Saturday, March 31, 2018

Batman 66 - Episodes 21-24 Reviews

It's been over a month since I've done this but to end this month, here's another edition of my Batman 66 reviews as the Penguin tries to go straight and the Riddler is back once again.

1x21: The Penguin Goes Straight


Oh look, Oswald's back and this time around it seems that he wants to go on the straight and narrow and give up his plans for villainy. Naturally the Dynamic Duo are skeptical about such a thing, so the Penguin goes into overdrive to make himself look good to the point where he nearly even fools Commissioner Gordon. The episode does however end on one of the best cliffhangers with both Batman and Robin strung up and ready to be shot by an unwitting Gordon and O'Hara at the funfair. How will they get out of this one? 8/10

1x22: Not Yet He Ain't


The answer to the previous question I posed, was that they got out of it quickly. It's often amazing how quickly both Batman and Robin escaped from their perilous cliffhangers but the rest of this two parter quickly saw Penguin's great diamond scheme going the same way. There's a great fake out with the Dynamic Duo seemingly killed before the Batmobile which Penguin steals then turns against him as he's brought to justice. 7/10

1x23: The Ring Of Wax


And he's back. The third story to feature the Riddler (and they really loved using him, Joker and Penguin for this series a lot) and it's a pretty solid enough event. A wax museum of Riddlers is one thing but the idea of having Batman and Robin as giant candles just showed how creative the show liked to be with the perils. There's still the bit with a female accomplice that also fancies Batman but it's not the worst thing here to be honest. 7/10

1x24: Give 'Em The Axe


Like the previous two parter, there's a good portion of this episode where the Riddler believes the Dynamic Duo are dead and is then disappointed when Robin initially appears to be alive to him. It does lead to Robing getting tied up but it does give Batman time to make an entrance as the Riddler's scheme to break into the sarcophagus of the ancient Incan emperor Hualpo Cusi which supposedly contains the long-lost treasure at the Gotham City Museum comes crashing down. Overall, a fun two parter for the Prince of Puzzles. 7/10

Next blog I'll delve into The Joker Trumps An Ace/Batman Sets The Pace and The Curse Of Tut/The Pharoah's In A Rut.

Festivities In March

A brief rundown on some of the show I've caught in the last few weeks and yes, there's some I do need to catch up with as well.


Arrow: A mixed bag of events here. To get the negative out of the way, I really don't care a great deal for Dragon being the main antagonist for the remainder of the season as he's a (so far) pretty cardboard villain to watch and the less said about the newbies acting like spoiled brats and Diggle wanting to be the Green Arrow, the better to be honest. On the other hand, I am enjoying the possible redemption arc with Black Siren and the returns of both Roy and Nyssa in the last few episodes to tie in with Thea's departure. That character will be missed.


Black Lightning: I'm about two episodes behind (will catch up within the next week or two) but I'm slightly losing interest with the show. The most promising villain they had with Lady Eve (who genuinely exuded menace) was killed off a bit too abruptly along with Tori, a character who also had promised and Lala, who I don't care about is back for whatever reason. I'm still not really compelled by Tobias as a baddie and Lynn does nothing really interesting either. On the other hand, Gambi has had his moments, I've enjoyed the Jefferson/Anissa teaming up and Jennifer discovering her own powers has been neat.


Once Upon A Time: So far not really a spectacular return considering we're into the last ever batch of episodes. A few backstories for Facilier, Naveen, Alice and Robyn aside, there doesn't seem to be a huge amount that's really happening. Even Victoria dying, Gothel building her cult and a mystery killer bumping off witches hasn't done much to ignite excitement here. Henry and Jacinda are still a lifeless couple and it's hard to get too invested in Regina/Facilier either, even if the latter is a more engaging antagonist than Gothel. The show seriously needs to pick up in it's remaining episodes.


The Flash: I've been liking the Thinker storyline this season but credit given where it's due, even the episodes that haven't focused on the guy and his constant body jacking have been enjoyable as well. The emotionally charged Enter Flashtime was a series highlight along with the following episode where Iris had Barry's abilities and made for a pretty awesome hero herself. Of course there has been some niggling bits with there being no further explanation for Cecile's current mind reading and Ralph being somewhat annoying and brooding in parts.


Will & Grace: This revival so far has been a lot of fun to watch and each episode has certainly proved that the show can work yet again, which is a relief. In the last few episodes we've a Victorian Christmas themed special, the funeral for Rosario (who I do miss seeing on the show), the introduction of Jack's grandson, the revived rivalry with Karen and Leslie, Grace meeting Leo again and even Will changing careers and dating younger guys for a bit. No wonder NBC seem more than happy to keep renewing this show, despite Season 9 not finishing airing yet.


- Netflix have renewed Queer Eye For The Straight Guy for a second season, which will be released later in the year.
- Will & Grace has been renewed for both tenth and eleventh seasons by NBC. Following it's huge ratings, ABC have also renewed Roseanne for an eleventh season while it's tenth one has started airing.
- Gotham will be tackling the No Man's Land arc for it's finale. E4 have the rights to the fourth season, airing from April 10th.
- Caity Lotz will be appearing in the sixth season finale of Arrow. Colin Donnell will appear in the 21st episode of the season.
- Jennifer Morrison, Ginnifer Goodwin, Josh Dallas, Emilie De Ravin, Sean Maguire are among the many returns for Once Upon A Time's series finale.
- The Librarians has been cancelled after four seasons by TNT.
- Tobias Menzies will be succeeding Matt Smith as Prince Philip for the third and fourth seasons of The Crown.
- Humans third season will air on Channel 4 from May and on AMC from June 5th.

Friday, March 30, 2018

My Review of Gotham's 4x16: "One Of My Three Soups"


Written by Charlie Huston
Directed by Benjamin McKenzie

Jerome (to Jervis/Scarecrow): "That's the spirit boys, think big and kinky."

A selection of soups or a selection of baddies. With the former, you're guaranteed at least one enjoyable offering while with the latter, you're possibly guaranteed maybe death. Since we last saw him, Jerome clearly had another ace in the hole as he threw his twisted smile in with both Jonathan Crane and Jervis Tetch in order to break nearly everyone and themselves out of Arkham within the first five minutes of the episode.

Out of the three, it was the Scarecrow who had the least amount to do, considering that he was largely off screen until the end but he did manage to get his fear gas and both Jervis and Jerome provided their own distractions so that Gordon, the GCPD and Bruce/Selina wouldn't get in his way and they were rather great distractions too I might add.

While last season I thought Tetch started off initially well before becoming something of an annoyance, this episode he was a bit of both. His obsession with blaming Jim for his sister's death has been played out and I really found myself bored with Tetch going on about it yet again. On the other hand, he did provide a rather strong dilemma for James when the fate of several innocent citizens and Bullock were firmly in his hands. Needless to say Jim managed to rescue them at the last minute but this did serve as a reminder that Jervis can be a credible threat in spite of his irritating wordplay at times.

With Tetch causing the biggest distraction for Gordon, it was fun to see both Bruce and Selina band together in order to take out Jerome. The latter decided to take a trip down memory lane and terrorise his uncle Zack for information, only for the latter to burn him with some soup before Bruce inadvertently came to Jerome's rescue. While Bruce was reluctant to actually kill Jerome, Selina seemed a little too quick to try and do it instead. For Batcat fans, this episode certainly delivered with the teaming up moments between Bruce and Selina, even if they didn't stop Jerome at all.

Outside of the chaos that the new Trinity were causing, Barbara also had her own mission as Tabitha managed to get her to remember her first encounter with Ras Al Ghul. Having Barbara as the leader of a new, less sexist League of Shadows is an interesting move for the show. I'm guessing though when this current plot with Arkham's mostly deadly dies down a bit is when the League and Ras might re-emerge.

- This is the second episode to be directed by Benjamin McKenzie. I'm guessing if we get a fifth season, he'll be writing another episode too.
- I'm glad that Bullock gave Gordon a hard time over the Sofia/Professor Pyg situation but was also willing to help Jim when he needed to as well.
- No Oswald, Edward, Leslie, Sofia, Butch, Lucius or Alfred this week but at least Harper got more lines. I did like her scenes with Bruce this week.
- Chronology: Not long from where The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause left off.

One Of My Three Soups might have had a few noticeable absences following the events of the previous episode, but the start of this latest Jerome arc that this time might actually put the Joker thing to bed once and for all is certainly brilliant. Great direction from McKenzie, witty one liners and brilliant character moments, this is a cracker of an episode.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Thursday, March 29, 2018

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x16: "I, Ava"


Written by Ray Utarnachitt & Daphne Miles
Directed by Dean Choe

Sara: "Ava, you're real. You're as real as I feel about you."

Three episodes ago, Rip revealed in his own not helpful way that there was something about Ava that no-one could find out. Needless to say, we were going to find it out and we did in an episode that wasted no time in making references to both Orphan Black and Attack Of The Clones in it's usual manner.

Having Ava being a clone from 2213 Vancouver was a little better than the android theory I had thought of and that was even mulled over here but the episode didn't explain why Rip specifically picked this version of Ava to head up the Time Bureau. Is she the original copy or the only clone that has a sense of awareness about her? Will this be something that is resolved in the next episodes or left for next season? It's not a big deal for now but it's hopefully something we won't wait too long to uncover either.

I did think Jes McCallan did a good job this week in portraying our Ava's realisation of her true origins and it was certainly amusing watching Sara and Ava fight the latter's clones while Gary and Ray were somewhat flailing around for good measure as well. Overall, it's an interesting enough backstory for Ava but if anything, it's probably done more to bring her and Sara closer to each other than to drive them apart, so AvaLance shippers should be pleased with this one.

Of course, it wasn't just Ava (x1000s) that took centre stage this week as well. Kuasa got something of a short shrift in the redemption stakes as the moment she stepped up to help the gang and save Nate was also the same one where Nora killed her and took the water totem in the process. I was hoping for Kuasa to be redeemed but not for it to result in death though.

However with Kuasa's unfortunate demise, the episode then ended with Amaya taking a trip back to Zambesi in order to save her grandchildren one more time. Yes, it was a reckless thing for Amaya to do and it's certainly playing into Mallus's own scheme as well in some way but I do think the episode did a good job of building towards Amaya making the choice she did at the end of this one.

As for the rest of the episode, I did enjoy seeing Zari giving Mick one hell of a lesson in totems during her fasting for Ramadan. Mick chose the wrong time to get on Zari's wick and she totally took him down a few bits. Saying that though, their later scene when they both sensed Kuasa's death was pretty poignant too and while they weren't involved in the two main stories this week, their scenes didn't feel like filler either.

- Damien literally couldn't torture Nate this week because he realised that Mallus possessing Nora was a bad idea. I guess he'll be grudgingly helping the Legends soon.
- I was going to lament about Grodd being a no show again but it looks like he's back next week to go after a certain former president.
- Wally commenting on Nate's body. Little bit of a man crush there, Wally? Does Gary also have a crush on Ava too?
- Chronology: 2213 Vancouver and 2018 Detroit. At this rate, they might as well recast Mari and be done with it.

I, Ava offered a good backstory to a character I wasn't initially fussed on but have grown to like over the course of the season and while a world full of Avas wouldn't be my idea of paradise, it did make for an engaging episode nonetheless.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Wednesday, March 28, 2018

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - Alone


Written by Tom Rob Smith
Directed by Daniel Minihan

Andrew: "It's terrible. I hope they catch him."

And so endeth the miniseries here. This has been something of an interesting show that started decent, hit some intriguing dramatic highs in the middle but somewhat petered a little bit in it's final two episodes. This finale was better than the previous episode but it also suffered from being needlessly too long for it's own good as well.

Andrew finally got the attention he wanted with Versace's murder as a manhunt for him had ensued but he also realised a little too late that it wasn't worth it either. Betrayed by his own fame hungry father, hated by the LGBT community and even forced to eat dog food at one point, the only way this could end for Andrew was in his own death and creative licencing to one side, I'm not surprised that he killed himself rather than face justice for the pain he caused so many people during his murder spree.

I think it's safe to say this series will earn Darren Criss some award love in the next couple of months and he's certainly deserving of it but there were times when I wondered if we got too much of Andrew to the series detriment. Last week's episode certainly felt unnecessary and even here, Tom Rob Smith somewhat prolonged Andrew's inevitable demise for a good portion of the episode.

If anything, it was the non Andrew scenes that were the best part. For instance, seeing Ronnie schooling the detectives on their own homophobia was particularly well done along with David Madson's father maintaining that his son was a victim of Andrew's killing spree than an accomplice as well as seeing Marilyn Miglin express anger over Andrew not being caught before allowing herself to be relieved when she learned than he was dead.

We got some needed Versace focus here too with Gianni's funeral coming into play and the harsh treatment that Antonio had to endure. Literally being snubbed at the church by the priest and even given a cold shoulder by Donatella was pretty painful to watch along with his attempted suicide. It was also somewhat irresponsible for the episode not to clarify that Antonio survived his suicide attempt. Much as I have liked the series, it's no wonder the Versace family and Antonio have been so critical of the show. A lot of the criticism has been justified in that regard.

As for the one scene with both Versace and Cunanan, echoing the opening episode - nicely played. Even though Edgar Ramirez wasn't always given as much as Darren Criss in this season, he did a bang up job in his portrayal of Versace that I'm really hoping that both him and even Cody Fern (David Madson) appear in other productions from Ryan Murphy in the immediate future.

- FX aired a trailer for Murphy's next series, Pose, due to air in the summer while also seeding some hints for Feud: Buckingham Palace (still not looking forward to that) with the Diana mentions here.
- The episode got most of the stuff in relation to Andrew being on the run but exaggerated how Marilyn viewed him and the general media coverage.
- Great use of music in the episode, especially with the opening of VOX's Vienna.
- Chronology: July 15th 1997.

Alone brings about a decent but somewhat overdrawn ending to a good series. I enjoyed this season more than the OJ Simpson one that proceeded it but I still can't help looking at the events objectively, if FX somewhat should've gone with a shorter episode run for this. It's unlikely that I'll be reviewing the Katrina season, though I do intend to watch it.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Friday, March 23, 2018

My Review of Gotham's 4x15: "The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause"


Written by Seth Boston
Directed by Nick Copus

Sofia: "James Gordon, this is where our story ends."

Except, it's more where their story was put on pause when Leslie decided to get revenge and save Jim by putting a bullet between Sofia's eyes, which landed the latter into a coma rather than six feet under. I guess Sofia will be another character we can await for the chaos that will be a rather jam packed finale.

I knew Sofia's quick succession of amassing enemies was destined to backfire on her but even I'm surprised that it happened almost this quickly, though at least the show didn't decide to drag things out. Oswald escaped and Sofia knew she was on borrowed time, so she got Zsasz and Headhunter to try and take out both the Penguin, Penn while she failed to deal with Gordon herself.

I've missed Zsasz in the last few episodes and it was nice to have him back here, snarking along the way while also failing to take out both Oswald and Arthur for good. This episode gave us some information on what Penn likes to get up to in his spare time and to be honest, it's one of those things I would've been fine not seeing at all.

As for Oswald, well he's clear of Martin's "murder" given that Edward rescued the kid and Sofia being coma bound means he's got a shot of reclaiming his underworld title before someone else usurps it from him. However the highlight of this episode wasn't so much Oswald escaping Arkham and having Sofia taken out of the picture for him but more his reunion with Nygma.

This episode finally laid their rivalry to one side as they both came through for each other. Nygma rescued Martin, busted Oswald out of Arkham and even refused to help Sofia while being tortured while Oswald put his revenge plan to one side in order to rescue his friend. While I don't think this show will ever give Nygmobblepot shippers what they truly desire, at least the two of them are back to being friends again though.

As for the rest of the episode, we got more of Leslie's dark side, considering her willingness to help Oswald against Sofia and her punishment of Samson when reclaiming the Narrows. There was also Bruce helping Selina with retrieving something from one of Ivy's former victims and there was also Butch putting the frighteners on both Barbara and Nygma while Tabitha did very little than protest a lot.

Speaking of Barbara, that shiny light from her former encounter with Ras came into play a lot this week when she kept getting headaches and saw the latter in the Sirens bar. I know next week's episode has more rogues returning but I'm really looking forward to the subplot she's going to have with Ras in among all that madness.

- I had to laugh at the joke between Oswald and Edward never wanting to see the docks again. We all know that's not going to happen for either of them.
- Nice to have a Freeze cameo in this episode along with Zsasz and Headhunter going off to get milkshakes.
- No Lucius or Alfred this week.
- Chronology: Not long from where Reunion left off.

The Sinking Ship, The Grand Applause is a pretty extravagant title but the episode in itself was rather showy in it's teams up this week. Of course Sofia's reign had to come to an end or pause but we already know that Oswald won't be long in losing his grip on the underworld when he gets it back though. As for next week, let the madness unfold.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Wednesday, March 21, 2018

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x15: "Necromancing The Stone"


Written by Grainne Godfree & Morgan Faust
Directed by April Mullen

Constantine (to Gary): "Well, tonight squire, I'm all yours."

I tried to resist the slash ship (no, I really didn't) but this episode made it nigh on impossible for that. I thought we had already struck male/male ship gold earlier in the season when we learned that Citizen Cold and The Ray were a couple but this surprising pairing between John Constantine and Gary Green over Dungeons & Dragons I did not see coming. That kiss alone also was an unexpected treat for this delightful episode.

I think Constantine is probably the first person in a while that has actually taken Gary a tiny bit seriously as he waffled on rather enthusiastically while at the same time also helping both Ava and John try and figure out how to help the rest of the Legends from a Death Totem possessed Sara while at the same time, the show went out of it's way to seed the future for our bisexual demonologist will involve a bit of time and space travelling.

If we didn't already know that Matt Ryan was going to be made a regular next season, this episode certainly told us this. There was more emphasis on the Newcastle Incident and Astra with Mallus using the latter to prey on John at one point while Sara even extended an invitation to join the Waverider. Note that John didn't exactly say no to the offer either and he'll be back for the finale along with a lot of other people too.

With Constantine in full arrogant swagger, the scenes between him and Ava were even more delightful. I know his presence slightly worries some AvaLance fans but this episode alone went out of it's way to tell them they needn't worry. In fact, despite Sara breaking up with Ava after her little trip to the dark side this week, the episode did end on a hopeful note so I wouldn't be too shocked when Sara and Ava reunite and they'll probably do that next week.

I thought this was a strong episode for Ava, character wise too. She was determined to save Sara and her scenes with John and Gary were the highlight of the episode. I'm also not surprised that it was Ava who actually got Sara back to the light despite Mallus/Nora seriously tempting Sara to the dark side as well.

As for Sara - anyone else think her Death Totem look was a mix up of Dark and Light Willow from Buffy's final two seasons?  She certainly knocked out Ray quite savagely as well as the psychological warfare on Zari, Wally and Nate as well with those visions of Behrad, Jessie and Henry. I am glad though the gang did quickly forgive her when she came back and that Amaya encouraged Mick to use the Fire Totem in order to save the day. Mick was the only logical person who could wield that particular totem considering we don't have Jax on the ship anymore. It was also nice to see him step up as the hero as well. More of that please with Mick.

- They really are having fun with Beebo as well with Gary having socks of him and John talking about doing a spell on the toy as well.
- It was nice to actually have Nora in an episode without Damien in the background. We still have to see her in action using Amaya's Totem before the latter reclaims it.
-  Wally was smart enough to try and use his powers against, like Nate should've done. I assume that Nate having steel powers also played a role in him not being able to use the Earth Totem.
- Chronology: New York 2018 for the Constantine scenes but there was some offscreen adventures with the likes of DaVinci, Laika and Einstein to name a few. Also three weeks since the events of Daddy Darhkest.

Necromancing The Stone tread quite a dark path into Sara's psyche as she put her whole team in danger but it was also one of the strongest episodes this season with some genuinely funny moments and an inspired team up of Constantine, Gary and Ava. With three episodes left, I do think it's time we see Mallus in physical form fairly soon.

Rating: 9 out of 10

Tuesday, March 20, 2018

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 4x15: "Nobody Else Is Dying"


Written by Peter Nowalk
Directed by Jet Wilkinson

Annalise (to Laurel): "You're not your parents."

I wouldn't be so sure about that, Annalise. I think Laurel has proven a lot that she's very influenced by the same family she's been desperately trying to distance herself with since the show's beginning and this episode alone, she played her role in her father's downfall along with the set up for next season as to whether or not she's harmed her mother.

Personally I think Laurel probably hasn't killed Sandrine at all (though I suspect someone else will have done) but I'm also not surprised that even her close knit friends were quick to doubt her as well. Even Jorge prior to being arrested for his multiple crimes was fearful that Laurel killed his ex-wife, which really does say a lot about how he sees his own daughter.

Then again, Laurel did come out the victor in this episode. She just justice for Wes, revenge on her parents and even got baby Christopher back as well. The scenes with Annalise and Bonnie with Christopher were especially lovely to be honest. Of course with Bonnie, something else was set up for next season.

I had to admit it was delightfully meta to see Frank talk about the good times not lasting long as soon as Gabriel Maddox (Rome Flynn) came into the mix. I'm guessing that he's meant to be Bonnie's son considering that Nate was looking at her file and if it means a bigger role for Bonnie next season, then this should be a good thing. I'm also guessing we won't wait too long to find out who Gabriel's father was though.

As for the rest of the episode, there was a lot of interesting personal bits here. I hated that Michaela got Simon deported, even if her motives weren't entirely malicious but it was still a pretty despicable thing for her to do. I also liked Asher calling her out on her actions, even if he did go on a bit over. On the other hand, at least Michaela still has Connor on her side while the bromance with Asher and Oliver continues to blossom rather nicely now that Asher bagged himself a best man gig.

- Annalise's class action case storyline was also resolved with an obvious victory and Connor's back to applying for Middleton.
- Despite being deported, I'm hoping we do see Simon again.
- Tegan will be back next season I hope. I'd like to actually see her and Annalise work together.
- Chronology: Not long since The Day Before He Died left off.

If it wasn't for the set up with both Sandrine's whereabouts and the arrival of Gabriel Maddox, then I think Nobody Else Is Dying would've served as a series finale. It finally laid to rest the ghost of Wes, brought nearly everyone back together and put Annalise on a rather good path too. I do wonder though if the next season will be it's last one though.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Friday, March 16, 2018

My Review of Gotham's 4x14: "Reunion"


Written by Peter Blake
Directed by Annabelle K. Frost

Ivy: "You always did think you were better than me."
Selina: "That's not true, I was your friend. We were friends, Ivy. You said so yourself."
Ivy: "That was a long time ago. I'm a different person now."

If ever there was a thing that Gotham has consistently gotten right in terms of comics, it would be that somewhat complicated dynamic that both Catwoman and Poison Ivy have shared with one another. We've seen them both as friends and as enemies and in simultaneous books at the same time, a bit of both.

With this arc, we've seen that come to fruition here. Selina had been keen on actually helping Ivy to begin with but when the latter decided to go down the genocidal path, that was a line Selina wasn't willing to cross. In some ways, it makes sense that Ivy's final confrontation wasn't with Bruce or Gordon but instead one of the few people who has been kinder to her than most in her short enough life.

I'm glad this episode didn't end with Ivy either killed off or getting a spell in Arkham or somewhere else but instead, we got a rather complex confrontation with herself and Selina as the latter ensured that Ivy wouldn't be able to use the remaining Lazarus water for any more plant based experiments. I liked the mulling over of their friendship and how it served as a means for the pair of them not to kill the other. Given that the title for the season finale has also been spoiled online, I'm also hoping that we're not going to have too long until Ivy shows up again.

As for Ivy's general plan, it's interesting that she went after Bullock to avenge her father's death before leaving him to take out Gordon so she could cause her own havoc at a Wayne Enterprises event, even if she failed on both accounts. Credit to the show though for this Ivy arc and making her a compelling antagonistic while at the same time not also abandoning other storylines this week. Peyton List did make a considerable improvement with her performance this week.

Ivy wasn't the only dangerous female character to cause chaos this week. Leslie's attempts of getting Sofia onside resulted in her hand being smashed and getting quickly dethroned from the Narrows as Sofia got her own revenge on her sister in law. However while Sofia might be enjoying her shot of victory now, it seems that with Gordon on the warpath and a team up between Oswald and Edward, things are going to get very bad for her sooner than later.

The Ed plot this week saw himself being deceived into helping Oswald while trying not to kill Leslie but seeing the pair reunite certainly made for a good use of Oswald's screen time but this wasn't the only reunion as both Gordon and Bullock and Bruce and Alfred patched up their differences as well with some choice moments shared between all the characters in their scenes together.

- I noticed that Ivy's hair was a lot redder this week. Would you say auburn or scarlet though? I think the former perhaps. Ivy even wore a bit more green this week as well, including nail polish.
- Liked the shout out to both Essen and Barnes this week. I'm still surprised the latter hasn't resurfaced though there's still eight episodes left for him to do so.
- No Butch/Grundy, Tabitha, Barbara, Jerome or Ras this week.
- Chronology: Not long from where A Beautiful Darkness left off.

Reunion certain delivered in it's one to one scenes - Selina/Ivy, Gordon/Bulock. Leslie/Sofia, Bruce/Alfred and Oswald/Edward while providing a decent enough (and I hope temporary) exit for Ivy at the same time. I guess with this arc out of the way, it's time for a prison break and Sofia's downfall to look forward to.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - Creator/Destroyer


Written by Tom Rob Smith & Maggie Cohn
Directed by Matt Bomer

Modesto: "You're not upset because I stole, you're upset because I stopped."

So for the penultimate episode of this series, it's case of Mommy knows best and Daddy is quite literally the worst for both Gianni and Andrew but mostly the latter's past was emphasised as Gianni's brief scenes as a child in Milan discovering his love for fashion and gaining his mother support generated the least amount of focus in favour of Andrew once again.

I know it's been the main focus of the season - the Andrew side of things but I was really hoping that with the title for this one, there would've been something of an even focus on both him and Gianni but I digress. On one hand, there's some terrific acting in this episode like there has been all season long but on the other hand, this was an episode that needed a trim.

I'm not sure we needed to see so much detail on Andrew and his family leaving Manila and coming to America as well as the focus on his father, Modesto and the role he played in Andrew's sense of entitlement. That said, a genuinely riveting performance from Jon Jon Briones as Modesto certainly did help the episode along though.

It was easy to see why Andrew went from fearing and idolising his manipulative father to loathing him when he realised that Modesto's stealing didn't leave to much in the way of actually saving money, considering how quickly Modesto had abandoned his family when he was caught out in the end.

It was also this realisation about his father that somewhat sent Andrew down on his own path of lying as well, given the whoppers he told the pharmacy manager at the end when applying for a job at Thriftys. Now that we've gotten Andrew's fairly elongated backstory out of the way, next week can actually focus on the aftermath of his most famous and final of kills and conclude the series.

- Good guest actors with both Edouard Holdener and Billy Cruz playing younger versions of both Cunanan and Versace this week.
- Again no Gianni, Donatella and Antonio in current day scenes but there's always the finale for that.
- Matt Bomer directed this episode, so it's nice to see he's still involved in the Ryan Murphy TV universe while this is the only episode co-written as well.
- Chronology: Both 1957 Milan for Gianni and 1980 and 1987 in Manila and the US for Andrew and his family alone.

Creator/Destroyer felt like a filler episode at times with too much focus on Andrew and not a desired split between both him and Gianni when it comes to origin stories. It's not a bad episode as such with some great guest performances but it certainly could've done with a shorter running time in order to convey the same message. Hopefully the finale will give the series a good conclusion.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x14: "Amazing Grace"


Written by Matthew Maala & Tyron B. Carter
Directed by David Geddes

Elvis (to the ghosts): "Come on in. All are welcome here."

Well, this was another fabulous episode. Having the King himself appear, bringing in the final totem and the death of a rat all made for one hell of a great episode. This is what I've consistently grown to love about this show. All these strange ingredients that shouldn't work but ultimately do but where do I start?

I guess the obvious place is to talk about the King himself - Elvis Presley. Guest star Luke Bilyk might not entirely look like the infamous rock and roller but I think he did a fantastic job in the role that Nate's fanboying while a tiny bit much actually worked a treat even if you had Amaya's gentle scepticism to counter the former's overt enthusiasm.

I did like that Amaya had her own connection with Elvis when he was talking about his own twin brother, Jesse (who we briefly saw as a ghost here) and his comments about objects connecting to the deceased clearly resonated with her. It was also perfect considering that the final totem was actually in Elvis's guitar as well.

Having Death be the final totem actually makes a lot of sense and this episode we saw it cause chaos by raising the dead before Elvis sang them back to existence. Also if the trailer for next week hadn't given things away, then I think we all could've guessed that Sara will end up being the one who'll have to wield that particular totem fairly soon to deal with Mallus.

As for the rat part of the episode - alas, poor Axel. I had forgotten about the little guy, so having him die here came as a bit of a shock. I love that Ray actually organised a funeral for Axel and that Mick and Sara attended it too with the former being genuinely mournful for losing another friend. Plots like this shouldn't work so well but on this show even a funeral for a rodent seems to provide some of the best moments for our main characters.

Keeping with great moments, I am loving Wally's addition to this show. This was basically his first episode as a team member and they already found a way for him to use his speedster powers and actually take the slow path in order to solve a problem (reasoning with Elvis's uncle). Anyone who was worried the guy was going to be shortchanged on this show really shouldn't be if this episode is anything to go by. Plus, his budding friendship with Zari is pretty fun to watch as well.

- I liked the music store owner talking to Elvis about Robert Johnson at the beginning of this one. Now that's another future episode possibility in the making.
- Zari feigning ignorance over Ray's chore chart was funny. Constantine also got a shout out here, which nicely sets up his return next week.
- No Ava, Gary, Rip, Damien, Nora or Kuasa this week. I was genuinely surprised that Damien and Nora alone didn't pop up to snatch the death totem.
- Chronology: 1950 Memphis for most of this episode.

Amazing Grace definitely pushed the lines of cheesiness even for this show and there were times when it really could've been too much but I think they did well getting the right heartfelt moments and pushing the main storyline along. I also think there's no doubt that Nate and Amaya will definitely be going back to Zambezi together at some point too.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Monday, March 12, 2018

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 4x14: "The Day Before He Died"


Written by Joe Fazzio
Directed by Scott Printz

Laurel: "Tell me who killed Wes?"

Um, we had the answer for that question last season but it seems that we're getting it again with Sandrine also (and not surprisingly considering the last few weeks) had some role in Wes's death when she called Jorge who then got Dominic to deal with Wes. Dramatically, the scenes played out well but it didn't leave quite the impact it was hoping for.

Probably because as I pointed out the whole thing was telegraphed from the last couple of weeks and also here during the flashbacks to Wes and Sandrine interacting with each other as the latter tried to pay Wes off so he'd dump Laurel, only for him to refuse and eh, the rest is kind of history at this point.

I did like the scenes with both Laurel and Sandrine when the latter was confronted by her daughter and those mischievous phone records but it was oddly the weakest point of an episode that fortunately had a few more things going in it's favour.

First of all, Bonnie managed to figure out that Denver stole the hard drive and has been playing the Keating 4 and Jorge against one another. Unfortunately the episode then ended with a car crash so it seems that perhaps the show has killed Bonnie off for good. Except knowing this show, it'll probably turn out to be someone else who was killed but either, it doesn't look too promising for Bonnie.

Not that Denver was the only problem for the Keating 4 this week. Simon was wake and the gang went from contemplating putting a pillow over his head to having Oliver marry him for a green card, which shows there's no in between for this lot at times. Thankfully Annalise had a slightly better (but still risky) plan with forcing Simon into agreeing into being a whistle blower. I have to admit, I actually felt sorry for Simon here.

As for the rest of the episode, I'm glad that we got some lovely scenes with Annalise and Frank and her and Isaac as well with the latter taking responsibility for his recent relapse. I'm also glad that Asher found out about Michaela and Marcus and that the show seems to be addressing her own issues with what she wants as well. Whether or not those two get back together, I'm not sure if it should happen even though I do like the pairing.

- Sandrine's comments on Laurel's need to fix men actually did tie in nicely to that argument she had with Wes before he died. Good one, show.
- I liked Michaela and Tegan's conversation in the bathroom. When this whole Denver/Jorge storyline is done, maybe she could be a future ally to Annalise.
- Wes's little shower moment was clearly a nod to a classic Dallas storyline, except Wes is still death.
- Chronology: Not long from the previous episode left off. Also eight months since Wes's death.

The Day Before He Died isn't the strongest penultimate episode we've had but it's definitely got enough going for it to be engaging though. I will be happy though to see the back of Laurel's family after next week's finale and let the ghost of Wes rest properly next season as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Saturday, March 10, 2018

My Review of Gotham's 4x13: "A Beautiful Darkness"


Written by Tze Chun
Directed by John Stephens

Ivy (to Gordon): "First I was a seed, then a sprout and now I've bloomed."

Last week gave us something of a taster of Ivy 3.0 in action and this week went full bloom with her being the main antagonist and let's just say, if you're a fan of the traditional version of the character, this episode might appeal to you a lot.

Peyton List could still do with emoting a little better but so far, she's doing a pretty decent job as Ivy opened the episode by paying poor Wayne Enterprises employee Roland a house call and murdering him in front of his family and a horrified Selina, who quickly turned on her and was forced to team up with Gordon in order to stop Ivy from causing more havoc this week.

Of course, Gordon wasn't really that effective against Ivy. Before he got to her, she had already the GCPD into her super fans, kidnapped Lucious in order to take Project M, paid Bruce a visit to poison him and oh, also came up with a way to amplify her already impressive powers. How the show plans to defeat next week should be very interesting to be honest.

I quite liked seeing Gordon and Selina working together against Ivy and I also liked the latter addressing her not very pleasant history surrounding her parents and Gordon during her face off with Jim as well. I also liked Lucious getting a bit more screen time, even if he was Ivy's love slave for most of his appearance this week. As for the Project M being Lazarus water, well, this along with a certain nightmare sequence will ensure that Ras will be back very soon as well.

Getting into the nightmare sequence - I guess we should thank Ivy for poisoning Bruce. Aside from the fact that it's clearly snapped him out of his bratty phase that was wearing thin, there's also the fact that when he wasn't seeing both Jim and Oswald in future looks along with Selina, Barbara, Bullock, Leslie and Alfred in other roles (as well as Ras slicing his face off), he also got a glimpse of his own future. I know the trailer already spoiled it but seeing those bats was still a surprise moment nonetheless.

Away from the Ivy and Bruce storylines this week, Oswald was having a rather rotten time in Arkham with Jerome going out of his way to make him his pet project and Edward being a bit too happy to gloat while also asking for help in his own way. I'm not surprised that Jerome is playing a long game of his own while having his own way in Arkham but I also think whether Oswald likes it or not, he's probably going to end up needing Jerome's help for his own escape plan too.

As for Sofia, she's enjoying the queen of the underworld role a bit too much and right now, she's got no threats to worry about. Oswald's locked away for the present, the Sirens are on her payroll and she has Gordon where she wants him over the Pyg situation. Not to mention the fact that Leslie is also being pulled into her orbit, which can't be good for either of them.

- Oswald in the clown costume and the mime act with Jerome. I'm not even going to question how things are let slide in Arkham.
- Why the heck was Bullock holding onto a rooster in Bruce's fantasy sequence? Actually come to think of it, why was Leslie dressed as Cleopatra too?
- No Tabitha or Butch/Grundy this week.
- Chronology: Six weeks since the events of Queen Takes Knight.

A Beautiful Darkness did a great job in setting up Bruce's future and while the Oswald/Jerome and Sofia subplots worked rather well, this was definitely Ivy's moment to shine and cause mayhem and she did it with aplomb. I am hoping that when her arc ends in the next episode, it won't be too long before she sprouts up again.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Thursday, March 08, 2018

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - Ascent


Written by Tom Rob Smith
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Andrew: "If they could see me now."
Norman: "Who?"
Andrew: "Everyone."

Credit given where it's due, this episode felt slightly more like an even split between Andrew and Gianni with both of them getting nearly equal amount of screen time, instead of the focus being predominantly on Andrew as it has been for the majority of the season.

Delving into the Versace aspect of things first, we saw him in Milan running his business and also arguing with Donatella on what would actually sell, fashion wise with Antonio trying to be a neutral party with the conflicting siblings for the most part.

It was nice to see both Edgar Ramirez and Penelope Cruz properly play off each other this week and I think they did a great job in the scenes where they designed that rather risque dress, only to later fall out over it when Gianni's ear cancer storyline also came to a head in this episode as well, forcing Donatella to take over the company while her brother recovered in Miami. Giving the siblings the focus they needed was something of a nice change for this episode.

Of course seeing as this series has mainly been about Andrew more than his famous and final victim, the focus also went back to his disdain at working at Thrifty and his mother buying cheap ice cream, so he decided to do a little escorting on the side, only to be told by a madame that he wasn't what they were looking for.

Giving that Andrew's biggest issue is people saying no to him, it wasn't too much of a surprise that he decided to go independent on the escorting front and with this plotline we saw him meeting and seducing Norman Blachford and Lincoln Aston (Todd Waring), the latter whom also had grown weary of being used by Andrew before he was murdered by another man.

I have to admit I was actually shocked to see a grisly murder in this episode that didn't actually involve Andrew (even if he did tell Bond to run after killing Lincoln) but the latter's violent streak did come out when he attacked his mother though and next week, it seems we're getting more from that destructive relationship as well.

- Jeff made another appearance here as did David, given that we finally got to see his first meeting with Andrew. The latter then stole his story in order to charm Norman into moving into Lincoln's house after his death.
- The episode mostly got things right - Donatella's dress, Gianni's ear cancer, the extent of Andrew and Lincoln's relationship and the latter's murder.
- The escort scene however and the ex-wife bits were somewhat exaggerated regarding Andrew.
- Chronology: 1992 for most of this episode.

A bit stronger than last week's episode, I did like that Ascent was a bit more balanced between the screen time allotted to both Andrew and Gianni this week. I also appreciated more on Gianni/Donatella this week and that bit with David Madson was still a nice highlight but it is a good thing that we're heading into the final hurtle with the series now.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Tuesday, March 06, 2018

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 3x13: "No Country For Old Dads"


Written by Keto Shimizu & James Eagan
Directed by Viet Nguyen

Damien: "I'm so going to kick my ass."

There's something rather reassuring in the knowledge that even Damien Darhk can find himself rather hard to deal with as this episode decided to treat us to two versions of the guy and play daddy/daughter mission with himself and Nora. With Ray as their occasionally cheerful and rather useful hostage. Hell we even got a scene where Ray told Damien how to tie him up before he got himself gagged and left to get himself out of his bind.

I have to admit there was something rather amusing about seeing Damien and Nora talking about dating apps and the latter giving her father hell for underestimating her at times. Even though the character has arguably been overused by now, I genuinely found myself actually enjoying Damien this week, especially when he was determined to fight his younger self in order to save Nora, who needed a moment of selflessness in order to activate Amaya's totem.

For the majority of the episode though we had Ray and Nora forced into an alliance in order to get a scientist to hand over the secret to cold fusion for Damien's maniacal plans to work and taking out the obvious fact that Brandon Routh and Courtney Ford are married in real life, the two of them worked well together. Ray's charming self even rubbed off on Nora, much to Damien's chagrin but it wouldn't be the first time though.

Even though Damien is basically a dictator in waiting, I did like that the episode explored his genuine concern for Nora and that he expressed some regret in using her as a vehicle for Mallus. Of course the moment he does something delightfully mundane for Nora as to bring her a hot chocolate, that was the same moment when Mallus decided to take an even bigger grip on Nora.

I have been wondering in the last few weeks if we're going to get some form of redemption for Nora and Kuasa and this episode seemed to push the idea a little further. With Ray seeing the potential good in Nora and confiding in Nate about it, we also had Amaya and Zari meeting one of the former's ancestors who also hinted at Kuasa also being a future ally as well, even if she seemed more than keen to torture Ray at the start of the episode.

As for the rest of the episode, Wally finally joined Team Legends and despite some tension with other members (he really put his foot in it with Amaya), Sara seemed more than happy to have him on board while Ava got a promotion following Grodd making an appearance to kill Bennett off screen. However thanks to Rip being his usual secretive self, we now know there's something up with Ava and considering the title of an upcoming episode, I think I know what it is.

- That Upswipe company Ray worked for at the start of the season made a reappearance. I did laugh at Damien swiping past Cupid too.
- Wally proved himself by swiping the fire totem that Damien was trying to get repaired this week as well.
- Don't worry, Ava, I have yet to see Hamilton too. I feel your pain.
- Chronology: 1960s Berlin for most of the episode.

No Country For Old Dads was certainly the most Damien/Nora heavy episode going but it was also rather entertaining to boot. A good episode for Ray as well and a good way to add Wally into the team. Yeah, I think I rather liked this one.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Monday, March 05, 2018

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 4x13: "Lahey V. Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania" (& Scandal's 7x12: "Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself")


Written by Morenike Balogun & Sarah L. Thompson
Directed by Zetna Fuentes

Olivia: "If you lose this case, it will set criminal justice reform back decades."
Annalise: "You don't think I don't know that?"
Olivia: "Then think about accepting some help. That's all I'm suggesting."

Okay, on a scale of things that were always inevitable at ABC, a crossover special with Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating happening was always going to happen. I think the fact that it took until Scandal's final season and How To Get Away With Murder being truly established perhaps was the best time to do this.

With the former show, I haven't been watching as avidly as I had done in previous seasons but I made an effort to watch both episodes and it seems that Mellie Grant is President and both her and Olivia had a rather public falling out that saw the latter resigned from being the President's fixer while Olivia's former Gladiators (Quinn mainly) seem a little too hell bent on sabotaging her, only for them to have a bit of a change of heart towards the end of the first half of this story.

The nuts and bolts of the first half involves both Annalise and Michaela coming to Washington DC in order to get Olivia on board to help overturn the Supreme Court with the face cases surrounding Nate's father. It would've been a little predictable for Annalise and Olivia to clash and that's exactly what happened throughout the crossover in various parts.

To be honest, I liked that there was some tension with the two of them. Aside from it being a great way for each of them to deconstruct the other before realising they actually work pretty well together. To say both Viola Davis and Kerry Washington play off each other brilliantly would be underselling but damn it, they do and every Annalise and Olivia scene is marvelous to watch over and over again.

As for the face cases itself, there were a few predictable bumps along the way, which was good for putting both Michaela and Marcus to use and we had both Olivia helping an initially crumbling Annalise along with the latter delivering an impassioned speech that certainly helped to postpone things for a bit. While the face cases was the thing to engineer this crossover, there were plenty of other things to keep things ticking along rather nicely.

For Olivia, there was an element of using her team up with Annalise to curry herself some favour and rebuild herself which several characters seemed more than happy to point out while Annalise also had to deal with her ailing mother appearing on the scene, news about Isaac taking an overdose and the episode ending with Simon waking up, which was definitely not the news that Annalise was expecting to hear at the last minute.

- Liza Weil was previously Amanda on Scandal, so it's a bit disappointing that Bonnie didn't get to interact with Olivia.
- Michaela and Marcus had sex with each other and Connor/Laurel/Oliver realised it quickly. I'm also glad that Frank told Laurel about her mother's connection to Wes though.
- Pretty clever of ABC to get an actual re-enactment of the TGIT promo with Olivia and Annalise actually having some wine and popcorn in one scene.
- Chronology: Not long since Ask Him About Stella.

Crossover wise, both Allow Me To Reintroduce Myself and Lahey V. Commonwealth Of Pennsylvania did an excellent job of having both Olivia Pope and Annalise Keating's worlds come together in a rather solid way. I don't know if we need a repeat of this next season but I certainly wouldn't object to one either way though.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Saturday, March 03, 2018

My Review of Gotham's 4x12: "Pieces Of A Broken Mirror"


Written by Danny Cannon
Directed by Hanelle M. Culpepper

Ivy (to Selina): "Let's make Gotham our bitch!"

It's been three months since the last episode had Sofia Falcone become the crime boss of the city and Oswald Cobblepot got shipped back to Arkham where he soon interacted with Jerome Valeska. I bring these two bits up because neither of them are surprisingly addressed in this mid-season premiere episode.

Instead the focus goes towards Edward Nygma and his Riddler persona fighting the other. Ed seems content with being Leslie's right hand man (while holding a torch for her) while the Riddler wants her out of the way and hires the Toymaker in order to get the job done, so that he can take over the Narrows and whatnot.

Of course, Ed is unaware that his other side tried to take out Leslie until the Toymaker confessed and was promptly killed by a "shoot first, maybe ask questions later" Gordon for not so good measure. Of course before the death, there was the delightful commentary on how one person can be both a toy maker and an assassin for hire, because after all, this is Gotham.

It's been good that with the exception of a nightmare sequence earlier in the season that Gordon and Leslie's interactions have been pretty minimal. When they interacted here, there was a bit of tension but not a lot as Leslie wasn't going to let something like a hit on her life deter her from wanting to make the Narrows into a better place for everyone involved. Plot wise, this seems to working in her favour this season. As for Gordon, even a bar tending Bullock didn't want to get sucked into his secrets and lies by the end of this episode.

Outside of the assassination plot though, this episode did however have a much welcomed return for Ivy Pepper. In her third incarnation, Peyton List might not be a ginger as her previous two counterparts but this is certainly an Ivy that's closer to the comics as we got to see her poison at least one person, nearly kill Selina before trying to get her on board to take over the city while also using her charms to get two men fighting over during the relaunch of The Sirens club.

While I'm a bit annoyed the show unfairly axed Maggie Geha, I am hoping that this will finally mean Ivy will get something interesting to really do on the show. I can see Selina being conflicted with helping her friend and also staying loyal to both Barbara and Tabitha and given that Ivy has her sights on Bruce next week (whose bad boy antics are amusing but in danger of wearing thin), it seems these two might become enemies rather quickly as well.

As for the rest of the episode, Alfred got something of a cliche but decent enough subplot involving a woman who was murdered by her abusive boyfriend, who then framed Alfred for the killing. I was relieved to see this storyline quickly dealt with and it was a nice way to reintroduce Bullock into the mix as well.

- It seems that the show is maintaining the A Dark Knight subtitle for the remainder of this season.
- I loved the absolute cheesiness of that Sirens television ad. Ivy hates Tabitha, the latter who also realised that her attempts to get Butch to remember actually worked.
- No Oswald, Jerome or Sofia this week.
- Chronology: Not so long since the events of Queen Takes Knight.

For a mid-season premiere, this was a lot of fun. Pieces Of A Broken Mirror set up a good arc with Ivy, which I can't wait to see happen and the Narrows main plot worked well in the episode itself. However, it's Oswald and Jerome that I think we're all looking forward to seeing again next week.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Thursday, March 01, 2018

My Review of The Assassination Of Gianni Versace: American Crime Story - Descent


Written by Tom Rob Smith
Directed by Gwyneth Horder-Payton

Andrew: "What else you got?"
Gianni: "I'm loved."

We're definitely at the point in the show where the pretense has been dropped about Versace himself being the main character as for the fourth episode in a row, it's more of a look into Andrew's descent in madness and murder as he faced a birthday party from hell and rejection from two lovers for the price of one.

First of all, this episode opened with Andrew having a friends with benefits style relationship with the much older and influential, Norman Blachford (Michael Nouri) but unlike some of the older guys that fell prey to Andrew's orbit, it seems that Norman wasn't entirely daft enough to believe Andrew told him.

I did like that Norman actually did his own research into Andrew and despite a foolish willingness to let some of the latter's lies slide, Norman was also willing to cut Andrew loose when the fantasist got too demanding for him. One of the end scenes where Norman rejected a strung out Andrew did more to generate less sympathy for Cunanan than before.

Of course it wasn't just Norman that rejected Andrew in this one. Because things are playing backwards yet again, both Jeff and David were also around to witness Andrew's erratic behaviour. Jeff rightly decided to cut Andrew loose when the latter tried to maliciously out him to his family and while David indulged Andrew's expense date, he halted the breaks on any sort of potential relationship when the latter's inability to stop lying became too much.

This episode certainly lived up to it's title as even later on in the episode, Andrew's non stop lying was starting to weird out the cute barman while his descent into drug abuse saw him harassing Norman before the latter rejected him again. Then there was the brief sequence with Versace, while not real was still rather disturbing nonetheless.

The last few moments of the episode then focused on Andrew reconnecting with his mother as she indulged some of his whim and believed his success story lies to boot. It was a good way of ending another strong episode, although it was also blatantly taking a bit more creative licencing as this series has been doing from the start.

- Having Andrew in a birthday picture with three of his victims (David, Jeff and Lee Miglin) as well as Norman was pretty unsettling and not actually accurate.
- Most things here such as Andrew having a master bedroom and working in a thrift store pharmacy were actually true though.
- Another episode where both Donatella and Antonio sat out.
- Chronology: 1996, mostly LA.

Descent isn't quite as impressive as the previous two episodes but it's still a rather engaging episode with some good direction as Andrew's descent into madness is keenly felt here. It's the characters who see through his lies that are compelling me the most now, even if you fear for some of them.

Rating: 7 out of 10