruce Wayne. The episode starts out with Gordon and the rest of the GCPD trying to gain control back over the station as Jerome’s lunatic followers are all over the place. Leslie remembers Jerome’s words about Bruce Wayne and informs Jim of what he’s planning to do, causing Jim to rush to Wayne Manor.

Jerome and his gang crash Wayne Manor and kidnap Bruce while leaving Alfred to a few goons. He takes Bruce to a circus where he puts the young Wayne member through hell. Bruce is however not going down without a fight. Jerome puts on a show for the audience and prepares to kill the young Wayne member by shooting him with a cannon. However as the cops arrive, Bruce manages to get out of his cuffs and leads Jerome to a mirror house where a showdown takes place. While Jerome is stopped and taken away, Bruce makes a promise to himself that, no matter what happens, he shall never kill.

Nygma, who has slowly been destroying the Penguin one step at a time, reveals he was behind Oswald’s downfall as vengeance for what he did to Isabella. Nygma leaves Oswald to die, but he’s rescued at the last minute by a police officer. As he leaves one trap, though, he walks into another. Oswald returns to his home where he eventually learns that Barbara, Tabitha and Butch were working with Nygma this whole time. Nygma takes Oswald to the docks where he is getting ready to end Penguin’s life. Oswald begs Nygma to not do it as he warns him that if he goes through with it, it will forever change him.

As all of that went down, the Court of Owls and Bruce Wayne’s clone are getting ready to strike and Gordon gets a surprise visit. A lot happened in the winter finale of Gotham that we want to break down and discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the highlights and important moments of the Gotham Season 3 episode: “The Gentle Art Of Making Enemies”

#5: Riddler Vs Penguin – Chapter 3

#4: Court Of Owls Rises

#3: Gordon Gets A Family Visit

#2: Bruce Vs Jerome

#1: The Final Scene

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DCTV’s Arrowverse Episode Roundup: Winter Premiere Edition

Welcome back to the weekly DCTV Arrowverse episode roundup! Supergirl, The Flash, DC’s Legends of Tomorrow, and Arrow all came back this week with their winter premieres.

Supergirl fought slavers on a new planet (and spotted a Dominator from the crossover), The Flash vibed to the future to help find a way to save Iris, Legends of Tomorrow interacted with a pre-Star Wars George Lucas, and Arrow saw the return of a familiar face.

The episode roundups have a new format. For the rest of the season, I’ll be highlighting all of the major plot points and then following up with a brief paragraph of commentary.

You can read through all of the roundups by clicking through the gallery!

As always, the episode roundups pertain only to the episode that aired and don’t include any spoilers or information from future episodes.

You can find all previous roundups here! Let’s dive right in!

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Arrow’: ‘Who Are You?’ Review

Arrow returned tonight to follow up on the big aftermath from last month’s mid-season finale, with the aftermath of Prometheus as well as the return of Laurel Lance. The episode opens up with Laurel explaining to Oliver and Felicity how Sara used time travel to save her without causing an Aberration. Laurel has a lot of things to catch up on since her death, but Felicity arranges a party for the next day to celebrate her return.

During the celebration of Laurel’s return, Felicity was trying to get Laurel’s DNA to run analysis on to make sure that this is really her. But Felicity gets reminded that there is an evil version of Laurel on this Earth, but it’s too late as Laurel unleashes a sonic scream and it’s revealed that it was Black Siren this whole time. Prometheus broke her out from Star Labs without Team Flash noticing it because the alarm never went off.

Oliver refuses to give up on this Laurel as he failed his Earth-1 version of her several times, but Felicity refuses to give her a shot. When Siren offers to help Oliver to stop Prometheus, Felicity makes Team Arrow attack her as they manage to capture her. During a conversation with Siren, Felicity makes the power go off in the building so Laurel can escape as she was planted with nanites. The team tracks her down where Siren is ready to fight and so is Prometheus.

While Oliver tries to talk sense to Laurel as she is ready to kill Felicity, Siren won’t hear it as she gets ready to take them both down, but is stopped by Mister Terrific. Siren is sent to ARGUS so that Oliver can keep her close as he isn’t ready to give up on this Laurel. Oliver also decides that he needs to honor his promise to Earth-1 Laurel by finding a new Black Canary. Meanwhile, at a club in Hub City, a mysterious woman takes down two cocky men by unleashing…a sonic scream.

A lot went down in tonight’s packed mid-season premiere so we got a lot to discuss. So hit the next button below and let’s go through some of the highlights and important moments of the Arrow Season 5 episode: “Who Are You?”

#5: Diggle’s Fight For Freedom

#4: Russian Flashbacks With Talia Al Ghul

#3: The Return Of Laurel Lance

#2: Enter Tina Boland

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘Wake Up’ Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. focused heavily on Agent Melinda May as she continued to try and escape from Doctor Radcliffe’s prison, but it ends up being trickier than she expected. The episode opens up with a flashback to where we see how May got captured to begin with by Radcliffe and AIDA. We also get a quick recap of her attempted escape from last week. The episode then cuts to where May is now as she tries to escape once again, but it’s becoming clearer that things isn’t what they seem. May is still determined to escape from her prison, but after her attempt last week, Radcliffe figured out how to put her into the perfect simulation for her.

S.H.I.E.L.D. is dealing with Daisy getting ready to sign the Sokovia Accords which everyone is having different opinions about as well as concerning about Senator Nadeer. During the hearing, Nadeer is giving Daisy a hard time as she questions Quake’s actions in the past couple of months. While Coulson and Yo-Yo attempts to plant surveillance cameras within Nadeer’s office, they end up getting caught by Nadeer’s people. Coulson begins to suspect that there is a leak in the organization.

“May”, who discovered last week that she isn’t human, decides to go and confront Radcliffe about what is going on. She tries to take him down, but her programming doesn’t allow “May” to hurt her creator and she starts to realize the bigger issue. Radcliffe manipulates her by trying to distract her with the feelings “May” have for Coulson. However, they get interrupted by Coulson, Fitz, Simmons and other agents who break into his home and arrest him for being the leak. Later on Fitz interrogates Radcliffe, but starts to realize that he is talking to a Life Model Decoy. The real one was with Senator Nadeer the whole time.

#5: S.H.I.E.L.D. Vs Senator Nadeer

#4: May Fights For Her Freedom

#3: “May” Deals With The Painful Truth

#2: The Ending With Radcliffe

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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’The Flash’: ‘Borrowing Problems From The Future’ Review

The Flash is finally back as the show kicked off the second half of the third season with Barry Allen determined to prevent the future from happening where Iris West dies at the hands of Savitar. The episode opens up with Barry having a nightmare of what he saw in the future and tries to shake it off. Wally suits up as Kid Flash for his first day and helps Barry with a fire that is in progress. However some of the cops at CCPD aren’t impressed with the newest speedster.

H.R. and team are continuing to work on the big opening of Star Labs Museum, but things aren’t going as smoothly as he had hoped, which annoys the team. The opening ends up being a flop, but later that night, Barry tells Iris about what’s been going on with him. He explains how he got sent to the future and saw her die. Iris insists that they tell the whole team which they do, but they all agree to not tell Joe for the time being.

When H.R. begins to explain through dominos how they could possibly alter the future by changing certain events, but they have to be careful about it. Barry and Cisco take a trip into the future through Vibe’s powers and they begin to note down the headlines that they saw on the news coverage, including the capturing of Plunder. They also discover that H.R. is standing on the roof with a big gun, meaning that the future has already changed. Once back in the present, the speedster duo takes Plunder down by having Kid Flash be the one to stop him rather than Barry.

Caitlin is struggling with her cuffs that hold her powers back and asks Julian for help in hopes that he can help her get rid of her ice abilities. She also asks him if Julian would like to join the team, but he isn’t fond of that idea. However, he comes around in the end and accepts her invitation, although had to get the approval of the other team members at first. The episode ends with Team Flash going to Barry and Iris’ house-warming party. Meanwhile, a mysterious woman appears out of a portal and is here for a very specific reason: H.R.

A lot went down in tonight’s big episode that we want to discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the important moments and highlights of The Flash Season 3 episode: “Borrowing Problems From The Future”

#5: Caitlin Tries To Lose Her Powers

#4: The Star Labs Museum

#3: Kid Flash On His First Day

#2: Team Flash Learns About The Future

#1: Setup For Next Week’s Episode

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’Supergirl’: ‘Supergirl Lives’ Review

Supergirl is officially back from its winter hiatus and it returned with a bang as Kara investigates the disappearance of a young girl, Izzy, but gets trapped on Slaver’s Moon with Mon-El. The episode opens up with Kara trying to stop a couple of criminals, with Guardian joining her in stopping them.

A woman shows up at CatCo, asking for help to find her missing daughter Izzy and Kara promises to find her, which annoys Snapper. When Supergirl starts the search, Mon-El decides to join her, but their investigation gets them trapped on Slaver’s Moon where several humans have been taken to. What Kara wasn’t prepared for was that there is a Red Sun on Slaver’s Moon which means she and Mon-El are powerless against Roulette who is working with the Maaldorians as well as the Dominators. Roulette explains that after their first encounter, she was forced to go into slave trade.

Winn confesses to James that after almost getting killed the other night, he can’t go out there again. Alex later shows up and asks if they have seen Kara lately as she isn’t able to reach her. When the D.E.O. discovers what happened to Kara, they go on a rescue mission which Winn gets recruited to. Meanwhile, Kara stands up to the foes and a battle takes place between the humans and the Maaldorians. Once reunited with Alex and the D.E.O., they return to Earth as Kara destroys the transmatter portal.

A lot went down in the big mid-season premiere of the show which also gave us a few new mysteries to chew on in the second half of the season. So let’s go through the top 5 highlights and important moments of the Supergirl Season 2 episode: “Supergirl Lives”

#5: Winn’s Struggle On The Field

#4: Alex & Maggie

#3: Visit To Slaver’s Moon

#2: New Pieces To The Mon-El Mystery

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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’Gotham’: ‘Smile Like You Mean It’ Review

Gotham returned last week with teasing the coming resurrection of Jerome Valeska who have since his debut in Season 1 been teased as the potential candidate that will end up becoming Batman’s greatest foe, The Joker. This week’s episode picked up right where we left off as Dwight collected Jerome’s body and began the attempt to bring him back. Dwight takes the body back to the factory and begins resurrecting Jerome through an electric machine which doesn’t seem to work at first.

When Dwight start freaking out that he has a promise to keep to Jerome’s followers, he begins to cut Jerome’s face off so he can wear it himself. Jerome’s body is eventually taken to the Gotham City Police Department and Leslie exams the body. However, we see his hand twitch as we learn that the machine worked: Jerome is alive and ready to terrorize the city again.

Bruce and Alfred get a visit by Cole who wants $200 000 because of Maria’s debts which Bruce agrees to in order to help the Kyle family out. However Selina later discovers that Maria and Cole had planned this the whole time as they are working together. Selina gets furious with her mother and tells Maria to never contact her ever again. But things get tense between her and Bruce as he admits that he pretty much knew that Cole and Maria were working together this whole time.

Mayor Oswald is paying the consequences for his meltdown on television last week as his public image was destroyed. Barbara “helps” Oswald while secretly trying to destroy him with the help of Riddler. When Oswald gets a phone call from Tommy Bones who threatens him that if Oswald doesn’t resign as mayor, Nygma will die. What Oswald doesn’t know is that this is all part of Nygma’s big masterplan.

A lot happened in this week’s episode of Gotham that we want to break-down and discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the highlights and important moments of the Gotham Season 3 episode: “Smile Like You Mean It”

#5: Leslie & Gordon

#4: Maria Kyle’s True Motives Revealed

#3: Riddler Vs Penguin – Chapter 2

#2: Selina & Bruce Conflict

#1: The Return Of Jerome Valeska

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‘XXX Return of Xander Cage’ Movie Review: Vin Diesel Resurrects Xander Cage And The ‘XXX’ Franchise

It has been 12 years since the last entry in the XXX series, which featured Ice Cube in the title role and the absence of Vin Diesel as Xander Cage whose last time in the role was 15 years ago.  In XXX Return of Xander Cage the series goes back to the roots and brings back Xander in a new mission.  The likelihood of a sequel to this series was seemingly slim, but after many years they decided it was the right time to bring it back. With such a huge time gap  it would be difficult to jump back into the franchise so with all of this at the front of my mind the question is does this movie do the series justice and is it any good? The answer to that question is it is an enjoyable mixed bag.

The plot of the film revolves around Pandora’s Box.  A military device with the ability to control satellites that are currently orbiting the planet. This device could be used to cause devastating attacks, so the XXX program is brought back again to stop it. Xander Cage (Vin Diesel), who was thought to have been dead is currently residing in South America until he’s brought back into the fold to find Pandora’s Box and stop it from falling into the wrong hands. With the help of a crack team, Xander goes looking for the villain Xiang (Donnie Yen) who stole it and discovers that there is much more to this than meets the eye.

The first thing that is worth mentioning in this is that it’s an action film from beginning to end. The things that work best in the film is getting to see the main characters use weapons as well as the Martial Arts Talent on display. With as much technical skill as they always have Donnie Yen and Tony Jaa shine as some of the most thrilling performers in the film. Their talents are on full display here in some really intense and impressive sequences. They are really the best elements of the film. The rest of the cast including Vin are good at doing these action sequences as well and every character gets ample time to join in on the fun.

While the action may be a lot of fun the film has a good amount of weak elements. The  weakest of which is the script. The dialogue in the film is extremely poor and contains some of the silliest lines in an action movie in recent years, but this is very similar in the ways in which the first two films were written. A lot of these moments of dialogue are laughable with some of that being intentional as well as unintentional. In addition to the dialogue being poor the acting from some of the characters is weak and the plot is very standard action film territory. It almost feels like a throwback to the late 90s action films and how formulaic they were. There is nothing spectacular or extremely original about the characters or the plot itself.

Another part that is actually fun is that it feels like the culmination of the XXX series. I recently saw the first two films and going in having it be so fresh in my mind allowed me to enjoy the return of certain characters and plot elements that were established in those films. The return of Xander to the series feels right, which makes the film the best of the series.

Overall I still found myself enjoying the film.  It was a blast to see the returning characters as well as the fun martial arts and action sequences. It’s by all means a bad film technically, but an entertaining one at that if you enjoy ridiculously silly action films. If you enjoyed the other films in the series I highly recommend you see this because it is the absolute best out of the three and you will not be disappointed.

Score: 6.5

So what do you think of the series? Let us know in the comments!

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’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘The Patriot’ Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. focused the majority of this week’s episode on the character of Director Jeffrey Mace as we learn more about his mysterious background. The episode opens up with Mace holding a press conference to celebrate the reinstatement of Daisy Johnson to S.H.I.E.L.D. However a shooter disturbs the event that ends up getting taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D.

Radcliffe has to restructure his plan to get a hold of the Darkhold when S.H.I.E.L.D. decides to eliminate his access to the base. However, later on, May wakes up at Radcliffe’s place and tries to escape. However AIDA arrives and almost kills her until Radcliffe walks in and tells her to keep May alive. May eventually gets sedated by AIDA and gets put back in her prison. Radcliffe figures out why his previous methods weren’t working on May and figures out a new way to keep her down.

During a travel with Coulson, Mace and Mack, their Quinjet suddenly goes down and crashes. Luckily Mace, Coulson and Mack are all alive. Mace gets concerned when he can’t find Agent Burrows who had his mysterious briefcase that he must have at any cost. However, they discover that ex-Hydra agents have gotten a hold of it and when Mace tries to take it back, he gets injured.

As the two agents begin to understand what is going on, so are the people back at the base as Simmons finds out about a mysterious project called “Project Patriot” that only a handful at S.H.I.E.L.D. have access to. Simmons demands that Glenn Talbot explains what it is all about. Mace was never an Inhuman and because the President wanted to have an enhanced director of the organization, they were forced to create one when they didn’t find a worthy candidate.

After saving her fellow agents, “May” discovers at the end of the episode that something isn’t what it seems. Mace explains further to Coulson why he decided to let himself be used for Project Patriot. A lot went down in tonight’s episode, so there is a lot to discuss about. With all of that said, hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of tonight’s biggest highlights and important moments in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 episode: “The Patriot”

#5: Fitz Refusing To Give Up On AIDA

#4: Jeffrey Mace’s Secret Revealed

#3: Mace & Coulson’s Heart To Heart

#2: “May” Learns What She Is

#1: Verdict & Questions 

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‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ 1.7 & 1.8 Reviews: ‘The Miserable Mill’

Hypnotism, cross-dressing, and gum for lunch. That’s just a taste of what A Series of Unfortunate Events‘ first season finale “The Miserable Mill – Part One & Part Two” has to offer. Featuring the first material not yet adapted for the screen (the 2004 film made a jumble of the first three books), it is the strongest two-parter since the premiere “The Bad Beginning – Part One & Part Two” (my review here) and the first not to feature a script by author Daniel Handler (aka Lemony Snicket, played in the series with wry melancholy by Patrick Warburton).

The episodes take the Baudelaire orphans to Paltryville, where they attempt to clear their parents’ names of arson while working at the cult-like Lucky Smells Lumber Mill. The finale tripled up with the guest stars, with Don Johnson playing the cigar-chomping mill owner Sir, Rhys Darby as his meek partner Charles, and Catherine O’Hara as the sinister optometrist Dr. Georgina Orwell. O’Hara played Justice Strauss in the original film (a role played with aplomb in “The Bad Beginning” by Joan Cusack).

This review is separated into “Part One” and “Part Two” as well as my final verdict on the first season. Click Next to begin! Check out all the previous reviews at the links below and thanks for suffering through this calamity, a word which here means “epic binge-worthy event,” with me!

• “The Bad Beginning – Part One & Part Two”
• “The Reptile Room – Part One & Part Two”
• “The Wide Window – Part One & Part Two”

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’Gotham’: ‘Ghosts’ Review

Gotham returned tonight with a bang as usual as we pick up right where the show left off back in the fall after Gordon killed an infected Mario Falcone who was about to kill Leslie. The episode opens up with Mario’s funeral as Leslie bids farewell to her husband with Gordon watching from a distance. Gordon tries to go on with his life, but an upset Leslie shows up at the station and demand that he gets arrested for the murder of Mario. As her hatred towards Gordon grow stronger and stronger, Carmine assures her that Gordon will get what he deserves, but ask that she stay out of it. He puts a hit on Gordon as Victor Zsasz and his goons go after Gordon and Bullock who are investigating followers of Jerome Valeska.

Mayor Oswald’s day begin to get strange as he sees the spirit of his deceased father. Later, he gets a visit by the cops that inform him that someone went through his father’s grave and stole his remains. When Oswald sees his father’s ghost again, he warns his son of “the birthday boy” that is later revealed to be the Mayor’s new assistant who ends getting murdered by his boss. However, it’s later revealed that Papa Cobblepot’s ghost was in fact Basil Karlo (a.k.a. Clayface) who is working with the Riddler as well as the Sirens who are all planning to break Oswald one step at a time.

Meanwhile, Selina has a big heart-to-heart with her mother, Maria Kyle, who resurfaced in the last episode. While Maria tries to explain why she wasn’t present in her daughter’s life, Selina refuses to hear it. Maria show up later at the Wayne Manor to drop off a special box for Alfred to give to Selina, however Bruce insist she stay and try to get through to her daughter. Bruce goes to hand it off to her and brings Maria with him. When Selina opens the box and sees that her mother had kept all the baby things from her childhood, the two Kyle women are properly reunited with a hug.

A lot happened in this week’s returning episode of Gotham that we want to break-down and discuss. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the highlights and important moments of the Gotham Season 3 episode: “Ghosts”

#5: Mother/Daughter Reunion

#4: Riddler Vs Penguin – Chapter 1  

#3: Aftermath Of Mario Falcone’s Death

#2: The Beginning Of The Clown’s Return

#1: Verdict & Questions

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‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ 1.5 & 1.6 Reviews: The Wide Window

“The Wide Window – Part One & Part Two” is all about the show gaining the story momentum that the books, at this point in their tale, had not yet reached. The fifth and sixth episodes see the return of producer Barry Sonnenfeld as director, with author Daniel Handler penning the scripts. Outside of some conspicuous CGI, these episodes, like “The Reptile Room – Part One & Part Two” (my review here) do a nice job of integrating the central mystery of the Baudelaires’ parents into the scattershot shuttling of the orphans from guardian to guardian, a passivity deliberately averted at the end of “Part Two.” Despite some narrative flab, the episodes take deliberate steps to embolden our protagonists and integrate the series’ many mysteries.

Click Next to begin the review with “Part One” or skip to “Part Two” by clicking here!

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‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ 1.3 & 1.4 Reviews: The Reptile Room

“The Reptile Room – Part One & Two,” the third and fourth episodes of Netflix’s A Series of Unfortunate Events reboot, are worthy follow-ups to the stellar first hours, if not quite reaching their heights. Directed by Mark Palansky, he steps in for producer Barry Sonnenfeld who helmed the first two episodes of “The Bad Beginning” (my review here). “The Reptile Room” two-parter is not quite as sharp as those introductory episodes, but thanks to Aasif Mandvi’s breath of positivity as the Baudelaires’ new guardian, the herpetologist Dr. Montgomery, Neal Patrick Harris’ quicksilver mix of goofiness and menace, and some truly gorgeous visuals, it’s still the same distilled Snicket that makes this series a joy to view.

Series author Daniel Handler scripted “Part One” while “Part Two” was written by Emily Fox. Handler and Sonnenfeld, the duo behind the firs two hours, reunite for “The Wide Window – Part One & Part Two,” reviews for which are coming tomorrow morning!

Click Next to begin the review!

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‘A Series Of Unfortunate Events’ 1.1 & 1.2 Reviews: The Bad Beginning

A Series of Unfortunate Events has a Bad Beginning, a phrase which here means “the title of the first two amazing episodes of the immensely binge-worthy new Netflix series.”

Netflix has finally unleashed its proper and timely adaptation of the popular children’s books by Lemony Snicket (aka author Daniel Handler).The streaming network is the television equivalent of John Hammond from Jurassic Park, constantly awing audiences with a twinkle in their eye and the phrase “spared no expense.”

It definitely shows here in the expensive re-adaptation about the Baudelaire orphans Violet (Malina Weissman), Klaus (Louis Hynes), and baby Sunny (Presley Smith with the voice of Tara Strong) who, after the deaths of their parents in a fire, are shuffled from inept guardian to inept guardian by executor Mr. Poe (K. Todd Freeman) while pursued by the villainous, inheritance-chasing Count Olaf (a hammy-yet-sharp Neil Patrick Harris) and chronicled by the heroically-droll narrator, Lemony Snicket himself (Patrick Warburton).

The mix of bright colors with darkly-comic dourness comes courtesy of producer/director Barry Sonnenfeld (Men in Black trilogy, The Addams Family films). He helms four of the eight episodes, including the first two episode here, and manages to deftly steal from the stylish 2004 film while reinventing the Gothic, heightened reality with a dose of Tim Burton circa Edward Scissorhands. And it all takes place under the watchful eye of Handler (who wrote five of the scripts, including the first three), with some great twists to the familiar mythology for those, like me, who read the books obsessively growing up. Let’s dig into every dark, unfortunate corner!

I’ll be reviewing two episodes (one book) at a time starting, of course, with “The Bad Beginning – Part One & Part Two.” I’ve separated this review to tackle the strengths and weaknesses of the show in five key areas. I also compare and contrast the first two episodes with the original 2004 film, as well as the book upon which it’s based. Click Next to scroll through the review or click which part you’d like to read first!

• The Baudelaire orphans
• “The handsomest man alive” Count Olaf
• Lemony Snicket, Justice Strauss and the rest of the cast
• Storytelling, direction, & design
• Overall

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’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘Broken Promises’ Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. has been gone for a while, but tonight the show finally returned from its hiatus as Season 4B’s “LMD” arc has officially started. The episode starts off with AIDA getting a new set of clothes while keeping an eye on May who is trapped and being drugged so she can’t escape.

The team is discussing what to do with both the Darkhold as well as AIDA since she has been affected by it. While Radcliffe and Fitz are against it, the team all comes to the agreement of stopping AIDA. Daisy gets back into the groove of being part of S.H.I.E.L.D. and operating as an agent and she is still determined to stop The Watchdogs.

Meanwhile, Ellen Nadeer is spending quality time with her brother Vijay who has come out of his Terrigenesis cocoon. While he thinks he is safe, Ellen reveals that she has been working with the Watchdogs and reminds him of the promise they made to each other, should one of them turn out to be an Inhuman. Mace, Daisy and Simmons try to save the brother who during a fight with the Watchdogs finds out what his power is.

AIDA goes after S.H.I.E.L.D. to steal the Darkhold and encounters both Coulson and “May”. Coulson tries to take her down, but she gets the upper hand, including have the fake May helping her along without Coulson knowing. While AIDA almost succeeds in getting away with the Darkhold, she is stopped by Mack’s Shotgun-Axe.

However, while S.H.I.E.L.D. thinks it’s over, a surprising player shows their true colors towards the end of the episode, as the rise of the LMDs are only just beginning. Ellen also makes a difficult decision, however she has no idea what she has possibly unleashed.

A lot went down in tonight’s big mid-season premiere, so there is a lot to discuss about. With all of that said, hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of tonight’s biggest highlights and important moments in the Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. Season 4 episode: “Broken Promises”

#5: Quake Reinstated As Agent

#4: Coulson & “May”

#3: AIDA’s First Day As Evil

#2: New Insight On Inhuman Vijay

#1: [SPOILER] Reveals A Secret

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‘Split’ Review: Scars Are The New Perfection

*Spoiler Free Review*

Befitting its main character, M. Night Shyamalan goes all over the place with his latest thriller Split, which, after 2015’s The Visit, continues the director’s small-scale comeback after a near-decade long period of misfires like The Happening, The Last Airbender and After Earth. Does the comeback continue? Kind of.

Before the screening, Shyamalan greeted us with a video message. He explained his want for the film to be more than a thriller, with equal parts comedy and drama as well. This may not have been the best decision. The film ends up more funny than tense or scary. And while this isn’t necessarily the fault of the film’s comedic elements, which do hit, it causes missed opportunities for character development. No matter how humorously unnerving, at the end of the day, the characters are what makes a film impactful or tense.

Aside from Anya Taylor-Joy’s Casey, all of the characters in the film are extremely underdeveloped. As a result, when the two other kidnapped girls, Claire and Marcia, are in danger, we feel no tension. Even McAvoy’s Kevin is underdeveloped, as we learn about the character through seemingly endless exposition. What we’re left with is a small sample of personalities and no compelling display of any internal struggle. The personalities we get to witness all want to achieve the same goal, making the film easily predictable (and this audience member bored). Sure, there are plenty of little twists and turns along the way, including a fun nod at the end; but the most substantial twists can be expected long before their reveal.

Furthermore, the film tells us more about the characters than we see. We hear of how characters previously behaved, but it doesn’t line up with what we see in the film itself– which is a disappointing pattern. A lot of the interesting material happens through telling the audience instead of showing us. Kevin, whose worst acts are only spoken of, becomes the lesser villain to one barely seen. Kevin’s beast form, which is the true villain of the film, is not only uncompelling but tedious. Kevin’s other villainous personalities are far more compelling and yet wasted.

Yet the film’s message is a beautiful one, which I hope helps many people’s lives. Mental and physical scars in the film are treated as greater than “normal lives” numerous times during the film. People going through pain need to understand they are not made lesser and, indeed, are often even stronger after the fact. If the film achieves anything, it is in its underlying message about mental health and to take care of yourself, no matter what.

In regard to framing and composition, the film is beautifully shot and is a wonderful feast for the eyes. The film plays with both symmetry and shot length to enhance storytelling. Yet there is one specific shot which beats you over the head and just should have been left out. The leads, however, are top-notch. Both McAvoy and Anya Taylor-Joy give incredible performances which completely sell their characters. McAvoy, in particular, is able to with minimal wardrobe changes, perfectly encapsulate several different personalities. Without his skillful performance, the movie simply wouldn’t work.

Despite several gripes and plot-holes, Shyamalan’s latest film Split is at least worth the price of admission, if not much more.

Score: 6.5, Okay

Split hits theaters on January 20th, 2017.

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