My Review of Hollywood's: "Jump"

Written by Ryan Murphy & Ian Brennan
Directed by Michael Uppendahl

Avis (to Dick/Ellen/Lon): "We're making Meg. Now everyone go home before I change my mind."

It really didn't take a lot to get Avis to change her mind but she did it and now Peg has become Meg, Camille has the part and drama certainly won't be far behind her casting for the title part either, This felt like the calm before the storm.

In the episode alone, Camille went from being congratulated by Hattie McDaniel (Queen Latifah) herself to some racist asshole making an abusive call to her as well. At least the studio are showing their support for Camille though the problems go further than racists.

Jack's own male gigolo past nearly threatened everything until Henry pulled some mafia connections to silence the reporter who had the dirt on Jack and Avis while also bagging himself a producer role above Dick's much to the latter's annoyance.

Henry might have his resources but he continued to be abhorrent to Rock this week, diminishing his happiness with getting a part in the movie. I know some comeuppance will happen to Henry but I'd like it now to be honest. On the other hand, at least Rock had some lovely scenes with Archie and Jack.

Speaking of Jack, when his reputation wasn't at threat, he found out that Henrietta was sleeping with Erwin and the twins were not. This felt like a cop out way to write Henrietta out of the series but at the same time, at least Jack was able to move in with Archie and Rock at the end of this one.

As for the older characters this week, Avis dared to make big strides in Tinsel Town, even coming up with a suitable role for Jeanne Crandall (a Lee Miller biopic) while encouraging Ellen to declare her feelings for Dick. That last bit didn't work out so well as Dick then met a handsome stranger at an underground gay bar. I hope that doesn't go the way I think it will for Dick.

- We got to see both Camille and Jack pose for George Hurrel (Aidan Bristow). Jack even posed nude with ease as well.
- Were Hattie McDaniel and Tallulah Bankhead romantically involved? Well, they were here. Ann May Wong also got a part in Meg as an alcoholic Broadway actress named Caroline and Claire as the title character's best friend, Sarah. Rock also went from gas station assistant to barman thanks to Dick's notes on the script.
- Standout music: Ethel Merman's There's No Business  Like Show Business  and Russ Morgan's You're Nobody Til Somebody Loves You.
Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Jump certainly didn't hold back with the lengths some of the characters went to this week and it certainly didn't hold back in reminding of the risks of the movie that Meg  would be. It certainly did great for the older cast this week too with LuPone, Mantello, Taylor, Sorvino and Latifah all giving some very memorable moments throughout.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x09: "Bachelorette"

Written by Sarah Peters

Directed by Christina Sotta

Ivy: "You know me better than anyone."

Harley: "You're easy to celebrate."

Ivy: "You're fun to celebrate with."

Oh this show, lol. You just know we're going to get a romance with Harley and Ivy but at the same time, the writers are going to probably wait until the finale to properly go there. This episode did take a step forward but also one backwards. I guess what happens on Themyscira stays on Themyscira for now at least.

Bringing Ivy's bachelorette party to Paradise Island, which in Wonder Woman's absence has now become a holiday resort courtesy of Eris and Lex Luthor having Hippolyta under mind control did raise some eyebrows until it was later revealed that Harley also wanted to liberate the island to Ivy's approval.

I have to admit, I had genuinely forgotten about Lex but Eris was a fun baddie and it was nice to see the motley crew of Harley, Ivy, Catwoman (still not sold on this take), Nora Fries and a random named Jennifer get drunk and take out Eris with aplomb. Of course between partying and liberating, Harley and Ivy also did the deed a few times here.

Of course Ivy did reject Harley and chose to continue on her quest to marry Kite Man, whose own bachelor party was a more quiet affair. I did get the impression during his conversation with King Shark that he too was questioning if Ivy wanted to marry him.

Speaking of King Shark, his story had literal rip off moments from both The Little Mermaid and Aquaman as he got summoned back home to an arranged marriage with Tabitha, who he clearly doesn't love. As a B plot though, it was enjoyable enough and came with a musical number about pooping in the sea.

- Even out of her trance, Hippolyta didn't seem that broken up about her daughter being gone.

- Kite Man, Clayface and Frank were good enough not to finish the puzzle until King Shark returned.

- Ares briefly popped up as a male stripper in this episode.

- Chronology: Not long since the last episode.

Bachelorette had fun with it's main plot, utilised it's moan plot well but I think I would've added Batgirl to the actual lineup and another DC female character instead of Nora and Jennifer. Other than that, this was plenty of fun.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 5x13: "The One Where We're Trapped On TV"

Written by Grainne Godfree & James Eagan
Directed by Marc Guggenheim

Mona (re the Legends): "They're free."
Charlie: "Which means I can't help them anymore."

The end of last week saw Charlie reluctantly throwing her lot in with her sisters in order to keep the Legends safe and this week, things have gone a bit 1984 with the added bonus of some throwbacks to show that shows that are well timed.

Charlie certainly took the unorthodox method of stopping Lachesis and Atropos  and looking at the shows in question, she certainly went for obvious choices here, so let's look at them then. Which TV shows did Charlie send her friends to?

For Zari, Nate and Behrad (yup, he came back an episode earlier than expected), well that trio got to be Ultimate Buds and between missing kisses, freak outs over mush and the boss coming to dinner trope, Zari 1.0 took hold of 2.0's body and was instrumental of moving the plot forward and helping to dismantle the TV nightmare they were living.

Tala Ashe excellently brought her A game once again as we saw her play both versions of Zari with aplomb and given that this episode saw Charlie make it so that both  Zaris now exist, I have a feeling the finale will have to make a choice  as to which one stays on the Waverider next season. Ideally both should merge together really.

Keeping with the TV spoofs we then had Constantine, Astra and Natalie in Highcastle Abbey where Astra was faced with the dilemma of living an illusion or letting go while I'm fairly certain the show made Constantine's magic secret also an  allegory for his bisexuality as well this week. Either way, I think it's safe to assume that Astra will be letting go of her desire to bring her mother back.

Last but not least was Sara, Ava and Mick on Star Trip. I'll admit it's the spoof that I didn't enjoy as much as much even if both Sara and Ava really leaned into their respective impressions of William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy quite a bit. It was fun to see Mick loving his long hair as the Khan of the piece before all three of them followed suit with the rest to defy the Fates.

Keeping with the theme of defiance, this episode worked as a low key return for Mona as well as she quickly teamed up with Gary to try and save the Legends as Charlie tried to protect them. This episode used characters pretty well but I'm beginning to think that we're nearing the end of Charlie's time on the show now.

- The title sequence got changed to feature only Charlie, Lachesis and Atropos. Gideon was also missing from this episode.
- Nice way of slotting Lita and Ally in this episode watching Mick on telly while Nate auditioned for a certain former CW show that Zari thought was "dumb".
- Not sure ITV will be impressed that their most successful drama was referred to as a BBC show. Oh and we had Mr Parker back for a musical sequence that was all about repressing things.
- Chronology: A while since the events of the previous episode.

Divisive as he may be, I'll admit that Marc Guggenheim did a great job with The One Where We're Trapped On TV.  The  TV spoofs worked well, the gang's back together for now but Sara's still  blind, the Fates are a threat and I think we'll be losing some members next week.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Hollywood's: "(Screen) Tests"

Written by Ian Brennan & Janet Mock & Ryan Murphy
Directed by Janet Mock

Avis (re Claire): "I am not going to take that risk when we have a perfectly fine alternative who is going to become so goddamn unbearable, you have no idea."

The thing is - Claire could definitely play the role of Peg but she sabotaged her own screen test out of guilt but still got the part because Avis didn't want to rock the boat with casting Camille, who gave the better audition. Essentially that was the crux of this episode but as the last scene seemed to indicate, Avis will most likely have a change of heart.

While subtlety hasn't been this show's thing when coming to having conversations about race in Tinsel Town, this episode seemed more determined to drive that point home some more. We had Camille encouraged but also the odds set against her while Archie himself also suffered a setback  as well.

I wasn't surprised that Ace wanted Archie's name removed from the script and while Dick could have fought a bit harder for Archie, I do like that both him and Ellen fought for Camille here. I don't doubt Archie will gain the upper hand sooner than later though but I enjoyed the scenes he shared with Jack, Raymond and Camille here.

Speaking of Jack, he seemed tempted by Claire but chose not to get closer to her. He put in a far better screen test than Rock and got the boyfriend role fairly and in spite of Henry's attempts to resort to blackmail to give Rock the upper hand with Avis. I like that the latter didn't allow Henry to get the better of her.

However the scenes with Eleanor Roosevelt (Harriet Sansom Harris) definitely felt like the point of Camille deserving the role more than Claire did feel a bit much at times but I enjoyed the performance and I also thought Avis showing kindness to Jeanne after learning of Ace's affair with her was an interesting plot twist. Nice to see Avis can acknowledge her own hypocrisy too.

As for Rock, well we didn't get as much here with him as previous episodes or salt any scenes with him and Archie but his moments were good. His bad screen test with Jeanne was amusing enough but again I do want to see him get away from Henry before this miniseries concludes.

- Ernie had dreams of his own and nearly got an acting gig with Vivien Leigh. He seemed to have mixed emotions about Jack leaving the business.
- Standout music: The Ink Spots Slap That Bass, Johnny Mercer's  Personality and Glenn Miller's King Porter Stomp.
- This episode was also co-written and directed by Janet Mock, who has worked on both Pose and The Politician.
- Chronology: Not long from the previous episode's ending.

(Screen) Tests went hard with it's central message this week, more so than it's previous episodes and while it had some great moments, it was the weakest part of the miniseries so far. Still though, the screen tests were the best part with this episode.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x08: "Inner (Para) Demons"

Written by Tom Hyndman
Directed by Tom Derosier

Poison Ivy (to Harley): "What's the endgame? What do you really want?"

At this point, Ivy, it seems what Harley really wants would be you. I get the impression had this show been made a few years ago, the roles would've been reversed and it would've been Ivy pining over Harley and going to extremes to deny her growing feelings for her best friend.

It's actually better on the shows part that it's Harley falling deep in love and this episode, she did everything in her power to deal with that. I mean she played off the kiss she shared with Ivy from last week and even kissed Dr Psycho and Batgirl so she didn't have to deal with her feelings.

On top of that when Batgirl also warned Harley about Gordon coming for her, Harley decided to take a trip to Apokolips, woo Darkseid, beat the crap out Granny Goodness with some help and get herself an army of Parademons to take out Gordon, once and for all.

Harley wanted to badly prove how much of a supervillain she was capable of being with only Dr Psycho encouraging her dark side (and you know, that guy too). It was also Psycho who then quit the team when Harley relinquished her hold over the Parademons and gave Gordon his victory and all because Ivy talked her around.

We might have to wait just a bit longer for Harley and Ivy to actually get together but the show definitely intends to go there. Sure this week we had a subplot of Ivy sticking up for Kite Man when his parents were horrible but I still don't see the pair of them heading for wedded bliss though. Harley wont be able to keep her feelings for Ivy to herself for much longer.

- Kite Man's father has ice powers and his mother can levitate. I really hope the show doesn't vilify him in order to give Harley and Ivy a happy ending.
- We got Mr Miracle as an escape artist and it looks like Harley might have killed him.
- While Psycho's misogyny was more rampant here, at least Clayface and King Shark had Harlet's back.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Inner (Para) Demons certainly had a lot of fun with  bringing characters from Apokolips into the.mix while showing it's commitment to the Harley/Ivy ship. Next week's bachelorette party should really push things even further on that note.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 5x12: "I Am Legends"

Written by Ray Utarnarchitt & Leah Pouillot & Emily Cheever
Directed by Andrew Kasch

Charlie (to Lachesis/Atropos): "I'm done running. Now let's get to work."

Holy hell, did Charlie just throw the Legends under a zombie filled pub for her sisters? Are the Legends (plus Gary and Astra) actually dead? Will Gary 2's IBS be a bigger consternation for Atropos to deal with next week? So many questions but not really here.

I don't believe for a second that Charlie has really decided to join up with the very sisters she's been running from for a long while and the trailer and promo pics for next week have shown that the Legends aren't dead but they might wish they were considering whats going to happen to them next.

This week Astra handed the Waverider over to Atropos and Lachesis while the Legends themselves got stuck in an England riddled with zombies while trying to get to an old Time Bureau safe house. Along the way, their new found immortality got tested and the inevitable happened between Zari and Constantine for good measure.

I'd like to point out that while I'm not a fan of the pairing as such, I won't deny there's good chemistry between Matt Ryan and Tala Ashe but the writing for this pairing which did result in an offscreen shag in the middle of a zombie plague has been very forced in parts. I'm kind of hoping this episode sort of resolved that tension but I get the feeling there's more to come.

Speaking of tension, being immortal for a day rendered Sara of her powers but not really. In fact she knew everyone was gonna die and was grooming Ava to co-captain here. It was also interesting that Sara was the first to die when the zombies actually got into the warehouse. It's up to Charlie now to save everyone from her sisters.

Of course she would have had help had Atropos not killed both Astra and Gary. Annoying as the latter has been this season, I did like his teaming up with an imaginary Gideon and he even managed to actually Astra to change her mind again before they were both killed. Now this version of Gary the show could desperately do with a lot more.

- Some really bad stereotypical British accents this week during the UK scenes. I did like the Shaun Of The Dead vibe though.
- Amy Pemberton made her fourth onscreen appearances as Gideon and she seemed to be donning an Audrey Hepburn look in Gary's imagination.
- Astra's hatred for prunes. Yeah, I would have made that as a demand too. I almost thought we were going to get an appearance from Chas Chandler here but alas we didn't.
- Chronology: From where Freaks And Greeks left off.

I Am Legends made decent use of its zombie theme, some nice character moments and Gary actually being useful for the first time in a while. Still though the pacing wasn't as great as the previous episode but other than that, let's see how much Fate will be changed in the last two episodes.

Rating: 7 out of 10

HBO Max To Stream Zack Snyder's Justice League In 2021

And just when you thought news concerning DC live action couldn't get any wilder than Ruby Rose's departure from Batwoman, this just happened.

On Wednesday morning/afternoon/evening, depending on your own timezone, Zack Snyder hosted a watchalong party for fans for Man Of Steel. Joining him at this party was his wife Deborah and unexpected guest, Henry Cavill and by the time, the movie had finished, the announcement that had been hinted at for a while was announced.

HBO Max will premiere Zack Snyder's Justice League on their service but it will be in 2021. Snyder will also get somewhere between 15 to 30 million to finish up editing, VFX and shoot additional scenes /dialogue. However the rumours also seem to be that this will either be a four hour movie or a potential six part miniseries. Personally I think the latter might be the better option here but either way after years of splintering fandom division, we'll finally get to see if Snyder's intended version will be better than the theatrical version Joss Whedon helmed and that was released to a largely mixed reception back in 2017.

Releasing this cut is definitely an interesting move on  HBO Max's part. Could this impact the DCEU going forward if the cut is both a critical and commercial success? I'm not sure to be honest but it certainly will give weight to Henry Cavill getting to continue on as Superman and I do get the feeling that in spite of the upcoming CW series, Superman And Lois we might just have another big screen adventure with the Last Son of Krypton sooner than expected. This upcoming release also means that all sides of DC fandom can and should be able to move forward and embrace the future ahead.

Snyder Cut Announcement: https://variety.com/2020/film/news/zack-snyder-release-the-snyder-cut-justice-league-hbo-m

So what are your thoughts on the upcoming Zack Snyder's Justice League? Should it be a movie or miniseries? What are you looking forward to the most about it?

Batwoman - Ruby Rose Departs, Title Role To Be Recast For Season 2

I genuinely did not see this coming and even now, writing this blog, I still can't actually believe it either.

Yesterday it was revealed that Batwoman star Ruby Rose would exit the title role after one season with the CW announcing that the role will be recast with another LGBTQ actor for it's second season.

Since the announcement there has been plenty of speculation as to what happened behind the scenes and while it might be a while before we get a proper answer, this is really shocking news. I know when Ruby was cast as Kate Kane/Batwoman back in 2018, her casting was divisive but after a ropy start, she did seem to be growing into the role, so it's a shame to be losing her after one whole season.

Whoever succeeds Ruby Rose in the title role will have an uphill struggle on their hands and it'll be interesting to see if the show can survive a major recast like this.

Ruby's departure also comes just as the first season wrapped airing on the CW (currently airing on E4 for UK viewers) and also when the show finally debuted a version of Bruce Wayne/Batman as played by Warren Christie. The plot twist here being that it's actually Tommy Elliott/Hush (as played by Gabriel Mann) posing as Kate's more infamous cousin. Warren Christie previously has appeared in the CW DC universe as he played a minor character during the first season of  Arrow as well.

The timing of this exit being announced also came after the CW revealed that all of it's shows were returning in 2021 with a planned crossover event between Batwoman and the upcoming  Superman And Lois also planned. It's really going to be interesting to see how this will play out now, though with a later start than usual, I'm sure the CW will cover their bases here. Still though, of all the actors to leave Batwoman, never did I expect it would be the lead actor themselves.

Announcement: https://deadline.com/2020/05/ruby-rose-exits-batwoman-dc-the-cw-series-to-recast-iconic-lead-role-sea

Batwoman will film it's second season later in the year for a January 2021 launch on the CW. Who do you think be cast in the title role?

My Review of Hollywood's: "Outlaws"

Written by Ryan Murphy & Ian Brennan
Directed by Michael Uppendahl

Dick (to Rock): "I've been pretending to be someone else, just like you're pretending now.  You play the part that they've written for you and then suddenly, suddenly it's too late. You're lost and the person you were. The person that you wanted to be is just swept far out to sea and you're standing on the shore. You're watching the person go under and there's nothing you can do about it, it's just too late. And you hate yourself because you're the one responsible for letting it happen."

Well, this one took one hell of a powerful turn. Going by the speech I just quoted to open this review, it won't be a shock that the performance of the episode definitely went to Joe Mantello because that speech a drunk and regretful Dick gave Rock was the highlight of the episode. Jake Picking also was a highlight, bringing an endearing vulnerability to Rock here as well.

Given how reprehensible  we've seen Henry in his treatment of Rock and even towards his brief encounter with Jack, we needed to see Dick be a contrast. He could've taken advantage of Rock but chose not to and gave him some sound advice. While Rock took that advice to heart with Archie, it still didn't stop Henry from getting his claws into Rock that much further.

This episode did however between Henry's erratic and exploitative nature try to humanise him with a story about a former lover that might give insight into his nihilism but it was also depressing to see Rock stuck in Henry's debt even as he had made progress with Archie and had been moved by Dick not taking advantage of him.

Keeping with the theme of  the episode, this one seemed to be an epiphany for Jack. He broke down with Henry over his own mistreatment of his wife and vowed to the latter to be better. Somehow I don't think Jack will keep that promise as his admission of not loving his wife seemed rather damning with Claire witnessing the entire exchange between Jack and Henry this week.

While Claire was determined to get closer to Jack and bag the lead for Peg we also had Raymond take some script advice from Camille who also wanted the lead role, albeit with a different name and backstory in mind. I did find the moment where Raymond demanded his girlfriend get a screen test a tad cheesy but it certainly moved both Ellen and Dick to agree to his terms nonetheless.

As for the rest of the episode - there was a debauched party that had the likes of Vivien Leigh (Katie McGuinness), Tallulah Bankhead (Paget Brewster) and Noel Coward (Billy Boyd) in attendance as well as a delightfully bitchy exchange between Avis and Ellen and of course Raymond being versed in underground queer culture between the scenes with Jack and Rock this week. Not to mention that Claire turned out to be Avis and Ace's daughter and neither had any faith in her quest to become a star.

- We got treated to some of Archie's cooking as well as some information on Roy's childhood and Ernie hooking up with Vivien.
- Billy Haines, Lana Turner and Joan Crawford were name dropped here. If only this show could do a crossover with Feud.
- Standout music:  The Ink Spots/Ella Fitzgerald's I'm  Beginning To See The Light, Jo Stafford's Sometimes I'm Happy and Sandy Williams  Afterhours On Dream Street.
- Chronology:  Not  long from the previous episode.

Outlaws certainly ramped up things this week for our characters, especially with Jack and Rock both going through similar situations in their quest to get the leading man part for Raymond's film. With four episodes left, this one definitely stood out the most but I don't doubt the remaining episodes will too.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x07: " There's No Place To Go But Down"

Written by Adam Stein
Directed by Colin Heck

Bane (to Harley/Ivy): "You cannot run from your problems, Harley. Hate weighs you down, only love sets us free."

Well, I don't think anyone will be forgetting this one anytime sooner. Think The Dark Knight Rises meets later seasons of Orange Is The New Black and you have the perfect summary for this episode in a nutshell.

Last time we saw them, both Harley and Ivy were caught by Two Face and things opened with the ladies on trial with Bane as their judge. Needless to say, it didn't go in their favour as they got sent to the pits of Pena Dura with Bane as their warden.

In their new environment, both Harley and Ivy were determined to escape and having tolerated a therapy session, Ivy used her issues of the past as her vehicle for her act in a prison talent show, which got her some respect among the fellow inmates. Meanwhile Harley bashed up a female version of Bane and George Lopez made a sweeping appearance.

When one escape option was lost to them, the ladies came up with another as an old fashioned prison riot became the answer to their prayers and Bane made some on point comments about love setting a person free. Harley took that advice literally as twice she put Ivy's safety over her own while Ivy returned the favour and saved her twice.

Then there was that kiss. I knew this season was going to deliver for shippers and this episode did not disappoint here. The kiss between Harley and Ivy made sense, it felt the right place to do it and it certainly pleased a lot of fans. Come on, DC, just embrace the pair already.

As for the rest of the episode, the B plot with Jim Gordon versus Two Face was done well. He finally got his shit together, took the reveal of Barbara being Batgirl better than expected and managed Yo kick the crap out of Two Face for good measure, Slowly it seems like the bad guys are losing their grip of Gotham even if Batman still hasn't resumed fighting for the city yet.

- ManBat was Harley and Ivy's lawyer this week while Zsasz, Professor Pyg and Kikker Croc were also fellow prisoners.
- I did laugh at the recovery montage Gordon had to speed things up so he could actually take on Two Face and win.
- Absences from the rest of the gang this week but looks like they'll be back next week along with some otherworldly threats.
- Chronology: From where the last episode left off.

There's No Place To Go But Down has just become the best episode of the entire series so far. I genuinely am pleased the show will be going there with Harley and Ivy and going into the second half of the season, things are definitely heating up nicely.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 5x11: "Freaks And Greeks"

Written by Matthew Maala & Ubah Mohamed
Directed by Nico Sachse

Sara (to the girls): "Welcome to the sisterhood."

After last week's bottle episode with a demon dog, this week decided to have fun with college campuses, mainly through the prism of fraternity and sorority as the Legends need the cup of Dionysus in order to control the Loom of Fate.

With that particular cup being such a hot commodity for the team this week, it also meant the chance to introduce Dionysus himself or Dion (Drew Tanner) as he likes to go by these days. Charlie's charm offense initially seemed to get him on side before Astra's inability to be a team player scuppered things and the girls had to come up with an alternative option.

This week saw the ladies with a few added members form the Delta Chi Sigma sorority and while the episode definitely played heavy into the theme of sisterhood, it was also a great way for Astra to not vent her grievances with the Legends but also to learn working with them as both her and Charlie came up with a scheme to break Dion's influence.

As a guest obstacle (because he really wasn't much of an antagonist here), I quite liked Dion even if Nate's borderline homoerotic hero worshipping of him did get a bit over kill at times. He was a fun enough character, had a fun dynamic with Charlie and when Sara inevitably beat him at beer pong, he took the defeat graciously enough.

So as the episode ended, all the Legends minus Zari are now seemingly immortal and just as Astra found her place on the team, she's going to have to betray them because she's also in Lachesis's debt. Oh dear but also expected. Lachesis didn't hold back on her anger over Astra siding with the Legends over her and Atropos.

Keeping with the college theme, Lita has gone from being ashamed of Mick to actually accepting quite well and even defended him against some snobs. The last few episodes have done a great job with her character and not only were her scenes with Mick and Nate great but I liked that she had a role in the main plot too.

- The more I think about it, the less keen I am on a Zari/Constantine pairing. Chemistry aside, it still feels a bit forced. Zari not drinking from the cup puts her at a disadvantage no doubt.
- The show is really having fun with Sara's powers but I still think they'll be gone by the finale.
-  Anyone else love how open Astra, Charlie and Dion were to complete strangers about themselves?
- Chronology: 2020 Hudson University because where else would a hedonistic party boy Greek God hide out?

Freaks And Greeks was a step up from last week and a lot of fun to boot. Dion definitely should make another appearance next season, both Astra and Lita are working well with the Legends abd we're moving the Looms plot along for good measure.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Hollywood's: "Hooray For Hollywood, Part 2"

Written by Ryan Murphy & Ian Brennan
Directed by Daniel Minahan

Raymond (to Archie): "I'm gonna change the way they make movies in this town. I'm gonna make sure that people like us aren't on the outside looking in anymore."

Getting into the second part of this double bill pilot episode, we have more new players added into the mix while everyone here seems to be experiencing some mixed fortunes as they continue on their quest to crack Tinseltown.

This episode introduced half-Asian Raymond Ainsley (Darren Criss) who made his debut by trying to coax Anna May Wong (Michelle Krusiec) out of retirement with the promise of a leading role in a passion project named Angel Of Shanghai. However despite Raymond's sincere intentions, things didn't go as to plan and Anna was left somewhat despondent as this episode lamented on Hollywood's poor treatment of her.

Raymond was instantly likeable from the off here as he compromised with studio head Dick Samuels (Joe Mantello) and ended up signing up to do Archie's Peg while Jack also tried to schmooze for the role of the love interest in the movie. There's a lovely if somewhat cheesily written conversation midway this episode between Raymond and Archie but I respect what it's trying to do here.

As for Archie, he's managed to get his script off the ground and he seems hesitant to define his relationship with Roy just yet. I know a lot of creative licencing has been taken with the Archie/Roy story but again, the chemistry with Jeremy Pope and Jake Picking really elevates the scenes with the two of them.

As for Roy, well he also got something of a break and like Jack, it came at a casting couch price when sleazy agent Henry Willson (Jim Parsons) not only decided that Roy needed to go by the name Rock Hudson in order to be a star but also that poor Roy had to let Henry blow him as well. I do wonder if this miniseries is overplaying Rock's naivety at times but at the same time, he's also emerging as my favourite character in the series so far.

Meanwhile getting back to new characters, we also met Raymond's girlfriend, Camille Washington (Laura Harrier), also keen to make her mark and facing prejudices herself as well as the spoiled would be starlet Claire Wood (Samara Weaving), who didn't waste much time in making an impression on Jack either.

Speaking of Jack, the cliff hanger from the first part was quickly resolved with Ernie bailing him out so the focus was in in getting a screen time leading to Ellen Kincaid (Holland Taylor) giving him a contract while also dealing with his wife's wrath and of course, Avis, who went down a bit for the way she dismissed Archie. Jack's parts were the weaker elements of this episode but watchable enough.

- We got the opening credits, which are stunning and list all the regulars but only Jack, Raymond, Camille, Claire, Archie and Roy appear in the sequence climbing up a certain sign.
- Also introduced in this episode was Mora Sorvino's Jeanne Crandall, who Camille shared a scene with.  They also mentioned Hattie McDaniel who will show up in the series.
- Standout music: Dinah Shore's You'd Be So Nice To Come Home To, Errol Gardner's I'm In The Mood For Love and Irving Aarson's Let's Misbehave.
- Chronology: From where the first part left off.

A delightful second part that did a terrific job in introducing the rest of our main players but it's clear from the title sequence that it's the six younger characters who journey into potential stardom and everything good and bad that comes with it that will be the focus here.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x06: "All The Best Inmates Have Daddy Issues "

Written by Jamieson Borak
Directed by Juan Meza-Leon

Joker: "Back for more, Harley?"
Harley: "It's Dr Quinzel."

Following their absence from last week, this week saw most of Harley and her crew back as the former and Poison Ivy were having drinks at Noonan's before realising that the latest barman was actually a stripped down, normal Joker in plain sight.

After nearly half this season away from the character, I suppose it was time to reintroduce him and the casual way that Harley realised it was her psychotic ex was actually rather brilliant. It was also suitable as this episode did raise the issue of whether or nor people can change or if they just remain the same at their very core.

In flashbacks we got a different version of the usual Mad Love tale. Dr Harleen Quinzel found herself working at Arkham, largely unimpressed by the likes of Batman, Gordon and a pre Two Face, Harvey Dent (who really was a dick in this episode) and of course, coming into contact with both the Joker and Poison Ivy with different results.

With the Joker, it was mind games over a bomb he hid in poor Luigi (taking the phrase Little Italy in another way) while with Poison Ivy, it was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. If this episode didn't solidify that Ivy really is the best romantic option for Harley, along with every other episode, then what would?

As for Joker, the mistake here was not handing him over to the police, keeping him prisoner or killing him. Instead having Dr Psycho mind probe him only resulted in Joker's evil side being restored, so we've got that to look forward to for the second half of the season as well as both Harley and Ivy getting grabbed by Two Face and his henchmen. Did I mention that guy's a dick this season?

- Joker stole Ivy's story about her abusive father and Mr Ferris to reel Harley in. This episode also stole some bits from The Dark Knight as well.
- Harley came up with the name Two Face, foreshadowing Harvey's eventual descent into crime.
- Batgirl was nowhere to be seen this week and neither were Clayface, King Shark, Frank or Sy Borgman. Batman and Gordon were flashbacks only.
- Chronology: Not long I assume from where the last two episodes left off.

All The Best Inmates Have Daddy Issues welcomed another change of pace. I did like the way the Joker was reintroduced but I did think that Harley and Ivy probably should done more with that information that they did here. Still, loved the flashbacks and the cliff hanger moment as well.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 5x10: "Ship Broken"

Written by James Eagan & Mark Bruner
Directed by Andi Armaganian

Sara (to Ava): "It's me. I kill everyone."

It's been a while since we've had a bottle episode and this one definitely took an interesting turn with the gang all trapped on the Waverider with not one but three new additions, so let's discuss them, shall we?

First of all, of course Gary of all people would bring an adorable dog on to the ship that would turn out to be a hellhound named Marchosias, who managed to turn everyone against Astra (which didn't take much tbh) while also sending the Loom of Fate down the crapper. Yes, I'm serious on that one and given this show, that's hardly surprising.

Gary's stupidity has gotten to the point where it has held the character back and I do think if he's around next season, then he needs to start getting a little smarter. Still though, the hellhound did work well enough and give in her current state, Sara was able to help John and Astra send that thing back to hell, so there's that.

As for Astra, it's hardly a surprise that no one on the ship including John actually trusts her and so far, she's done nothing to actually earn their trust. I did however enjoy the back and forth between her and Zari as the two tried to outsmart each other while something of a bond began to build towards the end of this one. Needless to say, this season will end with both Zari and Astra getting their loved ones back.

Then there was Lita. She might be taking a while to warm to Mick and more than happy to call him out at every turn, but I really liked her scenes with Mick nonetheless and I thought Nate was actually used pretty well here too as he tried to help getting them to connect with each other.

As for Sara's story, this was a mixed bag. Her new ability is interesting and I'm sure there will be a more detailed explanation as to how she survived looking at Atropos true form but she spent too long deliberately evading Ava, John and Charlie's questions that it felt a bit out of character at times. Still though I am looking forward to seeing where this story goes over the next four episodes as I suspect Sara's new powers might be temporary.

- Marchosias also controlled Son of Sam, which gave the show a nice opportunity to remind us about Ava's serial killer podcast.
- Still mixed on the potential Zari/John pairing, though I did find it amusing how Astra quickly picked up on it though.
- The bunny at the end was cute though. However the show needs to give Gary some common sense.
- Chronology: Mostly 2020 and mostly on the Waverider for good measure.

Ship Broken wasn't quite as strong as the previous two episodes but it was rather good though. Sara's powers are intriguing, the hellhound idea mostly worked, both Lita and Astra had great scenes with the regulars but a few plot contrivances kind of held it back too.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Hollywood's: "Hooray For Hollywood, Part 1"

Written by Ryan Murphy & Ian Brennan
Directed by Ryan Murphy

Jack (to Avis):"Every time I leave the picture show, I feel better than I did walking in,"

In these strange times, we could all do with a bit of escapism, a bit of glamour and in their latest offering for Netflix, Ryan Murphy and Ian Brennan deciding that Hollywood could do with a bit of a rewrite. Actually maybe more than just a bit.

Kicking off this seven part miniseries off in style, former war veteran Jack Castello (David Corenswet) has aspirations to be an actor but between casting directors being uninterested in him, a pregnant wife, Henrietta (Maude Apatow), the cost of living and so on, things just aren't going in Jack's general favour.

Then there's Ernie West (Dylan McDermott) - a gas station owner who has another more lucrative service on the side that Jack initially has no desire to indulge until the pressure gets to him and he's soon servicing clients like Avis Amberg (Patti LuPone) before this episode took a somewhat predictable cliff hanger ending with Jack getting arrested for solicitation. Let's just say that "Dreamland" comes with a price.

Although this show was billed as an ensemble piece and no doubt will be as it goes along, this first episode largely belonged to David Corenswet (who has a producer role on this miniseries) and with The Politician and now this, it's easy to see why this guy's star will be on the rise in no time.

Jack has enough going for him as a character to make for an engaging protagonist and he's one of several stories about the aspirations of fame here. This episode threw some hints about Ernie and Avis's brushes with fame, but aside from Jack, two other prominent members appeared here.

We had Jack heading into the gay underground scene to recruit aspiring writer/gigolo Archie Coleman (Jeremy Pope) to Ernie's business, which Jack succeeded in doing. I'll admit that Archie's story with a certain someone will be a big draw for me with this miniseries.

The someone in question being Roy Fitzgerald aka Rock Hudson (Jake Picking). Rock will be one of a few real life people whose story will get an alternative version in this fantasy filled take on Classic Hollywood and right here, there's a focus on him being a closeted gay man  as well as he beginnings of a complicated love story between him and Archie. They didn't have a lot of scenes in this episode but what they did have was the highlight nonetheless.

- Seeing as this is a two part pilot, we'll no doubt meet Raymond, Camilla and Claire in the next part along with the title sequence. Archie also wrote a script about Peg Entwhistle whose death serves as an influence for this miniseries.
- Ernie is based on real life pimp Scotty Bowers.  Meanwhile Alison Wright who previously appeared in Feud: Bette And Joan played a casting director for Ace Studios in this one.
- Standout music: Perry Como's Catch A Falling Star, Peggy Lee's It's A Good Day and The Pied Pipers Embraceacle You.
- Chronology: Post World War 2, so late 1940s for now.

Hollywood certainly kicked off to an interesting start with some creative licencing, discussions of  aspirations, dreams, sex, race and gender, the casting couch and what seems like a fair chunk of artistic licencing and elements of wish fulfillment as well. I think it's mostly comparable to Feud: Bette And Joan and possibly both American Horror Story and American Crime Story with how it'll tackle real life people, which will make or break this miniseries as a whole.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x05: "Batman's Back Man"

Written by Sarah Nevada Smith
Directed by Juan  Meza-Leon

RTSC Guy (to TLJ Guy): "Fine but if this sucks, we are watching Family Guy."

Well, this show continues to surprise as this week had the biggest departure with Harley and her gang sitting this one out. With DC Universe being Chibnall levels of secret with their marketing for this show (or lack of it), I genuinely had no idea this was going to be a thing.

Anyways with our main cast gone and a scathing synopsis of this show surmised by the worst type of fanboys, the action saw Bruce Wayne emerge from his coma and determined to get back to being Batman in spite of Alfred (Tom Hollander) telling him not to do so.

However as we have seen with this Batman so far, he doesn't respond well to advice so he got Lucius Fox (Phil LaMarr) to build him a robotic Batsuit called MONICA that started off well but between Bane and Two Face's minions, Batman was soon out of his depth.

Fortunately for him, Batgirl was on hand and in the space since she's donned the costume, she's becoming a social media hit to Batman's annoyance but has also proven to be able to handle herself and she saved Batman in this one. While the fangirl bit does come across as somewhat cringe worthy at times, this episode did end with Batman telling Gordon that Batgirl will be protecting the city until he's fully recovered.

As for the baddies this week, the team up with Bane and Two Face saw the former largely being undermined by the latter while doing most of the heavy lifting against Batman as the title became quite appropriate during their final confrontation. I do like Bane a lot but he does feel somewhat dumbed down this season.

- Opening scene with RTSC Guy had a fun but mixed reaction on social media. I liked the shout out to Gotham here too.
- No scene where Bruce was with his son or any reference to Damien trying to take on his father's mantle either.
- Alfred briefly donned his own crime fighter persona with Macaroni. It was very theatrical as was his scenes with Bruce and Lucius.
- Chronology: A while since the events of Bruce waking up. He has 312 shows to catch up on while he recovers.

Batman's Back Man certainly made use of it's double meaning and while I wouldn't want this kind of an episode a lot, it's a testament to the writing that I did not miss the title character and her motley crew this week.

Rating: 8 out of 10