My Review of Arrow 4.17- Beacon of Hope

We remeet a familiar face from The Flash who is after Felicity, Curtis meets the gang, and Oliver tries to deal with the breakup...

I loved that this episode was so light and fun.  I'm just worried now because light and fun generally indicates that something awful is about to happen.  I think my favorite part of the episode was Curtis working with the gang.  When he arrived in the Arrow Cave (sorry, bunker!) and realized the identities of the heroes out saving the city every night, he fainted.  The was just completely classic as were his constant pop culture references and quips.  I get why he grated on Oliver's nerves, particularly because Oliver doesn't want to see someone else taken down the same road he chose and because he is stressed out from dealing with the breakup with Felicity.  But yelling at Curtis wasn't the smartest move.  I am a little unsure about whether or not Curtis intends to continue working with Team Arrow.  He lied to his husband, which is understandable all things considered, but I'm worried that he might want to continue to help since Felicity isn't helping the team anymore.

As for what Laurel said to Oliver, I think everyone knows where I stand on that issue.  She is right that he did make choices and that is why Felicity left him, but what she and Felicity can't seem to grasp is that Oliver really didn't have any alternatives.  The only thing he lied about in their relationship was William and that was only because Samantha forced him to choose between Felicity knowing the truth and his getting to know William.  Oliver obviously wanted to tell Felicity everything, but he wasn't going to sacrifice getting to know the son he never knew he had.  And I suspect that if Oliver had chosen to not get to know William, Felicity would have been mad at him for that choice.  So it was really a lose-lose situation.  And as I said before, not consulting her about how to protect William should not be an issue because she never had a right to have a voice in that conversation in the first place.  Oliver at least admits that he made a mistake, Felicity needs to realize that he has changed and that the choice he made was the only viable one.  Instead, she is crucifying Oliver and giving Samantha (the real villain here) a free pass.  So not cool.

That training session at the beginning was very reminiscent of R'as, Malcolm, or Nyssa training in the League headquarters, only with fewer people.  Can't say I'm terribly surprised that Oliver managed to wipe the floor with the three of them,  He is uber-focused on fighting and training right now and that always makes him more dangerous.  And I loved the fact that they had Oliver not only knowing who Voldemort was, but only knowing him from the books and not knowing that the movies were made.  Very amusing there.

I so hope that Donna has finally figured out that Felicity with working with the Green Arrow.  She certainly received enough clues tonight.  I also loved that Felicity put Donna's hair into her mouth so Felicity could concentrate when Donna was babbling away.  It was a not too nasty move and quite amusing.

Also amusing was Dahrk in jail.  Only he could be so comic book villianous that he was upset because he couldn't give his speech about how he managed to turn the tables on the men who attacked him.  And he is not happy with Malcolm or HIVE right now, since they decided to leave him in jail.  I am seeing a nasty clash when Dahrk gets out of prison.

I think I should have been shocked that Diggle's brother is still working with HIVE and now Malcolm, but I wasn't.  I'm beginning to wonder if his decision to turn on Dahrk was something planned by the other leaders of HIVE because they wanted to neutralize Dahrk.  That would make a certain amount of sense.

Having the Bug Eyed Bandit from The Flash on the show helped to make this episode so fun.  Was she ridiculous?  Sure.  Is she the best villain ever?  Hell no!  But she is fun and has a major bone to pick with Felicity, so it made sense to bring her back.  It also made for a really good reason to bring Curtis onto the team, since he could help the team in Felicity's absence.

I thought the promo said that there would be a new episode next week, but I know that The Flash is on a break for a couple of weeks and I saw somewhere else that Arrow is on break as well.  I will be back whenever the next episode airs.  Until then!

My Review of The Flash 2.17- Flash Back and Some Thoughts About the Supergirl/Flash Crossover

Barry is still obsessed with increasing his speed and comes up with an audacious plan to get some help which has some unintended consequences...

Let's start with the Supergirl/Flash crossover last night.  Number one, it was an incredible episode.  Seeing two heroes who both have so much fun with their abilities was just all sorts of fun.  The best parts were when various people were completely geeking out about meeting each other.  Barry was so excited to meet an alien and Winn was totally fascinated by the idea that the multiverse was an actual thing.  And I think it was really good for Kara to meet someone else who enjoys their abilities as much as she does.  I just found it to be very interesting that the Earth on Supergirl was so very different from the one on The Flash.  It was a good thing though, because it gave a plausible reason why we have never heard of Superman or Supergirl on Arrow or The Flash.  I have to admit to being annoyed at Barry for throwing lightning at Livewire.  Why on earth would he think it was a good idea to throw electricity at an enemy who harnesses and uses electricity?  Sorry, that was truly dumb.  I also loved that Cat figured out that Barry was the Flash, but she still can't see that Kara is Supergirl.  Granted, she thought it earlier and then Kara used J'onn to "prove" that she isn't Supergirl, but still.  I also loved seeing the citizens of the city save Kara for a change.  She really needed to see that she could still be the hero and symbol of light that they need.  And then there was the race which ended with Kara tossing Barry into a breach.  Totally cool.

Now, onto tonight's episode.  Barry had a really great idea.  Run back in time to get "Wells" to show him how to increase his speed.  What he didn't count on was that Time Wraith or "Wells" figuring out that he wasn't their Barry.  Barry really needs to remember that you don't mess with a past timeline.  If he hadn't decided to stop Hartley from using his explosives to escape the cage, I am not sure if "Wells" would have suspected him.  He still may have, given the time equation that Barry was researching, but it would have given Barry a better chance of getting back with the timeline intact.  We now have a timeline where Hartley is working with the team at STAR Labs.  Does that mean that we might see more of him?  That could be truly interesting.

Watching "Wells" this time, knowing exactly who he is and what he has done was a little creepy.  Kidnapping Barry and then threatening him was a good move.  I just wonder if Barry really did write a letter to his past self telling him all about "Wells" or if  that was purely a bluff on Barry's part.  I am suspecting a bluff, particularly seeing how he totally lied to "Wells" about him going back home and not dying.  In those scenes, it was really easy to see that Barry was barely holding it together while facing "Wells" down.  And calling him Thawne was a good idea.  It stroked his ego a bit and made it a little easier for Barry to do what he needed to do.

When the past Barry came into the room and confronted our Barry, I thought "Wells" was going to have a heart attack.  He certainly looked like he was more than a little anxious and pissed.  It was almost like he was waiting for Barry to out him.  Or maybe he was truly worried that Barry might say too much and change the timeline.  Either way, that was a fun little exchange to watch.

Given the fact that "Wells" gave him the rest of the equation and told him that the tachyon emitter was what he needed to increase his speed, I expect that crossover to happen between this episode and the next one.  It obviously didn't happen tonight, because Barry wasn't wearing the emitter like he was yesterday, so it will either happen  next time or the next episode will start with Barry coming back from the other Earth.

The only other major thing to happen was Barry getting Eddie to tape a video for Iris.  That was totally sweet and something she really needed.  Kudos to Barry for thinking of that idea.

Next episode will be in three weeks, so I'll see y'all then!

My Review of Blindspot 1.15- Older Cutthroat Canyon

Jane is targeted by a former ally, Weller takes a blow for the team, and Reed makes a decision to protect someone....

I'm still not entirely sure if we can trust Oscar.  He genuinely seems to care about Jane and will do whatever she wants him to do.  I get the impression that he would be reluctant to do much to harm the team unless he thought it was seriously putting the mission Jane is on in danger.  But he is such a murky character right now that it is hard to tell whether he is good or not.

As for Jane, she definitely needs to take time and figure things out.  One of her tattoos is displayed as artwork by a street artist and then Weller nearly gets himself blown up by a bomb meant for her.  Add to that the fact that she is being hunted by a former ally and you can understand why she ran.  Well, separated herself from the FBI in order to protect them.  As Weller said, it really did make perfect sense.  It was interesting to discover that the guy who shot at her tonight was the same guy who shot the creepy man in her safehouse in the first few episodes of the season.  What she really needs to do now is decide if she can in fact trust Oscar or not.  If she can, then she needs to work with him, period.  If she can't, then she needs to pretend to work with him in order to help the FBI.

Weller got himself knocked around really good.  Having a piece of a statue cut into your neck is not a good thing.  And sorry, but there is no way someone is getting back that quickly after major surgery.  I have been through a few surgeries and that was simply not believable.  I know that humans can power through a lot when they really want to, but there is a limit to what they can or cannot do.  So yeah, I call shenanigans there.  I did like his method of blowing the door to escape the trap that he, Reed, and Zapata were in.  That was pretty cool.

Poor Reed got put into an awful situation.  He had already told Mayfair that he was onto something about Jane when he was attacked and then his girlfriend (and Weller's sister) was threatened.  So shutting up about the whole thing was not the worst reaction.  That did seem to get Mayfair's instincts going because she did not seem to believe him when he said that he thought that there was nothing amiss about Jane.  And then breaking up with Sarah was just the icing on an awful cake.  Again, I get it, he was protecting her.  But I can't imagine that Weller is going to be terribly happy when he discovers that Reed broke up with his sister.  I'm not saying that he was the biggest fan of the relationship or anything, but his sister is hurt and I can't imagine that Weller will like that.

Jane's attacker is out there and is not happy about what happened.  I am definitely seeing him returning to try and get her again.  He'll have to lay low for a while and recover, but he'll be back.  Probably for the finale or the penultimate episode.

Until next week!

My Review of The Fosters 3.20- Kingdom Come

Callie and Jude have very different reactions to Jack's death, secrets are revealed, Jesus makes a well-intentioned mistake, Monte faces judgment, and Brandon acts the fool....

Callie, I love you, but you have got to learn better self-control.  On the one hand, her reaction to finding out what we've known for a while now, that Justina has been manipulating her, is understandable, but accusing her of something without any proof is not a smart move.  And believe me, I totally get why Callie called Justina out.  If Justina had been anywhere near honest in why she was supporting the bill, Callie might have been able to deal with everything.  The problem is that the company paying Justina is the same company that placed Jack in the house of her abusive former foster father in the first place and Justina lied about knowing the company to Callie's face.  Look, government agencies may be impersonal and may screw up on occasion, but at least their primary motive isn't just making money, which can't be said of any for-profit company.

As for the whole sleeping with Brandon situation, I am really curious who leaked the whole thing in the first place.  It's obvious that Justina leaked the whole thing this time in order to discredit Callie, but who posted something in Fost and Found in the first place?  The only people who know about it (that we know of) are Callie, Brandon, and Daphne.  Callie and Brandon obviously didn't leak it and I can't imagine Daphne doing so.  So obviously, someone else either knows about it or knows enough about their past to make up something plausible.  And now Stef and Lena know about the whole thing, so this is not going to be pretty.  Callie can honestly tell the reporter that she is not sleeping with Brandon because she only slept with him one time and that was before she was adopted.  I did look up adoption law and I don't think that this incident can affect her adoption, which can only be done if both agree to it or if fraud of some sort was involved.  So, I'm not worried about that.

Jude had a very interesting reaction to Jack's death.  For some reason, he went super spiritual and now thinks that God doesn't want him to be gay because He took away the only two boys Jude kissed.  Odd as that may sound, I have to admit that I totally understand it.  When I was younger, I fooled around with a friend and he was seriously injured in a car accident.  For a long time, I thought that God was mad at me for what happened and was punishing me.  It may not be the most sensible reaction, but it is one that makes sense from a certain point of view.  My only question is when the heck did Jude become so religious?  We've never seen an indication of this before, so I am honestly curious where it came from.  Callie was right when she told him that he needs to be himself, but I think he also needs some serious therapy to help himself figure out who he is.  He seems to be very uncertain and he is definitely in emotional turmoil.  I also wanted to smack Callie upside the head for telling Jude what Jack told her.  I get that she was trying to make Jude feel better, but telling him that a boy he was interested in gave him a pity kiss was not a smart move, particularly then.

Poor Jesus.  He was honestly trying to help Gabe and ended up getting him in even more trouble,  In Jesus' defense, I would have assumed that Gabe being at the play was ok too, particularly since Stef was around the whole time,  Given the fact that she is a police officer, you'd think that she would have made sure to clear everything with his PO first or something.  So sorry, but I can't be mad at Jesus about this one.  If anything, I am annoyed at Stef for not making sure that Jesus knew about what could happen to Gabe, particularly after she knew that Jesus wanted to help Gabe by talking to his PO.

I so want to smack some sense into Brandon. While renting the house for Cortney was a very nice gesture, using his college money to do so was a really stupid idea and just shows that he's not ready to be an adult yet.  I get the whole romance of the whole thing and his reasoning made a certain amount of sense, but it was still not smart.  And Cortney is not much smarter/  If you're saving up to move away or something, don't leave that money where the person you are leaving can access it!  That's just basic common sense.  I do also have to admit that I am worried that Cortney may be scamming Brandon.  I hate to say it, but it is possible that she and her husband staged everything to try and get money or something out of Brandon.  Not sure why they would target him, but it's a possibility that I just can't shake.

Then we have Mariana.  She and Mat decided not to get together, but when they were saying good bye, Nick came by, saw the kiss, and misinterpreted it.  Coming on the heels of his father's emotional abuse, Nick snapped, burned the set (which they were going to use to continue to put on the play), and brought a gun to school.  That boy is someone else who needs serious therapy.  His dad was a complete ass to him and was being really abusive emotionally.  His timing absolutely sucked and I am really worried about what he is going to do next.  Speaking of emotionally abusive, I wanted to smack Brandon again for the way he talked to Mariana.  That was just really cruel and seriously pissed me off.

Well, Monte's story was believed, but Lena is in trouble for using Gabe to build the sets.  That just shows one of the awful things about the sex offender registry.  Someone like Gabe, who didn't do anything horribly wrong, should never have been on the list and now his being on it is causing some serious ripples for a lot of people.

I can't say that I'm surprised that Mike and Ana are together.  The two of them have had feelings going for a while now, so it wasn't a huge shock.  And Brandon's comments to Mike, while true, made me want to smack him a third time.  The bot really needs to get a filter on his mouth and think before he says things because he gets in more trouble saying things he really shouldn't be saying.  I do have to say that he has a bit of a point.  Stef does tend to bull her way through people and Mike lets it happen a lot.  The only thing is that we've seen Mike to it to Stef too.  Remember the whole drama where Mike insisted on being involved in Brandon's punishments and Lena felt like an appendage to that relationship?  So yeah, it's not just a one way thing.

We'll be back over the summer, so I'll see y'all then!

My Review of Arrow 4.16- Broken Hearts

Cupid returns with vengeance on her mind, Oliver and Felicity set a trap for her, Dahrk is put on trial causing someone to testify against him....

I'm not sure where to start with Olicity.  My feelings on the two of them are complicated.  On the one hand, I want to slap Felicity upside the head very hard.  For over 3 years now, she's worked with Oliver and she knows the type of person he is.  She knows that he will do whatever he needs to do to protect the people he loves, even if that means lying to them.  I'll admit that his not telling her about William was not a life or death situation, he was faced with a more or less impossible choice.  Either have a relationship with his son and hide it from everyone (including Felicity) or tell Felicity about his son and lose the chance to get to know him.  Felicity's ire is much better directed at Samantha, who was (let's face it) a complete bitch about the whole situation.  As for sending Samantha and William off, I'm sorry but Felicity rightfully had no say in that.  If she was, in fact, married to Oliver then, I could see her being consulted, but William is not her son or even her husband's son, so she has no say in how Oliver protects them.  Period.

I sort of want to smack Oliver upside the head too.  While I do think he has been making the best of a series of bad choices, he does have a tendency to make some very unilateral decisions that might be accepted by people if he at least pretended to consult them first.  The good news is that he's been getting a lot better about this recently.  Until everything with William and Samantha, he has been doing a good job about including other people in his decisions.  And, as I said above, William and Samantha was a decision that no one else really had the right to have a say in, so I think his decision making there was the right thing.  I know I'm probably going to anger some Felicity fans, but I am standing solidly behind Oliver on this one.

I fell sorry for everyone else who is caught between the two of them.  While they're not seriously sniping at each other, there is definite tension going on, which means that Diggle and Thea have to act as mediators between the two.  I'm just glad that they're job wasn't too hard this week.  With Felicity leaving the group, presumably temporarily, things are going to get very interesting again.  I just hope that Donna returns and talks some sense into Felicity.

Then there is Dahrk's trial.  It's interesting that they're taking the "he's actually someone else" route.  It makes sense given that the only real evidence Laurel has would have to come from a group of masked vigilantes, but it still stinks.  I would feel sorry for Lance, but he did make his bed, so now he has to lie in it.  It was nice to see him lay everything out with complete and brutal honesty, because that was what needed to happen in order to keep Dahrk in jail.  I am just wondering what was up with that ring at the end.  Is that another source of magical power for Dahrk?

As for the flashbacks, it seems like we'll have to wait for this series to be over to really understand how they fit into the present story.  Honestly, I think that they could mostly do away with the flashbacks and it would help the show.  I appreciate that they are meant to give us more insight as to how Oliver became the Arrow, but they have been so separate from the rest of the episode that they sort of seem like a waste of time.

It was nice to see Cupid back again.  Is she annoying?  Sure, but she's also fun to watch.  And having her back dovetailed nicely into the episode's exploration of what is going on between Olicity.

Until next week!

My Review of The Flash 2.16- Trajectory

Welcome back to The Flash!  My reviews will now exclusively on this blog once the current TV season ends in May or June. Until then I will be posting TVD, Originals, and Blindspot on The Rogers Revue as well as on here.

On this week's episode of The Flash, Barry obsesses over how to get even faster, a new speedster comes to town, and a few truths come to light.

I want to start by addressing an issue I had previously posted with my other reviews of The Flash on pop-topia.com relating to the identity of Zoom and how it ties into this week's episode because it is really important.  Before Zoom's identity was revealed, I posited that Jay Garrick was Zoom. My theory runs something like this:

Jay suffered from an accident that made him the Flash on Earth-2.  Because there were meta-humans around, he decided that he needed to become faster, so he developed the Velocity serum to increase his speed.  As we saw this week, the serum can have unexpected side effects, such as causing the lightning surrounding the speedster taking it to turn blue.  Since Jay was already a speedster, he wouldn't disintegrate the way Eliza did.  However, he did develop the split personality the way she did, but because of his abilities, the personality actually split off from him and became the entity known as Zoom.  The split eventually stripped Jay of his connection to the Speed Force and caused Zoom to become obsessed with becoming even faster than he already is.  Now, if Jay and Harry worked together to develop the serum, then that would explain Jay's insistence that Wells created Zoom.  This would also explain why Jay said that Zoom stole his speed.  Also, being split in two could very easily cause cellular damage to Jay and explain why both he was dying and why Zoom is dying.  If Barry took the serum, it could cause him to split as well, which would be even more tragic because it would create another Zoom type speedster on Earth-1.

I must concede that it is entirely possible that Hunter Zolomon from our Earth is Zoom, but I think my theory really does make sense.  If I am right, then the question arises about who the man in the iron mask that Zoom is holding is.  Could it be another version of Jay?  Or is it someone else entirely who knows Jay's secret?

If I am right, then it is imperative that Barry keeps his training going and finds ways to increase his speed that do not involve any artificial means.  I get why he wants to make sure that he is fast enough to take on any speedsters, but the side effects of the serum appear to be quite nasty.  I'm not sure if this is the equivalent of magic having consequences that you see on other shows or if the Speed Force is something that needs special circumstances to access safely.  We know that everything about Barry is sped up, so that may be it.  If a normal person who isn't acclimated to it tries to access the Speed Force, they are eventually burned up from the inside the way Eliza was tonight.  Just some thoughts to consider.

As for Jessie, I get her reaction to what Harry was doing, but she has to know that most parents will do just about anything to save their child.  Was what he did dark and the wrong thing?  Sure, but it was understandable.  I'm hoping that her leaving is just a temporary thing, because I think she would be lots of fun to have around.  I'm just curious if they are planning on turning her into a speedster like Jessie Quick from the comics.  If so, having been injected with the Velocity 9 could be the first step.  I wonder if giving her the transfusion might give her body some time to adjust to the serum and give her safer access to the Speed Force.

I'm also very curious about whether or not her meta-human detector was being set off by Barry and Cisco or if Wally was setting it off.  It did go off a couple times when he was close, but Cisco was close too, so it could be either.  Since Wally is a version of the Flash in the comics, it is entirely possible that he is a meta-human as well and that was what her detector was reacting too.

I felt sorry for everyone when they realized that Jay was Zoom.  Caitlin had a look on her face that spoke volumes and Barry's primal scream at the canyon was harsh too.  Being duped twice is not good for them and is going to make Barry even less trusting than he was earlier in the season.

Iris' boss is the type of person I intensely dislike: someone who only sees the potential for the worst in people.  Are there people out there who are hypocrites?  Sure.  But he has never liked the Flash even before Trajectory started stealing things this week.  He decided that the Flash was guilty and then set out to prove it rather than investigate and find out what was going on.  I get why he suspected the Flash, after all, how many other speedsters are there?  But, as a reporter, you are supposed to let the facts lead you, and that was precisely what he was not doing.

Cisco's dancing was just bad.  Amusingly, awfully bad.  I did love Barry and Iris' reaction to the dancing though,  That was funny.

Next week, the Flash appears on Supergirl and runs through time to work with Wells.  I will probably review this specific episode of Supergirl later in the week, because I won't be able to write three reviews on Monday night.  So look for it, hopefully on Tuesday or Wednesday, but it might be as late as next weekend.

Until then!

My Review of Blindspot 1.14- Rules in Defiance

Jane is still reeling from the mole hunt, Zapata goes undercover, and Oscar sends the gang on a mission...

Jane is really having a lot of trouble figuring out what to do next.  She knows that the gang doesn't entirely trust her, which is causing her to want to leave the FBI.  To make it even worse, she can't even blame them for not entirely trusting her because she has been lying to them.  The thing is that she is very useful to them and working with the FBI gives her life purpose.  I am beginning to wonder if she'll work with Oscar solely to see if she can get information to bring to the FBI.  She may even decide to bring Weller in on what is going on and see if she can salvage everything somehow.  I will say that Oscar seems to be asking her only to do relatively harmless things so far.  What we have seen from her tattoos seems to show that she is primarily intended to bring dark secrets to light and not to hurt innocent people, so it is entirely possible that she and Oscar would work with Weller and the FBI, or at least just Weller.

The only problem with this is then ending where Oscar revealed to her that she had put measures in place to make sure she would stay on mission.  I'm not sure if she would really want Weller dead, or if she knew that the threat would be enough to bring her back into line.  It does mean that if she does bring Weller in on what's going on, it would make it harder to bring Oscar in as well.

Zapata had a rough week.  Sending her undercover was a really good idea.  They needed to figure out what was going on with the disappearing women and they couldn't risk an innocent to do it.  Allowing Zapata to go in as someone else to figure out what was going on meant that they had someone inside who has training in self-defense and knows how to handle herself.  I don't think they could have foreseen that fire or anything else that happened.  Then there is whe whole issue of Zapata and the US ADA.  The consequences of her actions just keep coming back for more.

Reade and Mayfair continue to investigate Jane and it got Reade attacked.  I totally get why the two of them are investigating her.  Reade has never really trusted her and Mayfair doesn't like things she doesn't know about going on under her nose or in her office.  If I were really suspicious, I would wonder if maybe Mayfair was only pretending to go along with Reade in order to keep track of his investigation and stop it if it goes in the wrong places.

I was really happy when Reade told Weller off about how Weller has reacted to Reade dating his sister.  As I said last week, it is none of Weller's business because Reade and Weller's sister are both consenting adults.  Add to that Reade's little explosion this week.  While I am not entirely sure that Weller's judgment has been compromised by Jane's presence, it has definitely been a distraction on occasion whereas we have never seen Reade have any issues at work because he's dating Weller's sister.  #justsaying

Until next week!

My Review of The Fosters 3.19- The Show

While Brandon and Mat's play goes on, Stef returns to a hauntingly familiar place, people contemplate their love lives, and tragedy strikes....

First off, I loved the musical and the music.  It was nice to see Lou back and as much as I hate Chase, Garrett has a great voice, so it was good to bring him back as well.  In fact, everyone who got to show off their pipes did a great job.  So kudos to everyone for the great job.

I get why Callie wants to come clean, but I really think it would be an awful idea.  It was a one time thing that happened because both Brandon and Callie thought she would never be adopted.  They definitely have some issues to resolve, but I don't see how confessing that they slept together can be helpful in any way, shape, or form.  It wouldn't get Callie taken away or anything, but it would put a lot of strain on the whole family.  The two of them just need to figure out a way to live with each other and be with other people.

I loved the scene in the one song where it switched from Mat and Mariana singing to Brandon and Cortney to Brandon and Callie.  That was pretty nifty.  When Callie became Mariana, I nearly freaked out because I thought Brandon was fantasizing about Mariana, which is just weird and sort of gross.  Callie is understandable because he only met her recently, but he did a lot of growing up with Mariana.  I was so happy when they pulled back and showed Mat.  That was a nice trick to pull.  Well done.

Mat and Mariana also definitely have some stuff to work out.  They both obviously have feelings for each other and their both with other people.  Mat's girlfriend is totally being a passive-aggressive bitch to Mariana and Nick is rather worried about everything, for good reason.  I honestly don't think Mariana has been purposefully leading him on, but she needs to figure out what's what soon or else there's going to be trouble.

I'm honestly not sure how to feel about Jude.  I don't get the feeling that he had feelings for Jack, but when Jack kissed him, he definitely seemed to have something happen.  I'm not sure if it was just that Jack was the only guy besides Connor to kiss him or if maybe he does have feelings for Jack.  I just wish Jack had told him that the kiss didn't actually mean anything.  That just sucks for Jude.  And now that Jack is dead, it apparently is going to cause Jude to question a lot of stuff.  I'm really curious where this is going now.

When I saw last week's promo, I though I recognized the guy with the gun as Callie and Jude's former foster father, but I was not expecting Jack to be placed with him.  I really want this to be going somewhere which leads to the end of the foster care privatization.  Whether or not it does will really depend on how Jack got into the home in the first place.  Almost as soon as Stef heard that the wife wasn't around and when we saw the texts not being returned to Jude, I was worried that it was Jack in the kitchen.  While he may not have been the greatest character, he was definitely a tragic one.  It totally sukcs that Stef's first day on the job involved her being called to the former foster home of her kids and discovering Jack dead.

I almost want to weigh in more on the whole Jude sexuality issue, but I think I'll wait until next week to see how it is handled.  I just hope that they figure out something to do with him because it seems like the writers' haven't been sure how to handle Jude for a while now.

Until next week!

My Review of Blindspot 1.13- Erase Weary Youth

Missed the episode last night, so I watched it tonight.  We got the return of OPR agent Fisher, a mole hunt, and the the revelation of many secrets.

Jane is not in the post position right now.  The team knows that there is something off about her story the night Carter was killed, but they don't know what it is yet.  Both Reade and Mayfair know that something is off and that Fisher was onto something, but they don't know what yet.  If they keep investigating, could they be in trouble from Oscar?  He seems to be a person who would be willing to kill if needed, but taking out FBI agents might be going too far.  We also know that Jane would seriously object to the whole thing.  She's uncomfortable enough as it is hiding things from the team.  I can't imagine how she'd react to their being killed.  Add to that the fact that she also has some serious trust issues where Oscar is concerned.  Something like that would be guaranteed to drive her away from him.

While I understand where Weller is coming from regarding his sister and Reade, what he did was just wrong.  She is an adult and so is Reade.  She knows how dangerous Reade's job is and she knows what she's lost so far.  If they want to date each other, there shouldn't be anything he can do about it.  About the only objection I can see being relevant is about his relationship with Reade, which is more his issue than Reade's.  So yeah, I don't exactly have a lot of sympathy for him.  I'm just trying to imagine how he'll react when he discovers that Jane is involved in Carter's death and her own memory wipe.  That will not be a pretty sight.

So Fisher was the mole all along?  Interesting.  And no wonder he wanted command of the NYO.  With that, he'd be able to leak whatever he wanted out of the office and quite possibly ensure that he would never be caught.  It's almost too bad he's dead now.  I had expected him to be around for a bit longer as a serious antagonist for Mayfair.  I just wonder if Jane could have not killed him.  I suspect that she could have, but there was obviously a reason she did.  Maybe she feared that he would figure her out and then reveal it to the team.  Or maybe he just pissed her off one too many times.

I'm not sure challenging the people who put the bug in her apartment was the smartest idea Zapata has ever had.  If they are working with Carter at the CIA, then they could force her to work for them the same way Carter forced her to work for him.  Or they could just do worse to her.  And are they the ones calling her or was that some sort of freaky coincidence?  Guess we'll find out next week.

Oscar has some serious work to do if he wants Jane to continue working with him.  She is very unhappy that he is forcing her to lie to her friends and that he is doling out the information in drips.  I get that he seems to be following her plan, but it is a plan that she doesn't remember.  I also get that he wants to make sure that she can be trusted with the secrets.  The problem is that she knows the type of secrets he is keeping and she wants her answers now.  He is walking a very, very small tightrope and he is on the verge of plummeting off of it.

What was up with that priest Jane remembered killing?  So many unanswered questions.

Until next week!

My Review of The Fosters 3.18- Rehersal

Sparks fly between a broken up couple, Stef and Lena get a couple of surprises, Jesus and Mariana connect with Gabe, and some secrets are revealed.

I have to start with Stef and Lena.  First, while I am not the biggest fan of really short hair on most women, Teri can pull off the look really, really well.  I know, I am a bit old-fashioned.  I think most guys look better with short hair and most women look better with longer hair.  When Stef came out with that new haircut, I have to admit that I loved, loved, loved it.  What I loved even more was her explanation for why she did it.  She wanted to make sure that she looked the way she wanted and that meant breast implants and short hair. You go!  And as for that whole kitchen scene, I was giggling the whole time.  Stef was so obviously uncomfortable, particularly when the two women took off their shirts and the one offered to let her and Lena feel her perky new breasts.  I love the way this show embraces the idea that you can be beautiful/handsome no matter who you are and no matter what happens to you.  I laughed even harder when Jesus walked in and got to see a sight he never expected.  He hightailed it upstairs so fast, I wanted to look for skidmarks on the floor!  I love the way this show has handled Stef's breast cancer scare.  They could have drawn it out for a long time, but instead they spent a couple of episode talking about what to do and then went right to the recovery and Stef discovering how beautiful she can be even without breasts.

Speaking of Jesus, it was really cool to see him connect with Gabe.  Jesus is obviously resentful of the fact that Gabe never came for him and was hurt when Gabe implied that he and Mariana were mistakes.  It was nice to see Gabe apologize and acknowledge that he doesn't know how to handle this whole situation.  Jesus seemed to be finally connecting with Gabe when he was arrested for being alone with Mariana.  You have to feel sorry for her.  She was just picking something up and forgot to turn off the alarm, so the police showed up when she and Gabe were alone.  Anyone want to bet that Jesus is going to be pissed at her for that one?  A bit unfairly, to be sure, but it would be hard to blame him if he was upset.

And then there is Mariana and Mat.  She still obviously has feelings for him and the reverse is true too.  And no disrespect meant to Nick, but it doesn't seem that they've reached the stage in their relationship for the serious chat about their romantic history.  Has he told her everything that he has done?  I suspect not.  And how about that kiss?  I mean, WOW!  This whole thing is going to turn into a train wreck of epic proportions.  I just hope she has the sense to figure out what she is feeling before she does anything she'll regret.

When Brandon was talking with Mariana, I honestly thought he was talking about the night he and Callie spent together too.  I discounted Dani because that was a drunken mistake and I had thought he had told everyone about it.  Obviously I remembered wrong because Callie was shocked when Brandon told her.  And I loved the fact that she made sure he knew that she knew what Dani did was wrong and that he had done nothing wrong himself.  And when she said that it was Brandon who made her feel better about herself, my heart went aflutter.  Those two have such a wonderful bond.  As for Corttney, I hope Brandon realizes that he needs to proceed carefully.  While I don't think Lena and Stef would do anything to Cortney if she and Brandon slept together, the two of them are in very different places.  Could it work out?  Sure, but it will not be easy.

I felt so bad for Daphne.  She has been trying so hard to get her daughter back and that lawyer was totally trying to make her look like a horrible, unstable person.  While she did punch Callie in the pilot, she has really grown and matured since then.  She made the major mistake of kidnapping her daughter, even though she did return her that same night.  And I am not sure what to think of the judge's decision that Daphne couldn't have any sort of government assistance.  That may be standard, I honestly don't know, but it also felt sort of cruel.  Maybe she was worried that Daphne might not be able to care for her daughter as wells as the foster parents or something.  I was glad Callie got a job for her, but I don't like that it puts Callie into Justina's debt.

Justina still creeps me out.  The way she can justify everything she does is just amazing, and not in a good way.  Obviously, a personal story is more touching than another person's story, but if it ever came out that she lied, it could undermine everything Justina does.  And yes, while everyone gets help from those around them, that is a far cry from what Justina did in lying about her friend.  I just have a really bad feeling about where this is going.

Next week, Romeo and Juliet the musical!  Until then!

Some Thoughts on American Crime, Season 2

The last episode of season 2 of American Crime finished about an hour ago and I must admit to a certain amount of dissatisfaction with the ending for a bit.   I watched the show last season and was very underwhelmed.  While I think it was good, it wasn't particularly captivating.  Well, not in the specifics anyway.  I must admit that I do remember some of the characters and my reactions to them, so it wasn't awful either.

This season of the show has been miles ahead of last season.  It might be that I can better relate to the characters or it just might be that they found their footing, but this season has been nothing less than absolutely captivating.  To recap:

At a private school in Indianapolis, a boy named Taylor (Connor Jessup, Falling Skies) has picture put on social media that are embarrassing to say the least.  He says that he was raped by the co-captain of the school basketball team at the Captains party.  It turns out that he and the co-captain Eric (Joey Pollari, The Inbetweeners) had been texting back and forth and there were some suggestions that Taylor wanted to have some rough sex.  The headmaster of the school (Felicity Huffman, Desperate Housewives) and the basketball coach (Timothy Hutton, Leverage) try and protect the team and shove the whole thing under the rug.  A chance comment by the other co-captain Kevin (Trevor Jackson, Eureka) persuades several members of the team to beat Taylor up and he retaliates by going to the school with a gun and killing one of them while he is high on drugs bought from the daughter of the basketball coach (Sky Azure Van Vliet, The Roundball).  Meanwhile Eric faces some vicious homophobia from his family and people around him while the school tries to use him to prop up their image.  Taylor's mom Anne (Lili Taylor, Almost Human) gets help from a hacktavist (Richard Cabral, Southland) to change the narrative only to have his cause hijacked by another hacker who gets really personal.  In the end, the headmaster is fired, the basketball coach's daughter goes to jail, the hacktavist leaves town, and Kevin's parents (Regina King and Andre Benjamin) are faced with the prospect of being forced to move because of the actions they took to protect him.  Also, Taylor is offered a plea deal (but we don't know if he accepts it) and Eric seems to be trying to get away from his family and hooking up with a guy.  Meanwhile, at a local public school, there is a lot of racial tension which comes to a head when Taylor's former girlfriend (Angelique Rivera), who is Hispanic, is attacked (felt up, not actually raped) by an African-American boy who is assaulted by two other Hispanic boys.  They are suspended by the African-American principal (Elvis Nolasco), who didn't see what the one boy did, and the students start protesting.  Ultimately, the principal leaves the school.

Ok, so that was a lot.  The question of whether or not the sexual encounter between Taylor and Eric was consensual or not was never answered and that lay at the core of my dissatisfaction.  Then I took the opportunity to think about it and realized that the show was never really about the encounter (consensual or not), it was about how people reacted to what happened.  Taylor's mom went all out to protect her son, the headmaster schemed to protect her school, Kevin's mom denied that one boy could even rape another boy, and Eric tried to kill himself when the fact that he is gay came out.

While knowing what exactly happened would have been more satisfying emotionally, I think that the choice to not reveal exactly what happened was the better one.  By taking the focus off of the event itself, the show allowed us to see ourselves and our society and how people from different backgrounds (race, gender, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, etc.) can perceive the same event in very different ways and how events take on a life of their own that is completely separate from the event that spawned them.  As Evy, Taylor's former girlfriend, said tonight, people cared less about her as a person and more about her as a symbol.  When we turn real, living people into symbols and stop seeing them as the people they are, we lose sight of what is really important.

The headmaster of Leyland School is the perfect example.  Her goal throughout the entire season was to protect the school and its funding.  To that end, she manipulated and used people regardless of their feelings.  When Eric got out of the hospital after his suicide attempt, she paraded him in front of the school at an assembly to show how accepting the school is and then had him interviewed by a LGBT publication.  Here is a boy who was forced out of the closet, accused of rape, and then attempted suicide, and somehow she thinks that it's ok to more or less force him into an interview like that?  Like I said, he became a symbol to her and stopped being a person.

Almost every character became something similar.  They were all stripped of their humanity by other people and held up as symbols, whether the symbol was good or bad.  Taylor saw his mother being humiliated by someone releasing her medical records and was bullied so much that he took drugs and then killed someone.  Ultimately, he decided to take his humanity back and make his own decisions to put the whole thing behind him.  Or at least, I assume he did, given the fact that he was talking about taking the plea deal.

As for the public school, we already saw how Evy felt about being turned into a symbol.  The principal didn't talk to her about what happened and her attacker wasn't punished at all.  Should the other boys have been punished?  Absolutely.  They attacked him, even if it was provoked.  Fortunately, the principal was honest enough to admit to his mistakes and he took responsibility for what he did and didn't do.  I do think Evy was wrong when she said that Taylor didn't care for her.  I got the feeling that he did care for her, but because of the rampant homophobia in the community, he did what he had to do to stay closeted and ended up using her himself as a shield to protect his true identity from the world.

This show tackled coming out, homophobia, sexual assault (male on male and male on female), racism, classism, and so many other issues head on this season.  While answers might have been nice, I think that the lack of answers was even better because that allows us to focus on the message and to give ourselves a long, hard look.  Satisfying?  No.  Better?  Absolutely.

My Review of Teen Wolf 5.20- Apotheosis

Scott and the gang confront the Beast, a few people die, Scott's pack grows by one werewolf, and the new villain appears...

Apotheosis is "the highest point or development of something, culmination or climax" or "the elevation of someone to divine status; deification".  So yeah,  Perfect name for the episode.  Not only is this episode the culmination of everything that has happened this season, but it is also the culmination of Scott's pack as a cohesive force.  As a werewolf (even pre-Alpha status), Scott has shown 2 main strengths: his ability to knit a disparate group into a cohesive and dangerous whole and his ability to plan for the long game.  Tonight, both strengths were on full display.

I'm not entirely sure how, but somehow Scott managed to get a hold of Deucalion and get him to work with Scott to help take down the Beast.  That was impressive.  Deucalion is quite the actor because he managed to totally fool Theo into thinking that he was on Theo's side in all this when he was actually working with Scott.  And getting Argent to agree to work with Deucalion as well was even more impressive.  What might be the most impressive part is that Scott and Argent pulled a fast one on Gerard and used his own desire for immortality against him.  That was good.

As for the cohesive whole, Scott has a pack that consists of 3 werewolves (Scott, Liam, and Hayden), a banshee (Lydia), a were-coyote (Malia), two humans (Stiles and Mason), a hunter (Argent), a druid (Deaton), a chimera (Corey), and a kitsune (Kira).  Add to that his allies the sheriff (Stilinski) and the nurse (his mom) as well as possibly Lydia's mom and you have quite the force to be reckoned with.  And Braeden might show her face periodically.  As for the Hellhound (Parrish), he may prove useful as well.  So yeah, I think Beacon Hills is going to be adequately defended.  As for the episode tonight, the Beast was defeated when the banshee screamed out the host's name, separating the two.  The spirit of the Beast was then held by the Hellhound and speared by the Alpha.  How about them apples?  Then there was Theo, who was taken down by the kitsune who got help from the skinwalkers to bring forth his sister and drag him somewhere (hell?).  So yeah, I'd say that particular strength showed itself fully tonight.

It was nice to see that the memory of Allison was what distracted the Beast from Scott long enough that Scott could pull away before Lydia unleashed her scream.  That was a really sweet moment and showed the effect that Allison still has on Scott.  While I have no doubt that he love Kira, Allison will always hold a special place in his heart as his first love.  And the fact that she looked like Marie Jeanne Valet was icing on the cake.  Sebastien never stood a chance against that memory.

I must admit that I was very surprised to find out that the main doctor was Sebastien's friend Marcel.  When you think about it though, it makes perfect sense.  He wants Sebastien to come back and the only way to do that is to have the Beast remember who it was.  So he's spent 300 years doing what he can to bring back his friend.  That is what I call dedication.  I did find it interesting that Marcel kept the weapon that could kill Sebastien as his cane.  Again, it makes sense because he wanted to be able to control the Beast if needed, but it was just a little unexpected.  I had assumed that the pike would have been melted into something and passed down within the Argent family in case ti was needed.

As for Hayden the werewolf?  her little reunion with Liam on the hilltop was totally cute.  It'll be nice to see her and Corey back next season.  At least, I'm assuming that they'll both be back.  Given the way he was holding Mason, I don't see Corey going anywhere.  And now that Hayden is one of Scott's Betas, I don't think she'll be going anywhere either.

Stiles as a law enforcement officer?  Not so sure if I see that one, especially given his fumbling with he gun last week.  Granted, he has really picked up on how to investigate things and work with clues, so he wouldn't be a total disaster.  Guess that might make the position of Sheriff of Beacon Hills semi-hereditary.

I am a little worried about Stiles' and Malia's future.  Stiles has really grown up and, given the ending, he seems to be gravitating towards Lydia and she doesn't seem to be fighting it too hard.  And Jeff Davis has said that something major is going to happen with Stiles and Lydia, so we may be getting Stydia in season 6.  Honestly, I'm good with either.  Lydia is his first crush and now I think he is ready to be a good guy for her.  We've seen how good he is with and for Malia, so we know that'll work too.  This should be interesting.

I hope to do a look at the opening credits when they come out, assuming they come out early like they have in the past.  Until then!

Some thoughts on Jonnor

If you follow EWSnaps on Snapchat (or Gavin MacIntosh on Tumblr), then you have probably seen the video from Gavin that he is no longer playing Connor on The Fosters.  Honestly, I should have seen it coming.  After all, the show sent Connor to San Francisco in a move that didn't make a whole lot of sense and then they had him and Jude break up last night in a move which made even less sense.  I can only assume that there was some reason why they had to write Connor off the show, whether that is because either Gavin or Hayden no longer wanted to do the story or for some other reason, and they did it in one of the most extraordinarily clumsy ways I have ever seen.

The news is not official yet, but I think we can take Gavin's word for it.  I must admit to being immensely disappointed.  The Jonnor storyline was so groundbreaking for many reasons and was such an inspiration to so many people that the way they ended it seemed to be too sudden and almost disrespectful.  They spent almost a season and a half hinting at the two of them coming together and then spent half of a season finally bringing them together, only to break them up another half season later in a move which looked tremendously hurried and nonsensical.

While shows are always welcome to create the storylines they want to create, it seems to me that a major story like this one deserves a much better send off.  It really seems that once they got the two of them together, the writers didn't know what to do with Jonnor.  That's just my opinion, but that's why I'm writing this.  I would love them to bring Connor back and do a service to this groundbreaking couple, even if it is to break them up properly rather than in a hurried video message and with texts and what not happening off screen.

Your thoughts?

My Review of Blindspot 1.12- Scientists Hollow Fortune

Jane and the gang run across a soldier who is a lot like Jane, Mayfair has a suggestion for Patterson, Weller finds out something from his dad, and Jane is torn when she receives a mission from Oscar.

Jane is caught in a very tough spot.  She needs Oscar to give her answers about her past, but doing so means that she is likely to betray the team at some point.  The good news is that so far she hasn’t had to do anything serious against them, but how long can that actually last?  To complicate everything, you have the feelings that she and Weller obviously have for each other.  This whole thing is not going to be pretty.

Then there was the case of the week.  A military contractor was using soldiers who were supposedly killed in combat to test a serum meant to create soldiers who were in a perpetual state of fight or flight, thereby sharpening their senses and reactions.  Given that some of the drugs they found in the soldier were the same drugs they found in Jane, that indicates that there is probably some link between her and the contractor.  Is it conclusive?  No, but it is something.  It may be that someone just used greater quantities in Jane.  Or it may be that her memory loss is more directly linked to what we saw with the soldiers.  The question boils down to “What is Orion?”

Mayfair was a little harsh with Patterson, but I think Patterson really needed it.  While I understand the need to bury yourself in anything to avoid the grief that comes from losing someone that close to you, it is not a good idea to put the grief of indefinitely.  Is Patterson valuable to the team?  Absolutely.  But if she can’t function properly for whatever reason, she won’t be of any use.  And then there was Mayfair’s confrontation with Jane.  Mayfair was right that there is a chain of command that needs to be followed and Jane does need to follow that chain.  On the other hand, Jane is very much an independent person who was suspicious of what was going on.  So yeah, there really was no satisfactory answer.

It was nice to see Weller get an answer from his dad bout what happened the night Taylor disappeared.  It had to be hard to hear that his dad was planning on killing himself, even if he didn’t actually do so.  That is some heavy stuff.  Is there more to this story?  Probably, and I’m sure we’ll get more at some point.  And who can’t wait to see Wells’ reaction when he finds out that his sister is dating Reade?  That should be interesting.

Next week, the guy from OPR returns looking for a mole.  Until then!

My Review of The Fosters 3.17- Sixteen

The fallout from the kiss continues, Jonnor hits some serious rocks, Brandon and Callie's secret is revealed to someone, and Mariana makes a decision to help Gabe.

I am not sure what the truth is in the whole debacle with Monte and Sally.  It's obvious that Sally is not straight like her mom thinks, but it is an open question what her sexuality is.  I think the main problem is that Monte never said anything about being kissed until Lena confronted her.  And Sally's parents are being completely unreasonable and more than a little obnoxious.  Demanding that Monte be fired without determining the truth behind what happened?  The tells me that there is something that they don't want coming out.  It could be as simple as they don't want to consider that Sally is not straight, or it could be more.  I am seriously worried that Monte's helping Sally and Lena could seriously come back and be twisted into something to look like she initiated something with Sally.  Monte's lack of candor and her questionable decisions in the past are certainly not going to help her here.

I was glad to see Mariana help Gabe.  While I can't say that I am completely against the idea of a sex offenders list, Gabe is the sort of person who should never have been on the list in the first place.  Ana's parents were right that he was technically an adult, but given the fact that they were dating and he never actually raped her, being labelled a sex offender for the rest of his life is just wrong.  In all candor, I do have issues with the whole sex offender lists.  While they can be good because they can let people know if someone truly dangerous is around, all too often they seem to catch people like this, people who simply made a mistake and then have to keep paying for it for life.  And this situation is very different from Dani and Brandon because in that case he was drunk and could not have consented to having sex with her.  If they had been together or in love, it might have made a difference, but they weren't, so it doesn't.

I just want to know what happened at Gabe's between him and Ana.  He had to know that she's an addict who has been sober, so offering her a beer was not a smart move.  I hope that he just did it unthinkingly, but I am afraid that her parents won't want to help him now.  It is also possible that she got drunk/high somewhere else and not at Gabe's place, but somehow I doubt that.

Stef's talk with Jesus was perfect.  He's been having issues recently and is feeling rejected by Gabe.  And his methods of dealing?  Not good.  I am worried that this could all be connected to the accident and he needs to find someone to talk with.  Whether it's a counselor at school or a therapist, he needs to deal with whatever is going on.  It was great to hear him reaffirm that he loves having two moms and everything, but I think he just wants to find out where he comes from.  Seeing that his biological mother is an addict and his biological father wants nothing to do with him can't be good.  I am hoping that Gabe doesn't want him around because he feels guilty about not being there for the twins and not something else.

I am very confused about what is going on with Connor and Jude.  I get that getting a picture from Connor could have given Jude the impression that Connor was looking for sex, but Jude's reaction seemed a bit extreme.  I am wondering how much of his reaction has more to do with being mad that Connor left and how much has to do with Connor sending him that picture.  Neither of them seems to be putting a lot of effort into their relationship which is part of what is confusing me.  Connor is an athlete, so his being involved in sports makes sense.  But if he wants to stay with Jude, he is showing it in an odd way.  And Jude isn't making things any better with the whole passive-aggressive thing he is doing.  It almost seems like he wants to force Connor to break up with him.  I keep hoping that the two of them will work this out, but it may be too late for them.  If they want to save their relationship, they need to get in the same city and have some serious time to talk things out and really figure them out.

Brandon and Callie also need to figure things out.  Cortney is being really cool about the whole thing.  She has her own complicated situation with her ex, so she knows that Brandon and Callie have some stuff to figure out.  AJ's reaction, on the other hand was not good.  He knows that something is up, but I suspect that he thinks it is ongoing, when it really isn't.  The problem is that the two of them have this lingering awkwardness of sleeping together and their feelings for each other that they can't act on.  Getting between these two right now is not going to be good for anyone.  The good news is that they are both really trying to move on, even if they aren't being terribly successful.

Until next week!

My Review of The Originals 3.15- An Old Friend Calls

Kol returns, Klaus faces the consequences of his sire line bond ending, Hayley deals with her grief, and another old face returns….

Finn is back.  <groan>  The most insufferable of the Original siblings has returned and I don’t see any good coming from it.  Seeing as he’s dedicated his immortal existence to ending his siblings and all vampires, I am worried.  If he’s like Kol, he is a vampire again, which is actually a blessing.  He won’t be able to do magic anymore, so that is one less weapon in his arsenal.  I am just worried that he will use what he knows about his sibling to pit them against each other.  I suspect that Freya is their best defense against him, but I am not sure if she would do much against him.  I so wish we had only gotten Kol back.  Oh well….

Speaking of Kol, he made himself immediately useful.  While he may not be a witch anymore, he knows enough about magic to help his siblings out.  Klaus is worried about his old enemies returning now that he can be killed without threatening his sire line.  Kol’s spell which would allow Klaus to leave while making appear that he is in New Orleans was a brilliant idea.  I can only assume that he came up with it as a way to protect himself and his siblings from the wrath of Mikael.  Kol does need to work on his self-control.  He promised Davina no killing and then broke that rule.  He may be gorgeous, but I don’t think she’ll let deaths slide just because of that.

I have to say that Hayley’s method of dealing with grief was singularly spectacular.  I don’t like the Strix, so seeing her kill the vampires who killed Jackson was a not too horrible thing.  The problem, as Elijah saw, was that if the Strix discovered it was her, she would be hunted down.  So his idea about making it look like Klaus’ enemy Cortez did the killings was a smart move.  By doing that, he not only made sure that Hayley was protected, but he gathered a group of fighters to help protect himself and his family.  Very smart.

Klaus is really not having good luck recently.  Last week he lost the sire line bond and this week he lost Cami.  Granted, he lost Cami because she isn’t sure what he’d do if/when Aurora returns, but that still had to sting.  And now he is going to disappear with Hayley and Hope to protect himself from the myriad of enemies that he has managed to amass over the centuries.  I’m not quite sure whether or not I should feel sorry for him.  After all, he’s been a bad guy for so many years that he’s earned some seriously bad karma.  Then again, he has also lost almost everything now and has to depend on other people to survive, not exactly Klaus’ specialty.

Is Cami right to worry about Aurora?  Probably.  I am not sure how she’d be able to get out of the prison Klaus had made for her, but if anyone can do it, I am sure she can.  I also suspect that she pushed Klaus away for his own good.

I do wonder if The Originals is going to do a three year jump in order to keep pace with The Vampire Diaries.  That would allow the shows to stay on the same page time wise and would explain the comment to Caroline last week that no one had seen Klaus in years.  If they do jump, it will be interesting to see.

Until April 1!

My Review of The Vampire Diaries 7.15- I Would For You

Damon decides to solve the Rayna problem but runs into an unforeseen problem, Matt decides to make a stand, Stefan and Valerie look for a way to shield him from Rayna, and we catch up to the flash forwards.

I loved Damon’s brutally direct way of dealing with Rayna.  Since she keeps returning from the dead and only has so many lives, keep killing her until she stays dead.  It’s a charmingly direct way of dealing with the problem that is oh so very Damonish.  The only problem is that when the shamans cast the spell linking her life to theirs, they made it so that any vampire she had marked would die when she died for the last time.  Which means that if Damon kills her, Stefan dies too.  And that is not something Damon is willing to do.  Fortunately for everyone, the Armory caught her and imprisoned her before she could kill Damon.

And we finally found out how Damon ended in the coffin in the future.  He put himself there because he couldn’t stand the fact that he would hurt everyone around him while waiting for Elena to come back.  So, he put himself in the coffin to desiccate for 60 years until Bonnie died and Elena came back.  Which leads us to the flash forwards (or now the present) where he has offered to allow Rayna to transfer the mark from Stefan to him in order to save Stefan.  She seems willing to do it, but I suspect that Stefan will still do everything he can to save Damon from Rayna.  This is not going to be good.

I can almost respect Matt’s stand against vampires.  The problem is that He’s allowing himself to be persuaded to see the world in black and white, and the world is not that simple.  I get that he is simply trying to rebuild his hometown, but I don’t see it happening.  I want to know how he intends to keep all vampires out.  Will he have someone do something like the Traveler’s spell to create a barrier?  And will he keep Caroline out as well?  I really hope he actually thinks this through.

If that one garden was the only place to get the herb Freya used to shield Stefan from Rayna, than how on earth did she get it?  Did she just keep some lying around in case she needed it?  Actually, now that I think about it, that is possible.  If she wanted to shield herself from Dahlia, she may have needed that particular herb.  And if she did, you’d think she would have made sure to keep some safe for future use.  Just seems like a weird plot hole to put Stefan in a position where he couldn’t keep running from Rayna.

Bonnie’s last speech to Damon was heartrending.  I totally get why she is mad and she totally deserves to be.  Was Damon making the right choice?  Probably not, but he is blinded by grief at everything that has happened and he is not thinking straight.  It did allow us to skip forward though.

When the show returns, I am really hoping that we get some answers about how Matt ends up working for Rayna and betraying Caroline, why people end up with the people they are with, and how the brothers are going to save each other without killing Rayna.

Until April 1!

Some thoughts on DC's Legends of Tomorrow

I've been sitting here for a while trying to get myself to the point where I can write a decent review of the episode.  The problem is that this show, while enjoyable, is not nearly as compelling as either The Flash or Arrow.  I'm not sure if it's just that the cast is too large or what, but it is no where near where either of those shows are.  I know it's the first season and all, but when I am questioning a show this early, it seems like there's an issue.

Consequently, I am going to take a hiatus from writing about this show for a few weeks and then decide whether or not to keep writing reviews.  Don't get me wrong, I intend to keep watching it pretty much no matter what; unless it seriously jumps the shark; but I can really only write about shows I am seriously into and this show just isn't there.

I will get reviews for The Vampire Diaries and The Originals up over the weekend.  I'll be out tomorrow night and probably won't be able to watch the shows until Saturday or Sunday.  Until then!

My Review of Teen Wolf 5.19- The Beast of Beacon Hills

The gang rushes to save Mason leading to an unlikely alliance, Theo takes some serious steps to finding the Beast, Braeden and Malia face off against the Desert Wolf, and Lydia and the Sheriff work on keeping Parrish around.

As much as I admire what Corey was doing for Mason; and his reasons for doing it; leading Mason away from Scott and the gang was a stupid move.  It's true that theo wants to kill Mason in order to get the Beast's power, but Scott is looking to save him.  And leading Mason away from Scott and his pack ultimately made it much easier for the Dread Doctors to capture him and move towards the fruition of their plan.  But, all that being said, Corey did what he did because he loves Mason, so it makes it all completely understandable.

And we finally found out why Mason could become the Beast and why no one ever looked at him as a possibility before.  Turns out that he had a twin.  But somehow he absorbed his twin in utero and that made him a genetic chimera.  I can only assume that because there was a twin involved and their DNA would have been virtually identical, this somehow made Mason a better candidate to become the Beast than other people who had DNA from people who were not related to them.  The scary thing is that Mason managed to turn into the Beast without any frequencies being used to turn him.  Again, here I can only make assumptions because they haven't explained it yet.  I suspect it was one of two things.  Either the big needle in the back of his neck brought Sebastien's memories to the surface, completing the change and allowing the transformation or seeing his friends in danger from the Dread Doctors gave him the impetus he needed to make the change.  Either way, Sebastien has resurfaced and Theo is apparently gone.  Oh, and the Dread Doctors are apparently gone too seeing as the Beast was tearing them apart.

I'm glad the gang went into the alliance with Theo with open eyes.  They know he is probably going to betray them in order to get what he wants, but if they know it and can keep an eye out for the betrayal, they are more likely to be able to make sure Theo can't do too much damage.  And it doesn't look like he'll be able to.  The Hellhound has shown up and is ready to do battle with the Beast and anyone who steps in the middle of that particular clash is probably not going to survive the experience intact, if they survive it at all.

What were Chris and Gerard talking about that might save Mason?  While Gerard dismissed the idea out of hand, Chris seemed willing to believe that there might be something to save him from the Beast.  Is ti possible that there is something which can separate the two so that the Beast can be killed?

And what is the price Kira will have to pay for the help from the shifters?  She wants her sword back because she believes that she needs it to fight the Beast and save her friends, but what will they ask of her?  Inquiring minds want to know.

Next week is the season finale.  We still have Deucalion to contend with, the price asked of Kira, and whether or not Mason can be saved despite the fact that Sebastien has emerged from the Beast.  Until then!

My Review of Blindspot 1.11- Cease Forcing Enemy

While Jane is reeling from the news Oscar gives her about her memory and tattoos, the gang heads to Turkey based off of one of Jane’s tattoos.  Meanwhile, Mayfair and Patterson deal with a different threat in the office.

Well, that was an informative hour for Jane.  Not only is she Taylor Shaw, not only did she cause herself to be tattooed, and not only did she cause her own memory to be wiped, but she has a specific plan in mind that involves her being in New York office of the FBI.  Also, she and Oscar see the FBI as bad guys.  So yeah, this is going to get really complicated.  I can only assume that she picked the New York office because of Mayfair and Operation Daylight, given that so many of her tattoos have related to that.  And I suspect that Weller’s name is on there because he is a connection to her past as Taylor Shaw.  Beyond that all I have is some general speculation, which I’ll share at some future point when we get more information.

I think her big problem now is deciding how much she can trust herself and Oscar.  We know that he has videos of her, but we don’t know if she made the videos of her own volition or if coercion of some sort was involved.  It is also entirely possible that when she was kidnapped as a child, she was brainwashed to accomplish the task of bringing government secrets out of the shadows (or something similar) and that she made the videos in that mindset.  Honestly, I am not entirely sure we can trust any of her memories.  After all, if they can wipe memories, what’s to say that they couldn’t have used suggestion to implant memories?  Quite the pickle she has gotten herself into.

Weller and the gang are oblivious to the issues Jane is going through.  I think her getting involved in a case right now was a good thing.  It gave her a chance to clear her head a bit and do what she does best: kick some serious ass.  When she was gliding that plane in for a landing, I choked a bit because I am honestly not sure if that could be done.  It seemed a bit far-fetched to me, particularly give how quickly they stopped, but I know so little about flying that I could really be wrong.

Poor Patterson had a lot on her plate this week.  Mayfair was shielding her as much as she could, but Patterson didn’t make Mayfair’s job any easier by admitting that Mayfair didn’t know that she was using David to help crack the case.  That OPR guy is definitely going to be a nemesis for Mayfair and possibly for the whole team.  I just wonder if he really is a guy just doing what he thinks is right or if he is really after Mayfair’s job and will do whatever he needs to do in order to take over.  I loved it when Patterson told him she did the math in her head and to shut up.  He was right when he said that Patterson screwed up, but she knew that already.  I think Mayfair knows that no one is going to punish Patterson more that herself, so suspending her was just a step too far.  I am nervous about that guy.

Next week, the gang meets someone whose memory has been wiped by a drug like the one that wiped Jane’s memory….

My Review of The Fosters 3.16- EQ

Jesus is having trouble dealing with everything, Stef teaches a class, Brandon gets an unwelcome surprise, Rita and Callie have an unpleasant encounter with Rita's daughter, and Lena gets an awkward piece of news.

Did Monte really kiss the student body president?  I know I don't think highly of her, but that is hard to imagine even for her.  I don't want to discount the news immediately, but I also don't want to jump to any conclusions.  I don't know why the student body president would lie, but (as I said) I also can't imagine Monte going that far.  I know she's shown certain people preferential treatment and has crossed lines, but that particular line is one I have trouble picturing her crossing.  I'm just afraid that if Lena does anything about this, Monte will use the fact that she decided to jump Jesus to the front of the admissions line as revenge or something.  Either that or she'll try and make Lena look like an evil schemer out to get the job she lost to Monte.  Not good, not good at all.

I totally get why Stef was hard on Jesus, and I can't say I blame her.  He left a school, came back, starting looking for his biological father behind his mothers' backs, lied about his age to get a job with his father and went to see him even after he was told not to, and has been getting drunk.  And that doesn't count the drag racing with Nick.  Was she too hard on him?  Probably, particularly with that crack about his father not wanting him.  Not a good thing to say to a kid who was abandoned by his mother.  Other than that, I think she was in the right, but that comment definitely took it over the edge.  I was glad that Lena stepped in and told Stef off for that one, because Stef needed to be brought up short.  It was also good for her class to hear an adult (particularly a police officer) admit that they screwed up, so kudos on that.

As for the play, I think that was a tricky situation.  While I totally get that certain things can be triggers for people, I do think that it can be taken too far.  The popular interpretation of the play does lend it self to a romanticization of suicide as the ultimate act of love, but I think Brandon had a good point.  Show the play as an example of kids in love doing something stupid, which is something that anyone who has been that age is familiar with.  Anyone who is in love is more liable to do something that they might not normally do because they're not thinking clearly.  That being said, I do think that having the play off campus is a good idea because then people can choose whether or not to attend.  But, would it have been any different if the play had been in the school's theater?  I assume attendance would have been optional, so maybe it wouldn't make a difference at all.

I'm glad that Rita and Callie decided to just agree to disagree.  Sorry, but I think Callie is acting like a brat about this whole thing.  She has purposely said some incredibly hurtful things to Rita about the bill and about her daughter.  Was she right in this instance?  Sure, but given Chloe's history of crying wolf where committing suicide is concerned, I have a hard time blaming Rita for ignoring it.  After all, look at what Chloe said to Callie.  She was just trying to get money, supposedly for an apartment.  I can get that any suicide threat should be taken seriously, and would normally agree, but when someone is consistently threatening to do something and then doesn't do it, it can be hard to take them seriously.  Overall, that was a seriously messed up situation that had no really good answer.

I'm still not sure what to think of Nick.  I am having a hard time trusting him because he seems to morph into whatever he needs to be at the time.  He may be a genuinely good guy, but I need to have some hard evidence before I'll believe that for sure.  I just hope Mariana continues to keep her eyes open and is smart about him.

I have to admit that it was nice to see Callie and AJ together.  They do really get each other and she is a good influence on him.  Not to mention he is a whole lot more appropriate for her than Brandon is, so there's that.  When they put Jesus to bed, I was totally giggling when she was just staring at his bare chest.  It was sort of funny.

Until next week!