DCTV’s Arrowverse Episode Roundup: Past Events Shape The Paths Of Heroes

Welcome back to the DCTV Arrowverse episode roundup! It’s been a while (three weeks, but who’s counting?!). This week in The CW’s superhero universe, our heroes dealt with murdering nanotech, a look into a grim future, and changing team dynamics.

You can check out all of my previous DCTV Arrowverse episode roundups here!

On Supergirl, Kara dealt with the mystery of nanobots killing people while trying to be a good reporter, The Flash took a trip to a broken and depressing future where Iris West is no longer alive, and Arrow contended with ARGUS and Felicity had to choose between Helix and Team Green Arrow.

The connecting theme this week is how past actions and events shape characters and who they become.

Each episode roundup recaps the show’s main plot points, with a section for commentary.

Let’s get started! Click through the gallery to read through each episode!

Up next: Supergirl

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‘Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol. 2’ Review: A Flawed But Fun Sequel

The Marvel Cinematic Universe is one of those once in a lifetime occurrences. What Kevin Feige and the team over at Marvel Studios have done with the universe they’ve built is unmatched. The films that they’ve made have a certain heartwarming, fun feel that brings hope to audiences around the world. Throughout the MCU’s 3 Phases, only one film can be used as a direct example of that: Guardians of the Galaxy.

The movie was something fresh and new for the audience to feast their eyes upon. There were newly-minted movie stars in Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, with a talking tree and raccoon. The film introduced us to some new characters that most people had never heard before unless they were hardcore fans of the comics. It was fun and a breath of fresh air from the other superhero films we got that year. It had a lot of laughs, a ton of heart and an awesome soundtrack. Marvel Studios took a huge risk that paid off big time. Guardians of the Galaxy was such a critical and fan hit that it wound up making $773 million at the box office with an A+ cinema score. The films success granted it a sequel that I was lucky enough to watch the other night and you can check out my thoughts on it below.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 had everything going for it. It was coming off of the high of the first one and is slated to be one of the biggest films of the summer, bringing back its all-star cast and adding the legendary Kurt Russell as Peter Quill’s father, Ego the Living Planet. You would think nothing could go wrong this time around. But, it did. Somewhere under the fun and gut-busting jokes — the story lacked the spark that first film had.

From the beginning, Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 felt like director James Gunn was trying to encapsulate the feeling of the first film by subjecting us to an opening credits that made Baby Groot, well… cringeworthy. Some of the jokes were a hit and some of the others felt very childish and missed. The movie is basically about family and how Quill’s search for what was missing inside was right there with the Guardians and not with his father, who turns out not to be what Quill imagined.

Pratt returns with the same charm and hilarity that he brought into the first Guardians. His portrayal of a guy who just met and wants to get to know his father felt very natural for him and Quill. Pratt’s father passed away in 2014 and the actor has stated that the filming of Vol. 2 helped him cope with his death and it really shows as he gives a very emotional performance. You could feel the weight he brought to the father/son dynamic.

But, Quill also had another relationship blossom during Vol. 2. He and Gamora spend a lot of time on-screen together, leaving the audience wondering will-they-won’t-they. Pratt and Saldana hit it off in ways they didn’t before. As Quill says, what he and Gamora have is unspoken. What happens is the most organic way for the relationship to go and the way the film ends leaves you wanting to see more of them together.

Meanwhile, Drax is a little less hell-bent on killing Thanos and a little more of a practical joker this time around. Every time he and Pom Klementieff’s Mantis share the screen is hysterical. Rocket and Groot are back and they don’t exactly make the film better. I loved Rocket and Groot in the first one, but in the sequel they became annoying and their scenes were very tedious to get through. Baby Groot would try to be cute and it would just come off as awkward and needy. All the stuff they attempted with Baby Groot felt repetitive and like they tried too hard. Baby Groot felt more like a device to sell toys rather than a character that pushes the story forward. Rocket having an identity crisis was by far the worst idea possible. He really didn’t need it. He would force these immature jokes that just felt like filler to push the movie by.

A few antagonists from Guardians of the Galaxy return for the sequel and they gain a lot of character development this time around. Michael Rooker’s Yondu is back and has a huge soft spot for Quill and let’s just say that a faction of his Ravager team are none too fond of that. We also get a little insight to Yondu’s backstory and why he kept Quill instead of delivering him to Ego. In addition, Yondu and Sylvester Stallone’s character have a history together, but it isn’t a very good history, which leads Yondu on a path of redemption throughout the film. Karen Gillian’s Nebula begins on a path of very dark and awkwardly-portrayed vengeance and throughout the film she has more mood swings than I could keep up with. One minute she’s this strong individual that wants to kill Gamora and then the next she’s a fragile young woman that really needs a hug. This would have came off well if she didn’t seem like every movie bully ever created.

The new additions to the cast bring their own unique story to the film. Kurt Russell’s Ego, being the most important new addition, shines as a father who really wants to be with his son, but he isn’t what he appears to be. Russell brings a spark to the film as an ancient Celestial who may have a different way of viewing things and a hidden agenda that may be good for him, but bad for others. His caretaker of sorts, Mantis, isn’t the breath of fresh air that they showed in the trailers. In fact, that’s one of her only good scenes. Throughout the film she’s a socially inept outsider that doesn’t understand certain things due to living with Ego her entire life. This makes for a very awkward character similar to the likes of Drax.

The legendary Sylvester Stallone also joins the Marvel Cinematic Universe in Vol. 2. Stallone basically plays his role like Rocky in space and that’s a very good thing. Every time he was on screen I wanted more of him. His character Stakar has a very interesting backstory as he was one of the original Guardians of the Galaxy. With what little they showed of him, Stallone knocks it out of the park and I hope that they move forward with his character. With what they showed during one of the many post credits sequences, I think we could hear something about that soon.

Not all of the new additions were great, though, as Elizabeth Debicki’s Ayesha and the sovereign were the worst thing about Vol. 2. That’s very sad given the fact that they have a strong connection to Adam Warlock.

Overall Thoughts: Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 is a great comedy and action-adventure movie, but it’s not a very good superhero hero film or sequel. It’s sure to be a hit with fans and at the box office. It may seem like I’m being overly negative about it, but I had a lot of fun with it. My only major gripes were the substance it lacked with its story and some of the performances. While I believe Guardians of the Vol. 2 isn’t as great as the first film, it’s definitely a movie that you should go see for yourself.

Rating: 7/10

Director: James Gunn

Cast: Chris Pratt, Zoe Saldana, Dave Bautista, Vin Diesel, Bradley Cooper, Michael Rooker, Karen Gillan, Pom Klementieff, Elizabeth Debicki, Chris Sullivan, Sean Gunn, Tommy Flanagan, Laura Haddock, Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell.

Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 hits theaters May 5, 2017

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Riverdale 1.11 ‘To Riverdale And Back Again’ Review

This week on Riverdale, Homecoming loomed as Betty felt the squeeze of responsibility, Archie’s mom came back into his life, and Hiram Lodge got one step closer to freedom thanks to Veronica and Hermione’s testimony. On the Jones front, Jughead tried his best to reconnect with FP, who was now at the top of the suspect list.

When Jughead goes to visit FP, FP reveals he read Jughead’s manuscript about Jason’s murder – the very thing Jughead has been narrating from at the beginning of every episode. FP ultimately advises Jughead to move on.

Alice is up to her usual scheming over at the school paper and she tries to set Veronica and Betty on witch-hunts concerning FP and Joaquin, but Betty isn’t having it. Later on, Veronica returns and says that she’ll discover the truth about FP in order to find out the truth about her father’s involvement, or lack thereof.

At school, Veronica and Archie talk about their moment – their make-out session and non-sexual sleepover – and Archie at least wants to sing a duet with Veronica if nothing else, but she wants to forget the moment ever happened. When Archie asks Betty if he can sing at Homecoming, Betty is initially hesitant but Veronica changes her tune and jumps in and says she’ll sing with Archie, which she later reveals as a ploy to get Archie on the FP witch-hunt bandwagon.

That night, Jughead tells Archie about his dad’s interest in his writing and it sets off Archie’s spidey sense. He immediately runs over to Veronica’s to say he’s on board with investigating FP. Both of the teens agree that neither Jughead or Betty can find out about their investigation.

As Betty is setting up for the big event, Polly calls and talks about the fact she’s getting closer to the truth about the Blossoms, indicating that she feels there’s something suspicious in Clifford and Penelope’s room. After the call, Jughead approaches Betty and reveals that Alice invited him and FP over to dinner at the Coopers.

When Cheryl and Polly are preparing for Homecoming, Polly suggests they borrow some of Penelope’s jewelry as an excuse to get into the room. As they’re looking around, they discover the family engagement ring Jason gave to Polly, and Polly is convinced Jason would have never given that up willingly.

After the discovery, Penelope and Polly talk about how she obtained the ring. Penelope says Jason threw it in Clifford’s face in his final rebuke of his family and their name before he intended to run away with Polly. When Cheryl confronts her parents about the story, they claim it’s true and claim they should’ve paid more attention to Cheryl, who has proven to be a true Blossom. Cheryl then says she flushed the ring down the toilet to get rid of it and get it out of everyone’s lives.

Meanwhile, Polly has passed out from a sedative Penelope put into her shake to keep her away from Homecoming and stop her snooping.

At the awkward dinner between Betty, Alice, Jughead, and FP, Alice grills FP into an uncomfortable silence before Hal Cooper shows up to raise the awkward to a whole new level. Hal reveals Alice’s brick-throwing incident and sends FP down a path of rebuttal where he begins to recount a story of witnessing Alice and Hal fighting about something important once-upon-a-time.

Using the dinner as cover, Veronica and Archie sneak into FP’s house and snoop about, but the two don’t find anything worthwhile.

Elsewhere, Mary’s presence throws Archie for a bit of a loop as she and Fred seem to fall back into old habits as if nothing has changed. She reveals that she and Fred are going to the dance, and that she invited Hermione to join them.

Before Homecoming gets underway, Jughead steals a moment with his father and says he wants to come home. FP is excited at the prospect of having his family back together and says he’d like them all to move to a different city and away from Riverdale.

When Archie and Veronica arrive at the dance, they stop and talk with Alice and Betty spies the trio. Their connection immediately tips her off that something is going on. Before they can get into it however, Archie and Veronica are called to take the stage to perform. As they light up Homecoming, the police arrive at FP’s house to search the premise and discover a revolver.

After the performance, Betty confronts Veronica and Archie about working with Alice. Jughead walks in on the conversation and Archie comes clean with Jughead about what’s been going on. Jughead is upset by this revelation and interprets this news to mean that Betty was in on the plan. As they’re all discussing, Kevin, Fred, Mary, and Hermione run into the hallway and reveal that FP was just arrested for Jason’s murder. Jughead immediately runs out of the school and to his dad’s trailer.

At the Coopers, Betty asks Alice if she was the one who tipped off Sheriff Keller about FP and she denies it. Betty then storms out to find Jughead saying, “Do not push me tonight mom, because I will push back.”

At the Lodges, Hermione warns Veronica that FP may drag them and their dealings with the Serpents into this. Hermione promises that if Hiram had anything to do with the murder, they will cut him out of their lives, but Veronica wisely says that may not be so easy.

At the Andrews, Mary drops the offer of moving to Chicago on Archie, saying Riverdale isn’t a safe town anymore.

At the Blossoms, Cheryl spies her mother breaking down over the arrest and reveals to the camera she still has the engagement ring.

At Pops, Veronica and Archie tell Betty that when they were in FP’s trailer, they looked through the very closet the lockbox with the gun was found in and didn’t see anything. The lockbox was planted in the trailer after Archie and Veronica left.

Continue on to read the review of season one’s eleventh episode, “To Riverdale and Back Again.” It’s separated so you can tackle all of the juicy Riverdale drama in chunks and explore the episode’s key moments and highlights. Click Next to scroll through, or jump straight to the part you’re most interested in:

• Betty Teeters
• Making Moves
• Veronica and Archie Conspire
• An Arrest is Made
• The Verdict and Other Thoughts

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‘Arrow’: ‘Dangerous Liaisons’ Review

Arrow opens up with Team Green Arrow along with ARGUS still looking for Adrian Chase since he escaped, as they enter a building with a lot of game machines. As they trigger an alarm, which sets off a trap where guns start firing at the team. The whole place has been booby-trapped by Adrian as he is still several steps ahead of them. The next day, Oliver is back at the office and having to deal with Adrian’s escape as the whole city is now aware of what’s going on. He is forced to answer press members that are questioning how he could work with Adrian and never notice that something was wrong.

At Helix, Felicity and Alena are trying to use the organization’s resources to find Chase. Alena suggests to Felicity that she helps her find a way to break into ARGUS’s system in order to find Chase. They discover that ARGUS has someone on the inside, Agent Pierce, helping him mislead the authorities. Later that night, Alena follows Pierce who dies mysteriously inside the elevator as she steals his ARGUS security key.  The next morning, Oliver, Lyla and Dinah discover Pierce’s dead body and decide to watch the security footage from the night before, to see what killed Pierce. The footage shows Pierce being violently tossed around by something, as he is alone in there. Oliver suspects it to be a meta-human that can either be invisible or has some form of telekinetic powers.

Curtis discovers that the elevator was indeed hacked and Felicity realizes that it must have been Alena. She heads over to Helix and confronts Alena about killing the agent. Alena explains that she didn’t intend to get Pierce killed, but only needed to knock him out so she could still the key. Felicity still can’t accept that a man is dead because of Alena who goes on to explain that she needed that key in order to find a very skilled hacker who created Helix. According to Alena, ARGUS took him away eight months ago and she now intends to rescue him. Alena tells Felicity that she will help her find him as he developed a biometric tracker that can recognize a heartbeat that is so powerful it can scan the heartbeat anywhere in the world, which she can use to find Chase. They still need a second key though, but Alena assures that she has already set a plan into motion to get it.

Lyla inform Diggle and Oliver that whoever killed Pierce, they stole his ARGUS security key. Oliver doesn’t think that this is Chase’s doing, while Lyla asks him for a favor, to have his team escort an ARGUS agent back to the city. We cut to the agent being followed by masked motorcycle drivers that start shooting at the car. Team Green Arrow arrives just in time as Dinah uses her sonic scream to knock a few of the drivers out. While Oliver takes out the rest of them, Felicity calls Diggle and begs him to let the shooter get away with the key as she is trying to help them from the inside. Diggle gets Oliver to agree as they watch the driver get away with the second key. Back at the bunker, the team confronts Felicity that she is making a big mistake. Felicity is stunned that Oliver and Diggle aren’t OK with her having to take some questionable methods as they do it all the time.

Felicity gives up and decides to head back to Helix as her team isn’t willing to back her. Lyla explains to Oliver and Diggle about the hacker that Felicity is trying to break out. Diggle is however questioning why ARGUS is holding him prisoner, with Lyla just stating that he is a “person of interest”. Oliver tries to convince Lyla to let him go so he can help them find Chase, but Lyla has a different idea. She wants to use the hacker as bait to lure Helix out so they can take the organization down. Lyla takes off while Diggle and Oliver realize they need to get Felicity out of Helix before she gets put in danger.

Oliver pays Felicity a visit at her home as she is about to leave the building. He tries to explain to Felicity that she shouldn’t put herself at risk to take down Chase, as Oliver doesn’t want her to have to sacrifice her soul for a monster that he was responsible for creating. The two still don’t find common ground as she leaves the apartment to join her Helix team. Back at the bunker, Oliver instructs the others that if Felicity gets in the way tonight, that they stop her no matter what.

Felicity is surprised when they arrive at a different ARGUS point as Alena tells her that they wanted to trick their opponents. Team Arrow finds out by Lyla that the Helix hacker was being kept at a different location which gets Diggle pissed off as she kept this from them. Meanwhile, Felicity and Alena proceed with hacking their way into the Helix founder’s prison, but as they rescue him, Team Arrow has arrived. A showdown takes place between Helix and the team as Diggle gets Alena at gun point. She manages to get away and heads back to the van. Oliver catches up with them, but Felicity gets in the way and activates the laser field again that prevents him from crossing the other side.

She tells him that she is sorry and hopes Oliver will understand, but he assures Felicity that he won’t as she takes off. Back at the bunker, the team regroups as they try to figure out what to do about Felicity. Oliver says there is nothing they can do about it for now. Meanwhile, Felicity goes back to Helix’s base, but finds that it has been abandoned. A screen lights up as Alena greets Felicity and thanks her for everything she has done for them. Alena informs Felicity that because of her involvement with Team Green Arrow, it makes her a liability. However, as a token of their appreciation, she left Felicity the biometric scan so she can find Chase before bidding farewell.

Back at their home, Lyla and Diggle continue to disagree as Diggle isn’t happy how ARGUS has changed Lyla since she took over for Amanda Waller. Lyla argues that she isn’t ashamed of what she did and will do in order to keep the world safe. Felicity goes back to the bunker to try and find Chase, before Oliver shows up. She tells Oliver that she got kicked out of Helix, but is disappointed that Oliver didn’t have her back. The conversation is cut short as the tracker begins to find Chase’s location as he is much closer than they realize: he is there. The screen suddenly explodes as Oliver and Felicity get knocked out.

With so much going down in tonight’s episode and with that ending, there is a lot we have to discuss and breakdown. Hit the next button below and let’s go through some of the highlights and important moments of the Arrow Season 5 episode: “Dangerous Liaisons”

#5: Helping Fathers

#4: Helix Vs Argus/Team Arrow

#3: Trouble For Diggle & Lyla

#2: Adrian Strikes Again

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘All The Madame’s Men’ Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. opens up with The Bakshi Report as Sunil Bakshi reports on the death of The Patriot, the leader of the Resistance while over at Hydra, Daisy gets out of her Terrigen-Cocoon. She and May start taking down Hydra agents and try to get out of the building. Unfortunately, Madame Hydra and a set of Hydra agents catch up and have them surrounded. The Madame is surprised to see May’s change of heart before getting blasted by Daisy’s Quake powers that are now back.

Back in the real world, Aida wakes up from the Framework. The Superior tries to kill May, but for some reason he can’t pull the trigger as Aida tells him that just like her, they can’t execute these people. Aida informs him though about Daisy and Simmons having been able to hack into the Framework and asks him to find where they are so he can take them out. In the Framework, the heroes are trying to find out what to do next and how to strike Hydra. They catch the news on Bakshi Report that Madame Hydra was attacked and they realize that it might be Daisy’s doing. Fitz is furious what they did to the Madame, but his father tells him to focus on finding the people who did it, as he must now lead Hydra. Through Bakshi Report, Fitz instructs Sunil to get the news out about Melinda and Daisy as they are now wanted terrorists.

Ward asks Coulson for help in finding Skye, but the two men don’t agree at first. Coulson convinces Ward to not let his emotions get to him and to think this through. Meanwhile, Simmons is going over the Project Looking Glass schematics from Trip and she realizes that Aida is using Darkhold technology that is far more advanced in the Framework than in the real world. After Trip tells her about having overheard something about an oil rig in the Baltic, Simmons figures out what the Madame is up to. They head over there to try and find the Project, but it’s not there. However, in the real world, that is the exact location where the Project is being built at. Simmons realizes what Aida is up to: she is trying to create a new human body.

Daisy and May are still on the run and as they are trying to re-connect with the Resistance point of contact, the agent doesn’t trust them. Hydra catches up with them, but Daisy manages to stop the moving vehicle before taking May and their Resistance ally into safety. Daisy keeps asking May about how Mace went down and May admits that it was because of her orders of destroying that building. What they don’t know is that Fitz has been informed about them being spotted as Fitz’s father is set to go after them.

Just as Daisy and May are about to be shot by another Hydra soldier, Mack knocks him out, but still aims a gun at May after what she did to his daughter. Daisy assures Mack that May has switch sides as she helped Daisy get her powers back. Coulson arrives and convinces Mack that they need to trust May as they all take off. Meanwhile, Fitz is continuing to work on the project before his father informs him that the traitors got away. Fitz orders him to keep going after them, but his father tells him to check his manners.

Fitz’s father pays a visit to Radcliffe and tries to get answers out of him about May’s betrayal. He tells Radcliffe that he knows about “the other world that Radcliffe comes from. Radcliffe won’t give up any information and keeps mocking Alistair for how he is in the real world, which gets him furious as he starts torturing Radcliffe. Back at S.H.I.E.L.D., they decide to put May’s body camera footage to use as they are planning to expose Hydra to the world by using the Bakshi Report studio to send out an emergency broadcast. They invade the studio and starts setting everything up. Ward, however, tells Daisy that he knows that he isn’t going with them to the other world and decides to stay there alone and keep the signal boasting for as long as he can.

He ask Daisy before she leaves, if there is any chance that he will get his Skye back, but she doesn’t know what will happen when she leaves the Framework. Daisy admits that she didn’t understand the other Ward completely until seeing this version, that there was perhaps some good in him this whole time. The broadcast starts as Coulson gets in front of the camera and begins telling the world the truth about the Patriot’s death, how he sacrificed himself to save innocent people that Hydra kidnapped. Coulson declares himself as “Phil Coulson, Agent of S.H.I.E.L.D.” Ward gets informed that people are rallying outside the Bakshi Report studio, but it’s not Hydra agents: it appears to be people that want to fight Hydra.

The episode concludes with the Superior informing Aida that he has located Daisy and Simmons’ bodies, as time is now officially starting to run out. With so much going down in this episode, we have a lot 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: “All The Madame’s Men”

#5: Fitz’s Father

#4: Project Looking Glass

#3: Hydra Exposed

#2: Farewell, Ward [?]

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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‘The Flash’: ‘The Once And Future Flash’ Review

The Flash returned this week with as Barry Allen is figuring what year he needs to go to as he determines that he has to go to 2024. Iris asks Barry to make her a promise that if she still dies, that Barry makes sure to be there for Joe no matter what. Barry gets alerted that something is going on at Star Labs where Killer Frost is attacking Julian, Cisco and H.R. Cisco blast vibrations at her as the three men run and hide inside the pipeline while waiting for Barry to show up in time. Killer Frost still manages to open it, but Barry shows up and stops her. She freezes the door and escapes into the cold.

Cisco and Julian start arguing about what just happened, how Julian shouldn’t have ripped Caitlin’s necklace off. Barry breaks up the fight and the two go their own way. Barry tells the rest of the team that he is going to 2024 and gets Wally to help him to open a portal. The two speedsters pull it off as Barry is sent to 2024, but he is stunned when he sees the grim future that he has arrived in. The Top shows up and uses her powers on him as he gets put under vertigo before Mirror Master punches him. They are both surprised to see Flash as he has apparently been missing for a long time. Scudder starts kicking and punching the hero, but Barry manages to escape.

Barry goes to his and Iris’ old apartment that is empty and dirty. He suddenly finds Cisco standing right behind him who is thrilled to see Barry. Cisco knows already that this is a Barry from the past and figures out that he is here to find out about Savitar. Barry asks Cisco to take him to the Barry of 2024, so they head to an abandoned Star Labs. While they are walking, Barry learns about what happened to the team after Iris’ team. He eventually meets his future self who has lost all hope and is a completely different man. Barry asks 2024-Barry to tell him who Savitar is, but unfortunately his future self doesn’t know who the villainous speedster is, as he asks Barry to go back to 2017.

Barry suits up again and gets ready to go back to 2017, but Cisco begs him to stay and help the city that doesn’t have a flash. As Barry starts trying to go back to 2017, something is wrong and he isn’t able to open up a portal. Cisco doesn’t know what is wrong and shows Barry that he wasn’t the only one who lost something as he reveals how Killer Frost destroyed his hands. He now has cybernetic arms and can’t use his Vibe powers anymore. They head over to see Julian as he shows them Killer Frost who is trapped in a special cell. She can tell that it’s Barry from the past as he tries to get answers on what happened. Killer Frost isn’t cooperating as she tells Barry that he is no match for Savitar. She goes on to explain that after she became Killer Frost, Savitar approached her and asked her to work with him in exchange for a cure. Barry realizes that she knows who Savitar is, but Killer Frost refuses to give him the answer, as she warns him that he will be surprised when he finds out.

Cisco and Barry visits the West house where Wally lives, but we find him in a wheel chair and unresponsive. Barry finds out that after Iris died, Wally exploded in rage as he tried to take Savitar on his own. Sadly, it left Wally with a shattered spine and apparently Savitar showed him so devastating that it left Wally in this condition ever since that day. Barry heads over to Iris’ grave where he finds a heartbroken Joe who isn’t happy to see him. Joe asks him why he decided to start being there for him, after all this time, making Barry realize that he failed to keep his promise to Iris. Back at Star Labs, 2024-Barry gets visited by Barry again who confronts him about not keeping the promise to Iris. The future Barry lashes out and tells his past self that it’s pointless, that there is nothing they can do to stop Savitar when he kills Iris on May 23. Barry goes back to Cisco to see if he had figured out why he can’t go back to 2017.

Cisco gets disappointed that Barry isn’t willing to stay and help, bring the team back together. Barry realizes that it was Cisco that did something to prevent Barry from going back to 2017. As Barry goes back to the pipeline to try and go back one more time, he changes his mind and goes back to Cisco. Barry realizes that he can’t leave the future like this and offers Cisco to help him. Barry starts running through the city and assembles Julian, H.R. and Joe at Star Labs. As they are stunned to see him in front of them, Barry says that this isn’t what Iris would have wanted and that they need to stick together. Cisco gets an alert that Mirror Master and The Top are at it again and the team decides to bring Team Flash back and to save the day.

Flash catches up with the two Rogues as he tries to take them out, but they use their powers on him as he is basically stuck. Back at Star Labs, 2024-Barry walks into the room and says he will help his past self out. He suits up in a future version of his suit and runs over to help Barry out. Together, the two speedsters defeat the two rogues. Later at Star Labs, this event has given new life to the members as they want to keep Team Flash going. The two Barrys have another chat as the future version warns the 2017 version that the worst is coming. The Future-Barry tells Barry about this physicist named Tracy Brand who almost found a way to defeat Savitar, but wasn’t able to figure out the technology until four years ago. He gives 2017-Barry a hard drive, that contains all of her research and suggests that Barry finds Tracy back in 2017, as a final chance to find a way to beat Savitar.

Barry and Cisco hug each other as he promises to make sure Vibe doesn’t fall at the hand of Killer Frost. He goes back to 2017 as he arrives one second after he just left for 2024. Barry tells the team what he learned in the future, what Caitlin will do with Savitar and that they need to find her before it’s too late. Before Joe leaves, Barry gives him a hug and promises him that he will always be there for him. Iris asks what that was about and Barry tells her that he is just keeping his promise to her. The episode ends with Killer Frost being approached by Savitar who is offering to help her make sure that Caitlin Snow never returns. Suddenly, Savitar starts taking off his armor as Killer Frost sees the face of the man behind the armor.

With so much happening in tonight’s episode, there is a lot that we need to discuss and breakdown. So hit the NEXT button below and let’s go through some of the important moments and highlights of The Flash Season 3 episode: “The Once And Future Flash”.

#5: Future Versions Of Mirror Master & The Top

#4: The Shattered Team

#3: Barry Meets Future-Barry

#2: Tracy Brand – Their Only Hope?

#1: Savitar’s Offer To Killer Frost

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‘Samurai Jack’ 5.06 ‘XCVII’ Review: Ashi Discovers Jack’s Legacy

The entirety of the Samurai Jack revival has been a labor of love for fans of the original four seasons, and here we many of these previous events pay off in a big way. Ashi, having been separated from Jack due to the events in the previous episode, now seeks to find the samurai after he’s fallen into despair. Along the way, she discovers just how many lives he’s changed over the course of over fifty years.

When we last saw Jack, the samurai was seen skulking toward the mysterious, otherworldly presence known as the Omen after believing he was responsible for the deaths of dozens of children. Ashi, now fully understanding that Aku is the evil bringing ruin to the world, is now looking everywhere for the man who saved her life. Ashi spent the previous episode learning why Aku is evil, so it’s only fitting that she spends this episode learning why Jack is good, as she hears of tales of his heroic feats from the many people the hero helped over the years. Meanwhile, it turns out that Scaramouche, the singing robot assassin that Jack defeated in the revival’s premiere, is still alive as a disembodied head. Scaramouche intends to tell Aku that Jack has lost his sword (one of the only things that can kill Aku), but he’s met with obstacle after obstacle preventing him from accomplishing this goal – something that serves as a nice bit of comic relief to some of the darker places this episode visits. Hopefully, we’ll get to see a little more of him in the last few episodes, as he’s proven to be one of the more interesting villain-of-the-week types that Jack has had to face. Ashi, in the meantime, undergoes a physical transformation that signifies her character development and further establishes her separation from her abusive mother – in a sense, it’s almost as if we’re watching the birth of a soul.

Throughout the episode, viewers are treated to an abundance of references to the original series. We see the Woolies that Jack helped approach Ashi when they fear she’s a bounty hunter for Aku; the three archers fend off Aku’s beetle drones from a hidden location; Scaramouche visiting the seaport where the Scotsman took Jack to help restore his memory; the girl Jack rescued at a rave lead a rave of her own; the descendants of the Archaeologist Dogs throw Scaramouche off the boat; Da Samurai working as a bartender where a Spartan and Demongo visit; and finally, a small woman who appears to be Kuni from the haunted house, who then guides Ashi to a graveyard where Jack previously fought off an army of dust zombies. Aside from the return of Demongo – which was more or less treated as a throwaway gag – all of it feels organic with the story that’s being told. Every one of these scenes help reestablish the scope and scale of the world Genndy Tartakovsky created years ago and puts it under a fresh new light, showing that in spite of the standstill between Jack and Aku, the samurai has changed the world for the better.

Which brings us back to our hero. Here, we see that the presence following him – the Omen – has convinced him that he’s failed in his duty as a warrior and that the only thing he can do is commit an honorable suicide. Before Jack can commit seppuku, Ashi tells our hero how much he’s meant to this world and to her – and considering that three episodes ago, she was cursing his name, that’s quite a transformation that still feels like a natural progression of her character arc – and that’s what ultimately breaks him out of his malaise and allows him to return as the hero we know him to be. While I was surprised at how short the actual fight between Jack and the Omen was, I felt as though it made sense – this season has established that one of Jack’s greatest enemies is himself, and doing away with what appears to be a manifestation of his own lingering guilt in such a swift fashion effectively illustrate’s Jack’s renewed willpower. We end the episode with Jack’s hope and optimism renewed and the dawn of a new quest.

While I personally felt that the last two episodes – while great in their own right – didn’t quite live up to the promise shown in the first three episodes in the revival, this episode did more than to make up for it. It’s an incredible homage to everything that’s come before, builds upon what makes this series such a joy to watch, and sets up a strong foundation for the path of the next few episodes in order to lead into the long-awaited conclusion. I’m almost tempted to call this one the best in the entire series – whether I count the revival or not – but I get the feeling that the show can only reach new heights from here.

Oh, and before I forget – this episode has my favorite line in any Samurai Jack episode based on the sheer audacity of it. You know the one.

Samurai Jack airs on Saturday evenings at 10:00 CST on Cartoon Network.

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’Supergirl’: ‘Ace Reporter’ Review

Supergirl returned tonight as Kara deals with being unemployed after being fired from CatCo. She decides to focus on being the Girl of Steel, but unfortunately it’s – for once – a quiet day in National City and her services aren’t needed for now. Kara decides to hang out at home until Lena Luthor knocks on the door and asks her for a favor. Lena’s ex is back in town and invited her to a big press conference for his company where they are unveiling new technology. Kara decides to support Lena by going with her to the conference. Kara however runs into Snapper Carr and there is instant tension between the two of them.

The conference starts as Jack Spheer presents a new nano-technology, Biomax that can heal and eradicate any disease. It was a project that Jack and Lena worked on together when they were still dating. A Q&A is held and Kara asks the first question, but gets interrupted by Snapper. Kara takes the spotlight back and gets her question answered. Later on Kara and Jack are formally introduced to one another as he and Lena go to catch up. A Biospheer Technologies employee, Joe, follows Kara and tells her that he has some valuable information that she may be interested in. The two of them meet up later that night and Joe tells her what he knows, but suddenly some swarming nano-technology bees attack Joe’s car and blows it up.

Guardian is taking down a criminal, but is stunned when he sees Winn and Lyra making out in the van which annoys him. Winn tells James that Lyra is here to hell him with the crime fighting, but that doesn’t sit well with James. James reluctantly agrees to let her tag along with them which gets Winn excited. The next morning, Kara visits CatCo to ask James for a favor. Snapper interferes and is pissed that James is willing to help her, despite not being employed there anymore. Before she leaves, Kara overhears a conversation that Snapper is going to go meet a source about Biomax. She follows him and overhears the conversation between him and Derrick Simmons before the swarming nano-technology bees arrive to attack them. They destroy Derrick and try to attack Kara who uses her ice breath on them before getting Snapper out of the building.

When Kara gets back to the apartment, Mon-El tells her that Lena called to try and talk her out of having dinner with Jack. Realizing that he is up to no good, Kara and Mon-El go to the same restaurant to keep an eye on Lena. They decide to join them and Kara starts asking Jack about Biomax. Jack talks about how he regretted letting go off Lena and how he figured out the technology as he was missing Lena during that time. Lena tells Kara that she and Jack need some privacy so she and Mon-El take off. While hugging him, Mon-El manages to steal Jack’s security card to get into his building. Jack and Lena reconnect back at her office and the two starts making out. Meanwhile, Mon-El and Kara are sneaking into Jack’s office and trying to find more information about how he developed the nano-technology. They discover a video of him experimenting on himself as they see that Jack can turn into the swarming nano-tech bees.

As Mon-El plugs in the USB to the computer, Jack somehow gets the signal that something is wrong and leaves Lena. He makes himself into the swarming bees again and gets into the office as he is looking for the intruders. The next day, Kara visits Lena to apologize for intruding on their dinner last night. Kara goes on to tell her that Jack hasn’t been entirely honest and that Biomax is very dangerous. Lena doesn’t believe Kara, but gets shown the video that they found on his computer. Lena tells Kara to not bury the story, but to let her at least talk with Jack first which gets Kara worried as she thinks it’s dangerous. Kara pays Snapper a visit at CatCo and hands over the information she has on Jack in exchange of getting a second chance to work for him as a reporter. She apologizes for going behind his back with the Cadmus story and Snapper accepts it.

Lena confronts Jack about his secrets regarding Biomax, but he tries to deny it over and over again. Suddenly Jack’s assistant, Beth, appears and reveals that Jack is under her control. She tells Lena that he was controlled the whole time since they ran into each other. Beth tries to get Jack to inject Lena with the nano-technology so she can be controlled too. Supergirl shows up and starts taking on the swarming bees while Lena takes on Beth. The bees manage to trap Supergirl, but Lena destroys the device controlling Jack. He regains control and Lena tries to override the system as she gets warned by Beth that Jack will die if she overrides it. Jack tells Lena to do it and she overrides the system as the bees fall off Supergirl while Jack dies.

The next day Kara goes to comfort Lena as she is mourning Jack’s death. Lena tells Kara the story when Lex was arrested and how Lillian barely reacted when it happened. Lena is terrified that she is just emotionless as her mother and she explains to Kara how she fears about the person she might become one day. Kara comforts her and promises Lena that she will always be there for her, no matter what. Later that evening, Kara goes to Snapper’s office as she is officially reinstated. Snapper gives her the latest issue of the paper and reveals that he gave her a byline. He praises her for Kara’s good work before asking her to work with late. Back at Lena’s office, Rhea offers her a business proposal.

There was a lot that 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: “Ace Reporter”

#5: Rahul Kohli As Jack Spheer

#4: Kara Danvers Vs Snapper Carr

#3: Team Guardian Gets A New Member

#2: Kara Grow As A Reporter

#1: Verdict & Other Thoughts

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’Gotham’: ‘How The Riddler Got His Name’ Review

Gotham returned this week and the episode opens up with Edward Nygma terrorizing a professor in the chemistry department who wonders who he is and Nygma admits that what he is trying to find out. Nygma gives the professor a riddle, but doesn’t get the right answer. He starts tying the professor’s hands while dropping another riddle, but Nygma is still not getting the right answer from him. Nygma starts turning on a bunch of gases and tells the professor what he had just experienced with Cobblepot. After Nygma’s third and final riddle, the professor still fails to answer it correctly and leaves the professor to die as the lab blows up.

The next day Nygma is reading the headlines that say that Mayor Cobblepot is still missing before he takes some unknown pill and suddenly sees Oswald in the room, but it’s just a hallucination. Nygma is frustrated that he isn’t able to find someone that is on Nygma’s intellectual level, a new enemy to fill The Penguin’s spot in Nygma’s life. Nygma decides to make Jim Gordon his next enemy and tries to take him out during a chess tournament where he is expecting Jim to show up with cops. But he changes his mind when he spots Lucius Fox and decides to make Lucius his new opponent. The GCPD arrives as they start seeing that people are getting electrified whenever pressing the chess clock that Nygma had re-wired. Later at the station, Lucius and Bullock go through some of the chess boards and pieces to see if the killer left a clue behind, with Nygma did, as he left a number under certain pieces that together form a phone number.

They dial it up and Nygma picks up and isn’t surprised that Lucius figured it out. He warns them of that he has set his eyes on a next target and that they will find it in “the belly of the beast”. Bullock and Lucius interrogate a pawn shop worker about the incident at the chess tournament. They get suspicious when the guy brings up that he was filling in for one of his colleagues who were missing and they know where to look. Lucius goes to see Leslie and discovers the missing pawn shop worker’s dead body and Leslie points out that someone had stitched him up at the side of his stomach. She opens the stitches up and finds inside Bullock’s police badge that had gone missing earlier that day. Lucius realizes that Bullock is Nygma’s next target. Meanwhile, Bullock is getting ready to address a group of police cadets, but Nygma shows up in a green suit and drugs Bullock. Nygma later goes out to speak with the cadets before unleashing a toxic gas to everyone in the room.

Lucius goes to look for Bullock, but is greeted by another message carrier from Nygma and the person accidentally refers to Lucius as “Foxy”, which makes him realize that Nygma is behind all of his. He calls Nygma who tells Lucius to meet him upstairs alone. He finds Bullock tied up at a chair that is hanging from an edge that could kill him. Nygma explains that the antidote is hanging around his neck and that if Lucius doesn’t get any of Nygma’s riddles right, Bullock will fall down to his death. Nygma goes ahead with the riddles, with Lucius answering the first two wrong. However, Lucius answers Nygma’s final riddle right, but the third rope isn’t strong enough to hold Bullock’s chair and he almost falls down before Lucius manages to catch him.

Bizarro-Bruce is rehearsing telling the story when Bruce’s parents died and Kathryn from the Court of Owls is pleased with his performance. She gives Frank Gordon a call to see how he is progressing with his nephew Jim. The Gordon men go for hunting in the forest as James confronts his uncle about what happened between Frank and Jim’s father. Frank tells Jim about the Court of Owls, what they have been up to throughout all these years and that they want Jim to become a member. Jim gets upset over the fact that his father was able to be part of something like the Court. Frank confesses that he isn’t loyal to the Court anymore and explains how Jim’s father discovered some of their darkest secrets which led him to his death. Jim gets furious about all of this and confronts Frank why he has been gone all these years. Frank suggests that they work together to take the Court down by having Jim joining the organization so they can destroy it from the within. Later on when Jim comes back to the cabin, Frank is nowhere to be seen, but he finds a family with photo that has a message on the back: “Help me honor his memory!”

Bruce is training with Alfred, but is clearly distractive because of his dispute with Selina a few weeks ago. Alfred notices and calls Bruce out on it as he shows Bruce a note that Selina left and Bruce storms out. Bruce, reluctantly, agrees to go and meet Selina if it will get Alfred to start nagging him about it. We see Bruce waiting for Selina, but hear a couple of guys and goes to see if they know where Selina is. One of them is Sonny, the guy that Bruce and Selina encountered in Season 2 and he starts harassing Bruce immediately. Selina shows up and breaks the fight up, but isn’t happy that Bruce is there. He tries to apologize to Selina, but she won’t hear it until Bruce confronts her about the note he got in his mailbox. Selina has no idea what Bruce is talking about because she didn’t leave a note for him and warns Bruce to not come back. Sonny and his gang aren’t done with Bruce as they try to rob him.

Bruce starts fighting back and puts his training to use as he takes the gang down. As Bruce tries to get out of the alley, Bizarro-Bruce shows up and asks him how it went with Selina. Bruce realizes that it was him who sent the note and picks up on the fact that his clone is dressed just like him. The clone injects Bruce with a powerful knock-out drug and tells the original version that he has only one purpose: to be Bruce Wayne. The clone returns to the Wayne Mansion and tricks Alfred that he is done with Selina.

Lucius gets into his car and gets ready to take off, but find Nygma waiting for him in the back seat. He confronts Nygma that the gas wasn’t toxic at all and that the antidote was just regular juice. Nygma goes on to talk about there being a stronger person inside of himself that he knew people would fear. When Lucius asks Nygma if he is supposed to fill Penguin’s old spot as a reflection for Nygma, he explains to the GCPD forensic that he finally knows how to be the man that he was always meant to be. Nygma explains that Lucius helped him get to that point. Lucius tries to convince Nygma to turn himself in and get help, but Nygma isn’t budging. Before knocking Lucius out, Nygma says he finally knows who he is: The Riddler.

The next morning, Nygma goes to the docks where he has one last conversation with the Hallucination-Oswald as he is ready to take on the city as The Riddler and throws the pills away. We cut to Oswald waking up in Ivy Pepper’s place and she explains that she found him weeks ago. Oswald remembers what happened to him and tells her that he has someone he has to kill. Frank has returned to the Court and tells Kathryn that he managed to get Jim to consider joining them. He asks her how it went with swapping the real Bruce with the clone and Kathryn assures him that it went more than well. Bruce wakes up as he finds himself in a different outfit and somewhere far away from Gotham City as he looks out through a caged window and sees snowy mountains.

A lot happened in the spring premiere 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: “How The Riddler Got His Name”

#5: Edward Nygma Vs Lucius Fox

#4: Uncle Frank – Friend Or Foe?

#3: The Bizarro-Bruce Strikes

#2: Welcome Back, Mayor Cobblepot

#1: Where Is Bruce Wayne Now?

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‘Samurai Jack’ 5.05 ‘XCVI’ Review: Jack, Ashi, And Scotsman Fight Aku

Samurai Jack continues to maintain its good run during the revival, as the latest episode continues to show the changing dynamic between Jack and Ashi and features the long-awaited return of a fan-favorite supporting character: the Scotsman.

The episode starts off with an action sequence revolving around a now wheelchair-bound Scotsman as he leads his armies (including dozens of his own daughters) into battle against Aku, who emerges from his inner sanctum for the first time in years in an attempt to cure his ongoing depression. The battle against an invulnerable lord of pure evil without a strategy to face him goes about as well as one would expect, but the Scotsman gets a heroic – if undignified – end in the process: he manages to buy time for his daughters to escape by telling the evil overlord by insulting him and reminding him that Jack is still inspiring others to fight. Even if this does nothing to prevent his own demise, it puts Aku back into his glum state as he realizes that the Scotsman wasn’t wrong. Luckily for the Scotsman, he’s able to come back as a ghost since his sword was embedded with runes, allowing him and his daughters to come up with a better plan of attack.

At this point, we return to Jack and Ashi, who are still stranded on the island as they were at the end of the previous episode. Ashi’s lost in thought as she now has to consider the possibility that Samurai Jack isn’t her enemy, and that everything her mother told her was a lie. So Jack spends the rest of the episode begrudgingly showing the effects of Aku’s evil on the world to an unaware Ashi. The story truly culminates later on, when Ashi discovers that one of Aku’s henchmen has been forcing children into becoming brainwashed soldiers – a kind of pain that she can relate to all too well, as the slave-driver is quick to learn. While this action cements Ashi’s decision to defect from Aku, the seeming demise of the children (from Jack’s perspective) is something that finally breaks the hero and causes him to go off to parts unknown with the mysterious horseman who has been trailing him for so long. Ashi is left on her own as she realizes that she successfully rescued the children, but is horrified at the thought that the person who saved her is in serious danger.

I feel as though this episode had a key issue behind it that kept it from being better: Jack’s sudden cynicism about the future and his initial belief that Ashi is unable to change seems a bit out-of-place after the events of the previous episode. Though I get why it’s necessitated by the story (and particularly the cliffhanger ending), it seems like it would have fit in much better had this particular story followed the death of the first Daughter of Aku, since that was the point where Jack was at his most distraught. Conversely, it’s relieving to see that, even though the world is worse than it was when Samurai Jack first arrived to make a difference, there are still people who haven’t given up hope for a better future. The Scotsman embodies this even though he was in no position to fight Aku – and goes to show that in spite of the revival’s much darker approach, there’s still hope that Jack will find a way.

Visually, I don’t think the episode had as many standout moments as the previous episodes – but the sequence with the sea dragon was definitely a highlight. And while I don’t feel like this episode was particularly remarkable by the high standards it has already set, I would again like to reiterate that this series is incredibly well put-together. Knowing that the next episode is going to focus a lot on paying homage to the earlier episodes, I would say that the episode’s prologue does a commendable job in setting that up with the Scotsman – and, even though I thought it could have been executed better, it may also provide a solid contrast to Jack’s cynical outlook in this episode.

Samurai Jack airs on Saturday evenings at 10:00 CST on Cartoon Network.

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‘Powerless’: ‘Emergency Punch-Up’ Review

This week’s episode of Powerless, entitled “Emergency Punch-Up,” is a real gas!

The Wayne Securities team’s plans to go on a company retreat are dashed when a supervillain releases a mysterious toxic gas on Charm City. The building goes into lockdown, trapping the team inside, so Emily (Vanessa Hudgens) decides that if they can’t go to the retreat, she’s gonna bring the retreat to them.

Meanwhile, Van Wayne’s (Alan Tudyk) new plan for impressing his superiors at the company retreat only ends up annoying those around him.

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

5. She Really Emily’ed Things This Time

4. “So, that happened!”

3. “The V-Man is on Fire!”

2. DC Comics Easter Eggs

1. Final Thoughts

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’Agents Of S.H.I.E.L.D.’: ‘No Regrets’ Review

Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. opens up with Coulson and Mace conducting a plan to trick a Hydra transport that they believe contains Daisy inside. They take down the Hydra driver, but they don’t find Daisy inside of it. Instead, they find several body bags at the back of the vehicle. Once back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward is relieved that Daisy wasn’t in any of those bags. Mack is still getting adjusted to the environment as he still doesn’t remember his life back in the real world. Simmons tries to get Coulson to help her find Daisy quicker so they can get out of the Framework, but Coulson stresses that they need Mace’s help. Coulson admits that he is still getting a weird feeling about Ward and Simmons reminds him about the history the two of them had in the real world.

Over at Hydra, the Madame and May are chatting about Skye as May is disappointed that she was naive to let Skye into Hydra. They start discussing that the Inhuman population is growing and that they need to put an end to it. May visits a Hydra scientist who has a temporary strength serum that will let her go toe-to-toe with The Patriot. A beaten up Daisy gets a visit by Fitz who tells her that he hasn’t told anyone about her Inhuman DNA. Fitz demands that Skye tells him where The Patriot is and whether he is also from “the real world”. Skye tries to get through to Fitz by reminding him of the love he has for Simmons, but that leads to her getting punched. Fitz promises that he won’t let her ruin his home. Madame Hydra decides to give it a try and tells Fitz to go and look over Project Looking Glass. She enters the room and starts telling Skye about how the Framework was designed, where she fixed a big regret in each of their lives. The Madame tries to convey Skye that she can live a happy life in the Framework, in exchange for where their bodies are back in the real world.

Fitz is seen speaking with a Scottish man who is wondering what is bothering him and we see later Fitz confessing to him that he shot Agnes. It’s revealed that this mystery man is none other than Fitz’s man, although no name is given or if he is actually real. We cut back to Skye who hears Radcliffe in the cell on the other side of the wall as he is screaming and crying. She finds out from Radcliffe that Fitz killed Agnes and gets stunned that he actually went through with it. Skye and Radcliffe start discussing about how a single regret in a life can change so many outcomes in someone’s life. Back at S.H.I.E.L.D., Ward and Mace interrogates Simmons again who is telling Mace about his catch phrase in the real world. Mace asks if they were close in the real world, where he is from and all sorts of questions. Despite all of his questions, Mace and Ward are still not buying Simmons’ story about the real world as Ward questions how she can be so sure that this world is fake. Later on, Coulson is given a fake Hydra badge by Mace as they are going to try and infiltrate the Triskelion to save Daisy. They manage to break in and Mace saves an old friend: Anthony Triplet!

He starts looking his boots as Trip claims there is something important inside one of them that he needs. Trip finds the knocked-out Hydra soldier wearing them, as Coulson sees his student that got taken from his history class and decides to go after him. However, May arrives, who is all juiced up, starts fighting Mace who notices that she is different. Mace gets away and May is determined more than ever to stop Mace. Coulson finds several teenagers as they are being brain washed by Hydra and gets help by Trip to get them out. However Hydra starts to destroy the buildings and May is stunned that there were kids being kept there as prisoners. May finds herself helping Coulson and his team to get the kids out of the building. As the building keeps shaking and falling, Mace keeps it up long enough for them all to get out, before it crumbles all together with him trapped inside.

We cut back to the real world where Mace has officially passed away as we get reminded that when you die in the Framework, you die for real. The episode ends with May walking into Skye’s cell where she asks her if it’s true that Skye is an Inhuman. Skye confesses and tells May that she is powerful enough to bring the whole place down. May says that she hopes that is true as she crushes a Terrigen Crystal, Skye gets covered in Terrigen Mist with the two women nodding to each other, implying that maybe, May has awaken.

With so much going down in this episode, we have a lot 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: “No Regrets”

#5: Return Of A Friend

#4: Fitz’s “Father”

#3: A Hero’s Sacrifice

#2: Quake Awakens

#1: Is May Turning?

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‘American Gods’ Review: The Neil Gaiman Adaptation Goes Full Fuller

Credit: Starz

American Gods is exactly what you would expect from a Bryan Fuller adaptation of a Neil Gaiman book. Unshackled on Starz, the television auteur behind Wonderfalls, Pushing Daisies, and Hannibal) brings his full repertoire to bear to tell Gaiman’s story of the growing conflict between the washed-up gods of the past and the ascendant ones of the present. In today’s crowded TV landscape, standing out is key in the sea of shows and its a lesson American Gods takes to heart as it unspools many bizarre and in-your-face events in its introductory episodes. The show is experimental, dream-like, and perhaps a bit too inscrutably clever for its own good. Nonetheless, it is a great example of a simple story told exceptionally. Whether it is exceptionally well or exceptionally bad will depend on you.

Shadow Moon is the name prisoner played by Ricky Whittle, serving time for aggravated assault. On the eve of his release, he finds out his wife Laura (Emily Browning) was killed. On the flight to her funeral, he encounters Mr. Wednesday (Ian McShane), an enigmatic man who convinces him to work as his bodyguard on a road trip across America. Naturally, all manner of weirdness starts creeping into Moon’s life, such as a tall leprechaun named Mad Sweeney (Pablo Schreiber) and the all-powerful stoner Techincal Boy (Bruce Langely). See, Mr. Wednesday  is an old god and he’s not too happy with what the new gods have been putting down. A reckoning is coming.

Credit: Starz

If I’m being honest, the show snuck up on me and my rule (OK, more like guideline) of reading the book before the adaptation did not hold sway here. I can’t speak to the book-to-show comparisons specifically, but as a fan of Gaiman and Fuller both, it’s easy and fun to spot where one’s contributions may appear. On a show this out-there, it’s rarely an either/or. American Gods manages to synthesize the aesthetics of both storytellers into a purposely-garish yet beautiful pastiche of Americana. It doesn’t shy away from the ugliness of what that means either, with repeated digressions on human vices and the nation’s history of racism.

Starz’s adaptation fits snugly in 2017, both culturally and among its Peak TV counterparts. Watching the first four episodes provided for critics (of the eight comprising the first season), I  saw strains of American Horror Story and Legion but escalated in the realm of pay cable. It has the bloody campiness of the former along with the timey-wimey anachronism of the latter. That said, the show defies easy categorization thanks to its genre-smashing conventions, flitting between sci-fi and fantasy effortlessly. What it most resembles initially is a road trip movie, perhaps Little Miss Sunshine or even the recent Logan, with McShane playing Grandpa Tyler Durden to Whittle’s “Jack.”

Credit: Starz

 

This is not a show for the faint-hearted, in either the visual or the storytelling realm; at different points, an attempted lynching occurs and a woman (well, a god) swallows a man whole with her vagina during sex. The biggest touchstone I had for what I was watching was Fuller’s previous series, the critically-acclaimed NBC drama Hannibal, which took a Batman Begins-meets-Lewis Carroll approach the Hannibal Lecter mythology. Fuller has a talent for making his productions full-sensory experiences, composing shots so that they almost visually depict taste and smell. It’s gorgeous and, even though Hannibal eked out three seasons, was gone too soon. The show also got away with the farm by broadcast standards, as you can imagine on a show about a cannibal serial killer. Here on Starz, within minutes of the David Slade-directed premiere, geysers of blood open up, a ridiculous amount of arrows turn a man into a pincushion, and (I have to mention this again, though it happens later) a woman swallows a man with her vagina during sex.

The characters are inherently archetypal, given their basis in real world mythology and religion. Whittle does a fine job as the leading character. Like in other genre projects, the lead often has the shoulder the burden of ignorance in early episodes, asking expository question after expository question. Fortunately, both the writing, Whittle, and a plethora of “fucks” make the whole process fly by. McShane is always a joy to have on the big or small screen, and he chews through the dialogue with relish. Orlando Jones, Gillian Anderson, and Peter Stormare also had notable guest appearances in the first four episodes as various gods.

American Gods is the perfect example of a show balancing its satire with its own depiction of decadence. Some critics may indulge in the imitative fallacy with this show, but showing isn’t endorsing. The risks the show takes may not make everyone comfortable, but they are done with purpose. Many scenes, even long speeches, get backing music, giving the whole enterprise a pulsating rhythm, as if the show has a heartbeat itself. Like the traveling characters on the show, watching it is a trip, if you can find the show’s wavelength.

Grade: A-

American Gods premieres Sunday April 30 at 9 p.m. on Starz.

The post ‘American Gods’ Review: The Neil Gaiman Adaptation Goes Full Fuller appeared first on Heroic Hollywood.

‘The Fate Of The Furious’ Review: If You Expect More, You’re Doing It Wrong

*Spoiler Free Review*

“Dominic Toretto just went rogue!”

As The Fate of the Furious kicks off, Dom (Vin Diesel) and Letty’s (Michelle Rodriguez) honeymoon gets cut short when a mysterious hacker named Cipher (Charlize Theron) enters their life and turns everything upside down. Now, for some unknown reason, Dom has turned his back on the most important thing in his life, his family, and it’s up to his old team to take him down before he goes too far.

When a series is eight movies in (good lord), there comes a time in any series when you have to start shaking things up. Full disclosure: I used to hate the Fast and/or Furious movies. For the first few films, I couldn’t care less, but somewhere around the fourth or fifth film, the series really turned things around. Like SKYNET, the franchise became self-aware. That was the first time it shook things up. Life shook things up for the franchise the last time, but I thought Furious 7 did a remarkable job of rolling with the punches and adapting after Paul Walker’s tragic passing. Now, the series enters an exciting new chapter with The Fate of the Furious and it’s time to shake things up once again. And boy, did they!

Also read: ‘The Fate Of The Furious’ Director Says Film Is ‘Shift’ In Franchise

I love the premise here, with the whole team versus Dom. It’s such a fantastic idea. This many films in, it’s tough to come up with a villain worthy of the combined efforts of this group, so why not put them up against one of their own? That’s not to say that the film’s actual villains weren’t great. Charlize Theron was wonderful as Cipher, providing a genuinely ruthless antagonist unlike any this series has ever seen, one that really will stop at nothing to achieve her goals. My only problem was, I didn’t really know why she wanted what she wanted. This film pays no mind in spelling out her motivation. I did, however, like Game of Thrones‘ Kristofer Hivju as her main henchman, Rhodes. Put this guy in everything!

Even without Dom, though, the team is still firing on all cylinders. Rodriguez was badass as usual as Letty and I liked seeing her play a slightly different dynamic than usual, hurt and confused by Dom’s betrayal. Some of my favorite moments in the movie were shared between Luke Hobbs (Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham), the only two men in the world that have ever tracked Dom. Johnson is always entertaining. His first scene was hysterical. I love Statham as an action star as well when used correctly and this franchise certainly knows how to use him correctly. Putting the two of these guys together again and having them working on the same side this time was just genius.

Every time I see one of these films I forget just how hilarious Tyrese Gibson is as the butt-of-the-jokes Roman. He really keeps the film moving with his non-stop quips. He always plays well off of Tej (Chris “Ludacris” Bridges) and Ramsey (Nathalie Emmanuel) as well. I love the dynamic between these three. There are a few other great appearances from Fast & Furious regulars, but I won’t ruin the fun here. The remainder of the cast is filled with some other fantastic actors. Kurt Russell is always great and brings his usual charm to the role of the mysterious head of some covert op organization known only as Mr. Nobody and Scott Eastwood was a welcome addition to the film as his junior agent that the teams calls Little Nobody. I hope we learn more about these guys in future installments. The real surprise though was how great the addition of Helen Mirren’s Magdalene Shaw is to the franchise. Her crass Cockney mum was utterly delightful. It’s actually pretty insane the level of talent these films draw now.

Also read: Vin Diesel Almost Wasn’t Dom In ‘The Fast And The Furious’

Speaking of insane, the action is just as batshit crazy as always, in all the right ways. I always enjoy leaving what very little I know about real-world physics at the door. It’s getting to the point where they are running out of ways to top themselves. By the time the planned tenth film rolls around, they might actually just have to go to space because it’s the only thing left they haven’t done yet. I am not a car guy, but if a film can keep me engaged and if I can follow everything that’s going on in all the racing and chase sequences, it’s doing something right. F. Gary Gray was an inspired choice as director. He did a brilliant job of picking up where James Wan left things with Furious 7 and delivering on all the fun that fans of this franchise have come to expect. I’d like to see him come back for another.

As far as the twists and turns of the story go, there were a few moments in this film where I felt like I was way ahead of the writer, Chris Morgan, but I was pleased to discover that most of the time the script zigged when I thought it would zag. There is one moment that I saw coming for like an hour-and-a-half, but when it finally happened, I’ll be damned if I didn’t get a little bit glassy-eyed. There were actually a couple of genuinely touching moments for me, which was a bit surprising because I figured we were done with all that after saying goodbye to Paul Walker in the last movie. Not to say that they don’t always try to hook you with the whole family theme that runs through most of the franchise, but this time it actually worked for me. I guess that’s the benefit of having an audience follow you for eight movies. It took a little while, but they’ve actually earned those moments by now. There are a ton of surprises in this film too. The fan service in this movie is off the charts. This franchise knows how to give the fans exactly what they want.

Also read: Vin Diesel Nixed ‘Fate of the Furious’ Scene Ft The Rock & Jason Statham

And now for my negatives. I already mentioned the lack of motivation for Charlize Theron’s character. That was definitely disappointing, because she was a terrific villain otherwise. Also, as usual for the franchise, some of the dialogue (mostly exposition stuff) was worthy of an eye roll or two. It was a bit too lengthy as well at 2 hours, 16 minutes. The climax, as epic and entertaining as it was, could have maybe been trimmed a bit. Finally, and this one isn’t as much the film’s fault as much as the marketing team’s, the trailers showed way too much. Just about all of the great action beats and even some of the reveals are spoiled in all the ads or TV spots.

Overall, though, most of the negatives don’t even matter. I got exactly what I wanted out of The Fate of the Furious. At this point, everyone knows what these films are all about: fun, fast cars and family. This film definitely delivers on all of those promises. If you’re expecting anything more, you’re doing it wrong. The story may be a little bit thin at times, but it’s never boring. I saw it in a packed house in a theater that serves alcohol. I don’t even drink, but it was a blast, because that crowd was into this movie, cheering and laughing at all the right action beats and one-liners. If you’re a fan of the franchise or just looking for a big dumb action movie to watch while you shove popcorn into your face, this is definitely a great couple of hours spent at the cinema.

Score: B-

The Fate of the Furious is in theaters now. Have you seen the film yet? If so, what did you think? Are you a fan of the franchise? Share your thoughts in the comment section below.

6 Theater-Worthy Movies To Look Forward To In April

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March has ended and Spring has begun which means we’re already in the summer movie season. The biggest hits of last month both financially and critically were Beauty and the Beast, Kong: Skull Island, and Logan. April offers us a smaller and more intimate slate of films, giving us a well-deserved breath of fresh air from last month’s loaded offerings. This month’s films will put many of our favorite stars in roles that are both unique and diverse, which might surprise you.

Let’s take a look at what you can expect to come out this month in chronological order. Hit Next to continue!

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VIEW IN GALLERY

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‘Riverdale’ 1.10 ‘The Lost Weekend’ Review

This week on Riverdale, Veronica found herself between a rock and a hard place when it came to testifying on her father’s behalf while the group tried to throw Jughead a surprise birthday party that turned into a giant out-of-control kegger. As Jughead said during his opening narration, “There is no such thing as control. There is only chaos.” A truer statement couldn’t have been made to lead us into this crazy episode.

Even though Archie wants his parents to try and patch things up now that Fred and Hermione’s relationship is over, Fred takes off at the beginning of the episode to finalize his divorce, leaving Jughead and Archie home alone.

At school, Archie reveals Jughead’s impending birthday to Betty, who had no idea because Jughead doesn’t like celebrating. As Archie and Betty discuss what to do, they initially resolve to just go to the theater to watch a movie. When Betty calls FP and asks him to come, he reveals Jughead has never had a birthday party. This sets Betty off on party planning and Veronica is all in, but Archie cautions against it. However, Betty says it’ll be a party with the “inner circle” only.

As they’re discussing, Chuck Clayton walks back into school; back from his suspension. When he sits down next to Ethel, Betty goes on the attack but Chuck says he’s just there to apologize and Ethel waves Betty (who’s clearly have some “full dark, no stars” flashbacks) off. When Betty returns to the table, Archie offers his house for the birthday party since his dad is out of town. Betty then reaches out once more to FP about attending the party for Jughead’s sake.

At cheer practice, Veronica is tired of Cheryl’s attitude and challenges her to a dance-off for top spot on the squad. After the battle is over, the girl’s unanimously vote for Veronica. Cheryl goes after her two minions on the squad, telling them that they’re fired and she doesn’t want them around anymore. On the warpath, Cheryl then goes to Pop’s and asks Chuck to team up for “a little destruction.”

That evening at the party, the group (plus Joaquin and Ethel) are waiting for Jughead and Betty to arrive from the theater. When they show up, Jughead is clearly less than thrilled but Betty comes out with a cake and sings “Happy Birthday” to him. However, the festivities upset Veronica who isn’t in the mood after reading her dad’s letter. She walks away crying and Archie goes to talk with her. The two open up to each other about their issues with their parents and end up in a hug. Jughead and Betty walk in and see the hug and Veronica says she’s “not in a party mood.” Jughead also says he’s not in a party mood and Betty and he start to get into it, but the doorbell rings and Cheryl, Chuck, and most of the kids of Riverdale come storming in.

The party quickly turns into all-out chaos and as Archie and Jughead are speaking privately, FP shows up with a gift for Jughead. When FP enters the house, he spies Kevin and Joaquin kissing and pulls him aside. As they’re making their way through the house, Veronica spies FP and remembers him from the deal he saw him make with her mother. Joaquin and FP go discuss the revelation that Archie overheard as Alice spies on them from next door.

In the kitchen, Betty confronts Chuck who gets nasty, telling her he saw the real her the night she went full dark, no stars. Betty then goes to talk to Jughead and the two get into a heated discussion as Jughead lashes out at Betty for throwing the party. Jughead feels Betty is too good for him and says she’s just “slumming it” with him while biding her time for Archie.

Meanwhile, Archie spies Valerie at the party and confronts her but Valerie isn’t having it and Archie’s a little drunk. Valerie ends up spilling her drink all over Archie in front of everyone.

When Jughead tries to storm out of the party, Cheryl and Chuck prevent him from leaving and start a game to get everyone’s secrets out into the open. Cheryl goes after Veronica but Veronica fires back, suggesting Cheryl and Jason’s “twincest.” Then Archie and Miss Grundy’s relationship comes to light when Dilton speaks up. Chuck then steps up and outs Betty for what she did to him. As he continues, Jughead jumps in and starts swinging and FP intervenes, throwing Chuck out of the party. He then declares the party is over. As everyone starts leaving, Jughead tries to leave but FP gets in his face and tells him to “man up” and go be with Betty. When FP turns to leave, Alice approaches him and FP tells her that a “snake never really sheds its skin,” implying that Alice was once part of the Serpents.

At Pop’s, Jughead and Betty talk it out. Jughead talks about his fear of not being accepted for who he is and Betty reveals to him her fear of the darkness she has inside.

At the Andrews’ household, Archie and Veronica are the only two left and they talk about their lives and struggles. As they’re talking, they share a kiss, which quickly leads to a make-out session. The next morning, Veronica wake up in Archie’s bed. When Veronica goes to leave, Jughead spies her and promises that his “lips are sealed.”

In Lodge world, an attorney for Hiram comes to the Lodges to try and prepare Veronica’s statement for her father’s hearing, but she isn’t on board. At school, Betty and Archie tell Veronica what Archie overheard Clifford Blossom saying about putting Hiram Lodge in jail. Veronica later reveals this news to her mother along with a paper trail she dug up concerning some monetary dealings Clifford and Hiram had gotten into. Hermione cautions her to drop it as it might throw suspicion on Hiram for Jason’s murder; however, Veronica later reveals all this information to Hiram’s attorney. The attorney then tries to get Veronica to testify once again and when she resists once more, the attorney whips out a note from Hiram. In the note, he cautions Veronica to choose her next steps wisely as it will not only impact Hiram but will also affect Hermione who is not as innocent as she seems (according to Hiram anyway).

When it’s time to step up, Veronica reveals she’s ready to go on record about her parents for her mother’s sake. Later, she reveals to Betty that she testified and reveals that FP has been in Hiram’s employ before, questioning what else he may have done for her father. She then says she wants to help with Betty’s investigation because she wants the truth.

As the episode closed, Archie had just finished cleaning up the party mess when his parents walked in, together.

Continue on to read the review of season one’s tenth episode, “The Lost Weekend.” It’s separated so you can tackle all of the juicy Riverdale drama in chunks and explore the episode’s key moments and highlights. Click Next to scroll through, or jump straight to the part you’re most interested in:

• Chuck Returns
• Jughead and Betty on the Rocks
• Veronica and Archie Rekindle the Flame
• Enter Archie’s Mom
• The Verdict and Other Thoughts

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