DCEU Blog: Batgirl Finds It's Villain, Dead Boys Detectives Rounds Off It's Cast And More

Following last month's explosive DCFanDome, this month felt a tiny bit more quiet by comparison but still there was plenty revealed over the last month.

Dead Boy Detectives has officially been commissioned as a series by HBO Max, albeit with the roles recast. George Rexstrew will be Edwin Payne, Jayden Revri will be Charles Roland and Kassius Nelson will be Crystal Palace. Filming for the series will begin in December.

Superman & Lois second season will premiere on the CW from January 11th and will be paired with the first season of Naomi. The Flash will move to Wednesdays from March.

Darnell Metayer and Josh Peters will be the lead writers for Michael B. Jordan's Val Zod series for HBO Max.

DCFanDome was viewed by over 66 million worldwide on it's various platforms. Suffice to say, it was a success story.

Batgirl has gone into production. Leslie Grace as the title character,  JK Simmons reprising his role as Commissioner Gordon while Brendan Fraser will play Firefly and Jacob Scipio has been cast in an undisclosed role. The film will be released on HBO Max.

Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom has finished filming in the UK and will do some additional filming in Hawaii next month.

Blue Beetle will begin filming in early 2022. Expect more casting to be announced over the next while.

Helen Mirren recently revealed that co-star Rachel Zegler is in fact playing the third sister in Shazam!: Fury Of The Gods along with Lucy Liu. The movie has finished production.

With Patty Jenkins Rogue Squadron put on hold, it seems that Wonder Woman's third movie may be moving forward. Lynda Carter has been confirmed to be returning as Asteria. 

Black Adam may also getting some spin-offs, but then again, this has been rumoured about every upcoming DC movie.

Matt Ryan will reprise his role as John Constantine for an animated short movie, Constantine: House Of Mystery, due for release in 2022.

Meanwhile the HBO Max series is rumoured to have the title of Justice League Dark: Constantine and will apparently start filming in the second quarter of 2022.

The second half of both Legends Of Tomorrow and Batwoman's current seasons will premiere on the CW from January 12th.

A new trailer for Peacemaker will premiere on Friday. The show premieres on HBO Max from January 13th.

And that's the round up for this month. Let's see what next month has to offer as 2021 comes to a close.

My Review of Doctor Who: Flux - Chapter Five: Survivors Of The Flux

 

Written by Chris Chibnall

Directed by Azhur Saleem

Tecteun (to the Doctor): "I'm the one who found you. I brought you to Gallifrey and raised you. I'm Tectuan. The woman who you used to call you mother."

After her introduction in The Timeless Children, I did wonder if Tectuan would resurface and after meeting the mysterious Awsok two weeks ago, some made the connection between the two. I did not, but I guess it should've been obvious. After all, she did give off the impression of a disapproving bad parent.

Following the cliffhanger from the previous episode, the Doctor found her transformation into a Weeping Angel quickly reversed as the Division took her into their possession. We learned a bit about them here. Most of it, not too shocking but finally some answers though. Yup, they're a bad bunch alright.

The Division's goal seems to involve interfering, so automatically going against the Time Lords own non interference stance. The Division also found the Doctor's morality to be problematic so not only did they wipe some of her memories, but also caused the Flux in an attempt to wipe her out and cover their own backsides.

We already knew Tecteun was an awful  adoptive mother from last series, but here she seemed to take great pleasure in tearing the Doctor apart at every turn. Scrutinising the Doctor's morality, ability to create hope among people and of course, her relationship with her companions. Tecteun didn't hold back at all. She also had a fob watch with the Doctor's redacted memories and tried to use it as a means to get the Doctor to let the universe die as well as her friends. Then Swarm and Azure turned up and the former didn't waste time in taking Tecteun out of the equation.

With Tecteun being killed off a little too quickly, both Swarm and Azure stand in the way of the Doctor getting her memories back. They also had their own plan come into fruition as Earth's defence system were weakening throughout. Right now they have the upper hand with the Flux and the Doctor definitely seems to be a serious disadvantage without her friends.

Speaking of her friends, with the Weeping Angels putting Medderton back in it's place, time passed and Yaz, Dan and Jericho left the place. I have to admit, I enjoyed the trio's globetrotting adventures as they searched for clues, avoided the Grand Serpent's various assassination attempts on them. Oh, and they also teamed up with Joseph Williamson, who was revealed to be a lot more clued in than previous appearances gave the impression.

As for the Grand Serpent, he definitely did some time travel of his own - specifically as this episode also decided to be an origin story of sorts for UNIT. However he was more keen on killing leaders who got in his way, though his attempts to take out Kate Stewart fortunately failed. Kate's return was definitely welcomed but it was more of a lowkey affair, resulting in her going dark. On the plus side, it does look like she'll have a bigger role in the finale.

- Vinder got sent into Passenger and quickly formed an alliance with Diane. Likewise, Karvanista reclaimed Bel's ship and the two also found themselves having to work together.

- Nicholas Courtney's Brigadier had a voice cameo in this episode with the actor being credited for it as well. Osgood also got a mention as did The War Machines.

- Although it was long suspected, this episode finally confirmed that the Multiverse does exist within this show's universe.

- I absolutely loved the gossip loving Kumar. His scenes with Yaz, Dan and Jericho were brilliant. I also caught Yaz pining for the Doctor in a romantic way.

- The Grand Serpent was responsible for UNIT disbanding and his snake thing reminded me of Davros's right hand man from Series 9. He also brought the Sontarans to Earth.

- Chronology: Lots here - 1904 for Yaz/Dan/Jericho, 2017 for Kate as well as 1958/1967/1987/2017/2021 for Grand Serpent.

Survivors Of The Flux might not quite hit the same ground as the previous episode but as a lead into next week's finale, there was certainly a lot to enjoy here. At this point, I'm not shocked that Chibnall has doubled down on the Timeless Child arc, but perhaps the Multiverse might take it in a less predictable direction next week.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 7x07: "A Woman's Place Is In The War Effort"

 

Written by Morgan Faust And Leah Poulliot

Directed by Glen Winter

Evil Sara (to her crew): "Those Legends might have gotten away this time but those suckers will pay."

In terms of most predictable thing that Evil Gideon could've done, having her own clone/likely android evil version of the Legends was completely expected. Not a criticism though because this will make the second half of this season a lot of fun when it returns in January.

This episode didn't exactly show us Evil Gideon but thanks to Bishop imposing on the Legends, they're aware she's a looming threat. Also with Gwyn's time machine on the crapper for the second episode on a row, this episode made a clear stance on where Bishop's loyalties were. Did he want to be a better man pr would his ego consume him again? Mostly the former, though it took a while to get there.

Bishop a good portion of the episode being a teachable moment for Nate as the latter allowed Behrad and Zari 2.0 to teach him about Persian culture, specifically taarof, which I found to be quite the eye opener as well. Needless to say that Bishop tested everyone's patience until he also stepped up and find a clever way to get Gideon to control Gwyn's machine, which worked.

Of course with Bishop actually helping the Legends escape Evil Gideon's latest attack, he also became a casualty. I had a feeling if the show redeemed Bishop, he'd get a heroic sacrifice but I assumed it would've been later in the season. I guess doing it here was probably for the best though. Bishop, you were mostly a pain in the backside but at least you came good here.

As for the main adventure this week, in a bid to get parts for the time machine, the ladies found themselves working at a factory that made planes, ran by the rather racist and sexist, Mr E. Staples, who took a venomous exception to Astra in particular. This episode was also something of a teachable moment for Astra and arguably Olivia Swann's best moment to date.

Astra didnt like having to deal with the attitudes of the time and her anger did result in Staples being frozen for most of the episode. I liked the changes that Astra made to the factory, even if they attracted Evil Gideon's attention. I also thought her scenes with older factory worker Gladys were wonderful to watch as well. Gladys definitely should come back for another episode.

- Ava was hilariously inept on the factory line, compared to Sara. It wasn't exactly subtle but I Love Lucy nod was cute. She also let slip to Gwyn about World War II.

- Gideon thinks Gary has a nice backside, which even Behrad agreed with. I'm also wondering if the writers are setting up a potential romance between Behrad and Astra. Zari 2.0 also thought Gwyn looked like John.

- We got a brief appearance from Eleanor Roosevelt in this episode.

- Chronology: 1943 for all of this episode. 

A Woman's Place Is In The War Effort did a fantastic job looking into the Rosies, especially with  Astra leading the mission this week. Along with Bishop's sacrifice and some evil Legends, I'm looking forward to what the second half of the season will bring.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Doctor Who: Flux - Chapter Four: Village Of The Angels

 

Written by Chris Chibnall And Maxine Alderton

Directed by Jamie Magnus Stone

Claire (to Jericho): "The Angels have the TARDIS."

Last week might mot have been my favourite episode of this Flux saga so far but it certainly landed quite the cliffhanger with the Weeping Angels taking control of the TARDIS. Of course, the Doctor along with some help from Yaz and Dan did manage to get out of that tricky predicament. Or at least that was what the Doctor was led to believe.

Remember in the first episode how we met a mysterious woman named Claire (Annabel Scholey) who seemed to know the Doctor and Yaz before being zapped by a Weeping Angel? Well, she's back and has been living in the Cursed Village, otherwise known as Medderton, Devon for the last two years. She's also been participating in Professor Jericho's (Kevin McNally) psychic experiments and it's not long before she's reunited with the Doctor while Yaz and Dan are occupied elsewhere.

There was a fun theory that Claire was going to be revealed as a Timeless Child, but that's quietly dismissed here. It turned out that not only was Claire revealed to be a seer but because she saw a Weeping Angel, it's now residing in her and the Angel in question now had a bargaining chip with the Doctor, who attempted a contact of her own in order to free Claire from the Angel.

The biggest reveal wasn't just an Angel residing inside Claire, it was the fact that that Weeping Angels themselves are operatives of The Division and like the Doctor, this one went rogue. It also had knowledge of the Doctor's removed memories from The Division and the latter was as desperate to retrieve them as she was to save Claire.

The ultimate slam dunk of the episode however was those final few minutes. Once the Doctor had sort of reunited with Yaz and Dan and some of the other guest characters and it looked like she was about to defeat the Angels, the rogue one traded her to The Division. Not to jump on the hyperbole train but seeing the Doctor transformed into a Weeping Angel has got to be one of the best cliffhangers the show has done in it's fifty eight year history. I genuinely couldn't believe what I was witnessing and I hope Chibnall can resolve it well next week.

As for Yaz and Dan, they were largely stuck without the Doctor. It didn't take long for them to go from 1967 to 1901 in the same village and the twist with missing girl, Peggy and grave counting Miss Hayward (Penelope McGhie) was executed pretty well, though expected. Yaz, Dan and Peggy got a horrible taste on the level of cruelty the Weeping Angels could dish out just for the sake of it.

Elsewhere and slightly divorced from the central plot this week, we got more of Bel looking for Vinder. Naturally she didn't find him (I genuinely wasn't expecting her to this week) but she did manage to save poor Namaca (Blake Harrison) from becoming a prisoner of Azure and Passenger. That theory about who Bel and Vinder will be revealed definitely will happen, won't it? You know the one I'm talking about.

- Claire Brown was born May 13th 1985, though claimed 1935 in order to not draw more attention to herself. Jericho also got one hell of a character dressing down from an Angel using his voice.

- For the second time in the show's run, we got a credit scene. This one involved Vinder meeting Namaca and getting a tiny bit closer to tracking Bel.

- I knew the Ood were returning but I'm surprised the trailer revealed another returning character the way they did.

- Maxine Alderton is the only other writer for this series, and both this episode and her previous one should be enough for Russell T. Davies to bring her back.

-  Kevin McNally who played Jericho here  previously appeared in The Twin Dilemma. 

- Chronology: Both November 21st 1967 and 1901 in Medderton, Devon as well as 2021 on Puzano. 

Village Of The Angels not only will be seen as the best episode of this particular series but it's undoubtedly one of the best from Chibnall's era so far. I was wary that Chibnall could add to the excellence that Steven Moffat did with the Weeping Angels but both him and Maxine Alderton truly knocked it out of the park with this one. A genuinely sublime episode.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 7x06: "Deus Ex Latrina"

 

Written by Ray Utarnachitt And Mercedes Valle

Directed by  Nico Sachse

Bishop (to Evil Gideon): "Dignity is overrated."

Well, this episode definitely happened and woah, boy, I did not see at least two things coming and the other, I was happy to have confirmed. Yup, this season definitely has shaped up to be one of the best we've had.

First of all, let's talk about the last thing first. I didn't want to get my hopes up that Gwyn Davies might be a gay character on the show but this episode pretty confirmed that he was. Last season we saw Matt Ryan and Tala Ashe portraying a couple with John Constantine and Zari Tarazi and while I wasn't a fan of that pairing, there's no denying the two of them play off each other so well.

In this episode, both Zari Tomaz and Behrad were tasked with helping Gwyn to find parts to fix the time machine. Gwhn was largely despondent and had little patience for either Behrad or Zari until the latter got him to open up about his past. Then when Zari and Gwyn got captured by Russian soldiers, Gwyn really opened up about his past.

Having Gwyn talk about his World War I days along with a clear love he had for Alun really solidified how much of an asset Matt Ryan has been to the show. The guy has incredible range and Gwyn went through the gamut of panic attacks, reliving trauma, hopelessness to a tiny bit of determination when Zari and Behrad helped in changing some history in regards to the outcome of Chernobyl. 

It took longer than usual for the episode to reveal where the Legends had landed but once the time machine was fixed and they managed to escape the other Waverider, there was a stowaway on top of the machine, strapped to a toilet. Who else but Bishop?

Now this was where the episode really took a wild turn. I already mentioned three weeks ago about not being keen on Bishop being back. I didn't want him as a villain for two seasons in a row and thankfully this show had another idea with Bishop. He's not the villain this season, it's the corrupted Gideon. Also going by what was revealed, he technically wasn't even last season's villain, it was his robot clone. 

Bishop started the episode hating the Legends and wanting them dead. He blew up their Waverider and has been responsible for the Hoover bots. Upon realising that the Legends tried to help him and Gideon 2.0 killing his favourite Ava clone, he soon change tack. The question remains - will the Legends actually trust him and are they enough to stop Gideon 2.0? More than likely I suppose.

- Gary and Gideon hooked up in this episode, which did shock me. Nate also agreed to love in the totem with Zari, so it's looking likely he will be leaving this season.

- Behrad apparently reminded Gwyn of Alun before the two of them went to war. Spooner and Astra also separated Sara and Ava for a brief time in this episode.

- The title came from the one room on the other Waverider that Gideon 2.0 didn't access to - the bathroom.

- Chronology: April 1986, Chernobyl as well as a few 1925 flashbacks here and there.

Deus Ex Latrina might have one of the most tasteless titles for an episode but this was definitely a gem though. It turned things around on who the actual villain of the season would be and Gwyn's backstory was beautifully handled as well. This season has definitely gotten it's groove back. Even the Gary and Gideon subplot was kind of sweet.

Rating: 9 out of 10

The Dark Passenger Returms

It's been too long since I did one of these but again, here's a look at some of the shows I've been watching over the last few weeks.

American Crime Story: Okay, can't lie about this one. I only watched the first episode and while both Sarah Paulson and Beanie Feldstein are clearly going to receive award love for their portrayals of Linda Tripp and Monica Lewinsky, I haven't felt compelled to watch beyond that one episode. I might try to catch up but I'm not making any guarantees. I still have another Ryan Murphy show from earlier this year that I also should watch before the year is out.

Batwoman: It's jarring to think that we're in a third season for this often divisive show but here we are. The first five episodes of this season, introduced Renee Montoya, laid the groundwork for Poison Ivy to arrive on the scene, played around with some rogue trophies and of course, ship teased Ryan and Sophie while introducing the former's mother and brother into the mix. Alice of course does remain the main reason to watch the show but so far, it's been pretty solid stuff here.

Dexter: New Blood: It's been eight years since the original series ended on the mother of all whimpers and ten years has passed for Dexter Morgan who traded sunny Miami for cold Iron Lake and ended up with Deb as his conscience over Harry. I was initially worried about the show's return but two episodes in and the series has nearly gotten it's groove back. I wouldn't say it's as good as the first five seasons of the original series but it's definitely better than the latter three seasons for now. Dexter's o'd ways are resurfacing, Harrison's all grown up with demons of his own, Angela might be more than she seems and Kurt Caldwell has potential as the main antagonist of the season. It's good to have you back, Dexter Morgan/Jim Lindsey.

Supergirl: The moment was prepared for. It finally came and it managed to deliver in more ways than even I expected it to do. The moment of course was this show hitting it's series finale and I'm delighted that it ended on such a strong note. As a series, this show wasn't always perfect but this final season was largely solid with a good final threat in Nyxly (though Lex did insert himself into her storyline) and a satisfying wrap up of all the main character arcs, including a game changer for Kara herself and her future as Supergirl. Of course the highlight was also the return of Cat Grant and I missed seeing her character so much.

What If: Not gonna, this one has been my least favourite of the MCU Disney+ shows and I'm not sure i even want to bother watching the second season. It just dragged for too long and would've benefited overall from being a one-off animated movie. At least that would've cut out a lot of the needless filler we had to go through before getting the big team up finale. Onto the next MCU show.

• Kathryn Hahn will return as Agatha Harkness for Disney+ in Agatha: House Of Harkness.
• Ms. Marvel will premiere on Disney+ in summer 2022, likely after both She Hulk and Moon Knight.
• Chucky will premiere on SkyMax from December 3rd, starting with a double bill.
• BBC1 have bought the rights to Superman And Lois and will air it from December 4th. The series will also be available on iPlayer.
• And Just Like That will premiere on both HBO Max and Sky Comedy from December 9th.
• HBO have renewed Succession for a fourth season.
• SkyAtlantic have bought the right for House Of The Dragon.
• Derry Girls is currently filming it's third and final season.
• Emily VanCamp has departed The Resident.
• Family Guy's latest season will premiere on Disney+ instead of ITV2 for UK and Irish viewers.

My Review of Doctor Who: Flux - Chapter Three: Once, Upon Time

 

Written by Chris Chibnall

Directed by Azhur Saleem

The Doctor: "What do you want?"

Swarm: "To reign in hell."

Well, I'm confused. This episode certainly felt like too many things were going on all at once. Chris Chibnall went a bit Steven Moffat and didn't quite pull it off as best he hoped to do so. Saying that, the episode wasn't exactly a bust and there were things that certainly piqued  attention.

Let's begin with the mysterious Bel (Thaddea Graham). A mini River Song in the making, this charming likable guest character was on a mission for love. She had a lover she wanted to be reunited with and neither the Flux devastating the universe or even the Cybermen were going to get in the way of being reunited with her beloved. Gotta admire her determination.

As for the mystery lover, well this episode didn't waste time with that one. It's Vinder and on top of that, Bel revealed she was pregnant to boot. I've seen the theories on Who the baby could be and while I'm not keen on the idea, I will not be shocked when it inevitably happens. Yup, Chibnall will continue to double down on the Timeless Child stuff and nothing will dissuade him otherwise.

Being trapped in a Time Storm certainly provided some much needed information on Vinder this week. His actions against the kill happy Grand Serpent (Craig Parkinson) led him to his reposting bur he was as determined to get back to Bel as she was to him and while the pair didn't reunite here, the Doctor made it clear that she'll see Vinder again. Likely before he sees Bel if we're being candid.

Keeping with the Time Storm, the Doctor used herself and Dan bring trapped in there to halt Yaz and Vinder from being burned up. The Doctor also got some answers about herself when she encountered her Fugitive version once again. I knew we'd see Jo Martin's mystery Doctor but I thought it would be a little later in the series. I also suspect that this won't be the last time she will appear in this series for more answers.

As for the answers in question, we saw the Division aka the Fugitive Doctor and Karvanista sentence both Swarm and Azure to their former fates, having used the Mouri in order to do it. Then we met a mystery woman (yes, another one), named Awsok (Barbara Flynn) who more or less blamed the Doctor for the Flux causing the problems with the universe at the moment.

As for Swarm and Azure, they knew what the Doctor was planning all along and went along with it. I'll admit this episode wasn't as strong for them as the previous two but there's no doubt they'll be back next week to cause more havoc for the Doctor, Yaz, Dan and Vinder. Speaking of Yaz and Dan, the Time Storm did reveal some stuff for them but their scenes felt more filler compared to the Doctor and Vinder's.

A key component with Yaz though was her life beyond the Doctor. If Yaz does make it out of this series in one piece, it might not be on good terms with the Doctor. The tension with the two of them definitely has intensified with the Doctor becoming more impatient with Yaz. She practically bit Yaz's head off here. As for the cliff hanger with the Weeping Angels taking over the TARDIS, it's a brilliant way to lead into next week's episode.

- Bel encountered some clearly CGI'd in Daleks at the start of the episode. No doubt we'll be seeing them again.

- Yaz's history involved her having conversations with a co-worker and Sonya as well as being stalked by the Weeping Angels. 

- A lot of glitching with both Doctors in this episode. We also learned that Diane is a prisoner inside Passenger.

- Dan was engaged to a woman fifteen years ago, who dumped him rather harshly. Dan, Yaz and Vinder also kept appearing as Division agents in the Doctor's memories.

- It took 25 episodes but the Doctor got a darker coat for most of this episode. It suited her.

- Chronology: More or less from where the previous episode left off.

Once, Upon Time felt very busy as an episode. A lot seemed to be going on but I'm not sure much actually progressed things either. The Doctor's history with Swarm and Azure while debunking a rumour from earlier in the week seemed a bit off (there has to be more to it) and I'm not keen on another theory possibly being true. Other than that, the episode had it moments.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 3x10: "Amends Patrol"

 

Written by Chris Dingess

Directed by Harry Jierjian

Cliff: "Doom Force!"

Everyone: "No!"

Well, it took three full seasons but the moment finally arrived and our eccentric bunch have finally embraced the very concept they spent arguably too long avoiding. They're finally going to be heroes and while Doom Force doesn't quite have the ring to it they want, it's a start though.

Of course, it took something of a while for this episode to get them all in the place of wanting to be heroes and the journey was certainly interesting, For Laura, her being spared by Mallah and getting even on the Brain meant that she could go back in time and make things right. However the past couldn't be changed and instead Laura had to make amends in the present day.

Having Laura as a member of the team and keeping her for next season was something of a surprise. I expected this episode to exit her. I even though Rita might actually succeed in killing her, only for the latter to let go of her desire for vengeance and spare Rouge's life. Whether Rita ends up regretting that decision, I guess we'll see next season. 

Then there was Cliff'. He got the body of a giant freaking robot and managed to talk some sense into Laura. He also freaked out the locals while going on an apology tour and nearly blowing up on a baseball field until Rita saved the day. We know he'll get his own body back next season but not before his current one will help the team take out a giant nutsack for good measure.

As for Larry and Victor, the latter did try to help the former with Keeg the larva but ultimately Larry ended up meeting with it. Larry started the season losing a connection to one alien presence only to end this season connecting to another. Victor on the other hand might struggle to find himself a new role in the gang now that he's powerless.

Last but not least, Jane lost some power of her own here. She managed to get the other personas from the Fog and even helped with the Underground bit now it appears that Dr Harrison will be the primary for next season. Yeah, not seeing anything positive from that particular outcome to be fair.

- Rita killing off the Brain by pouring hot water over him was brutal as hell. Bet he wished Laura had completely squished him instead.

- The Fog clearly has a thing for Jane. I thought that earlier in the season but it definitely was more apparent here.

- At least they're taking precautions with time travel by writing their names on them. That should help a bit.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Amends Patrol rounds off the season to a decent conclusion. It's not my favourite season finale (don't think anyone can top the sheer brilliance of the first one) but it's a good ending for the season and I'll definitely be back next year to see where our heroes go.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 7x05: "It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Scientist"

 

Written by Paiman Kalayeh And Mark Bruner

Directed by Andrew Kasch

Gwyn (re the Legends): "How many bloody time travelers are there?"

Um, a lot more than the group of people who have crash landed into your life, Gwyn. For a man who made his life work in relation to time travel, he certainly took some convincing to get on board with actually doing it.

There's no denying that Matt Ryan has made a profound impact during the time on the show as John Constantine and he's now the third regular actor to be put in the position of playing a brand new character and making them stand out as much as the character they started the show with. Gwyn Davies definitely feels like a different character to John Constantine and that's a good thing.

He's initially standoffish, nervous, prone to panic attacks and his attempts of mastering time travel are enough to get him sectioned, courtesy of Thomas Edison. Of course, with Sara's knack for getting out of tight spots and her heartfelt plea about possibly losing Ava forever, Gwyn seemed moved enough to help the Legends with using his machine to get out of 1925.

The other problem being was that for the last few episodes we were told that Davies experiment would result in killing both him and the Legends. It was up to Astra, Spooner and Gideon to prevent that from happening. The amount of roadblocks that prevented them from going to New York certainly became comical. Fortunately a 'lucky' rock and Gideon's own motor skills managed to prevent disaster. Okay, perhaps Astra causing a blackout might have helped too.

With Gwyn and the Legends not being killed and a rogue Waverider out to kill them, the episode did end with at least getting them out of 1925. However I'm not sure that was entirely the best thing as they all seemed to end up somewhere else not helpful altogether. I hope for their sake that new time machine hasn't crapped out already. 

As for the rest of the episode, yup messing around with Gwyn's stuff did write both Ava and Gary briefly out of history. We also had Nate and Zari navigate the possibility of living together in either the manor or the totem while causing the Hoover bot to malfunction royally and accidentally kill Edison. It's been only five episodes and two historical figures have been killed and replaced with androids. Who else are the Legends gonna bump off?

- Sara thought Gwyn looked like Stein, Gary thought Mick with hair and Zari thought Ray. Behrad just felt like he knew Gwyn.

- Gwyn has lost a person he wants to get back and seemed intrigued that Sara had a wife. It's nice the show are letting Matt Ryan use his own accent for this character.

- Edison wasn't the only history figure in this episode. Astra, Spooner and Gideon also met race car driver, Erwin George Baker.

- Chronology: November 7th 1925 in New York.

It's A Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Scientist was a strong introduction for Gwyn Davies as a character, though a part of me wonders if he might be a short lived regular for the show. Outside of this initial plot and the likelihood of the Legends keeping up their side of the bargain, I'm not sure if he'll remain beyond this season, though I'm happy to proven wrong. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Supergirl (1984)

 

Written by David Odell

Directed by Jeannot Szwarc

Supergirl: "You have no friends, Selena. You treat everyone as if they were put on this Earth to serve you."

Selena: "More or less, I think they were. You included."

In the 80's, things were not going great on the Kryptonian side of things. Superman might have hit the ball  running with his first two movies, but his third one had hit something of a snag, so before we got the fourth one which was a bigger disaster, it was time for a spin-off focusing on Kara Zor-El. Surely it was going to be a success, right?

Not exactly. The ingredients for what should have been a clear winner are there, but somehow don't quite come together as such. The movie started with a trip to Argo City where Kara (Helen Slater) has been aware of her famous cousin's adventures on Earth. Kara clearly wants to take a trip to the planet and when inventor Zaltar (Peter O'Toole) lost a powerful orb called the Omegahedron, Kara quickly headed to a pod through time and underwater and found herself in Midvale to retrieve it.

The movie doesn't bother going Kara too much of an origin story as Supergirl. Her costume turns out to be what shes wearing upon landing in Midvale and for some reason, Kara also didn't waste much time infiltrating a local high school, going under the name of Linda Lee Danvers and befriending Lucy Lane  (Maureen Teefy). It's also soon revealed that Lucy has started dating Jimmy Olsen (Marc McClure), the only character from the main series to appear in this movie.

Of course with a mission and some new friends, Kara also needed an enemy to fight and a vain, power hungry witch named Selena (Faye Dunaway) proved to be the campy adversary for Supergirl. You can even give Selena points for briefly trapping Kara in the Phantom Zone until Zaltar made the heroic sacrifice in order to get her out of it.

As a main baddie, Selena's motives are simplistic - she just wants power. She's a spoiled, immature, vain, possessive witch, not above insulting her snarky right hand woman Bianca (Brenda Vaccaro) or betraying the rather foolish Nigel (Peter Cook). Then there's her antics surrounding Kara's love interest but more on him in a bit. Either way, Dunaway clearly had fun with the campy witch and there's a decent final battle between Selena and Supergirl where the latter sends the former to her doom.

As for the love interest side of things, I have to admit its one of the weaker points of the movie. Hart Bochner (who'd later find bigger fame with Die Hard) does make for a hunky potential boyfriend with Ethan (also the object of Selena's lust) but its a largely doomed romance and Supergirl does seem to spend more time rescuing Ethan than getting romantically involved with him. Still though, he does provide a bit of eye candy in the movie even if he's not one of the best characters on display here.

- Christopher Reeve originally was meant to cameo in the movie as Superman but instead the character was written to be off world when Supergirl came to Earth. Selena gave her the Supergirl name.

- Mia Farrow and Simon Ward appear at the start as Alura and Zor El. 

- The director would later work on the series, Smallville, which Helen Slayer would also appear in.

- Chronology: I'm assuming 1984 given its release date.

Supergirl definitely feels like something of an odd film. It doesn't quite have the same magic as Christopher Reeve's first two Superman movies but it's better than his latter two. Helen Slater makes for a likable lead and Faye Dunaway certainly chewed up the scenery as Selena. More of a guilty pleasure than an instant classic but a decent first live action attempt for the Girl of Steel.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Doctor Who: Flux - Chapter Two: War Of The Sontarans

 

Written by Chris Chibnall

Directed by Jamie Magnus Stone

Skaak (to General Logan): "I accept your offer of a massacre."

I can't believe I'm actually going to say this but I think Chris Chibnall just went ahead and wrote the best Sontaran focused story since The Time Warrior and the fact that this episode only went and referenced Lynx certainly helped matters as well. There was plenty to enjoy here and I genuinely mean that.

Following the cliffhanger of the previous episode, the Doctor, Yaz and Dan find themselves in the middle of the Crimean War but history has taken something of a rewrite. Upon meeting nurse Mary Seacole (Sara Powell), the trio soon realise that soldiers are going into battle with the Sontarans and then Doctor finds herself without her companions or TARDIS to rely on with this particular conundrum.

Taking both Yaz and Dan out of the action from the Doctor seemed a bit risky but it managed to pay off better than expected. Dan did eventually reunite with the Doctor but before he did, he took a trip back to Liverpool, met up with his parents Neville (Paul Broughton) and Eileen (Sue Jenkins) who were somewhat experts on Sontarans and even the Karvanista helped him during a critical moment on a Sontaran spaceship. The love/hate relationship between Dan and his would be protector continues to be a surprise highlight so far this series. 

As for Yaz, she found herself teleported to the Temple of Atropos where the Mouri needed fixing. On the plus side, she met Vinder and instantly worked well with him. It was nice to see a good rapport with those two here. On the less pleasant side of things for Yaz and Vinder, they met with Swarm, Azure and Passenger and the results were somewhat dicey at best.

Swarm certainly wasted no time in telling Yaz and Vinder exactly what he knew about the both of them and both were used as a trap for both the Doctor and Dan. I have to admit that two episodes in, I'm impressed that Chibnall has finally gotten an original foe to really work in this era after so many of them haven't.

Swarm and Azure from a design point of view look absolutely fantastic, the writing has been strong for them so far and the acting from both Sam Spruell and Rochenda Sandall has been superb. On top of that, they feel like a credible threat to everyone they encounter. The knowledge thy have over the Doctor and her friends, the way the episode ended with both Yaz and Vinder's lives hanging in the balance of Swarm snapping his fingers. I want to know more about him and his sister. Hopefully the next episode provides some answers on the devious pair.

As for the Sontaran segment of the episode, with her companions out of the way, the Doctor held her own. She had an excellent rapport with Mary Seacole, the latter who noted certain military habits of the Sontarans and got a few nice confrontation scenes with her old enemies, including their Commander Riskaw (Jonathan Watson).  The only slight letdown was General Logan (Gerald Kyd), who basically ruined her plan of getting the Sontarans to retreat but other than that, the Crimean War setting truly worked here.

- Dan Starkey who has played various Sontarans in previous eras also got to play the one that Mary Seacole got her information from. This makes him the only actor so far to have appeared in Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall's eras of the show.

- Yaz told Vinder she was a police officer in this episode while Swarm revealed that Vinder was looking for redemption. Yaz also met Joseph Williamson in the Atropos temple.

- The TARDIS has been corrupted and it was getting worse in this episode. 

- That house the Doctor saw at the  start of the episode in black and white. I'm certain that it was the same one Azure lured Diane in to. I'm also convinced that Passenger will end up being Diane. 

- Not only did it look cool to see a Sontaran on a horse but the episode also commented on it too. 

- Chronology: 1855 Crimean War and November 2nd 2021. Dan was missing for two days according to his parents.

War Of The Sontarans hit all the right spots as an episode. The new design for the title baddies looked fantastic, they felt like a credible threat and I loved the addition of new lore with them (Sontar-Ho as a mark of disgrace/execution). Not to mention even though they were apart for most of the episode, all of the main characters had something worthwhile to do. I'm getting optimistic that this shortened, serialised format might have been the thing that Chibnall needed all along because it's working to his advantage so far.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 3x09: "Evil Patrol"

 

Written by Eric Dietel

Directed by Rebecca Rodriguez

Cliff (to Madame Rouge): "Wow, you really are evil."

The Brain: "Oh please. She doesn't know the first thing about being evil."

I'm not sure about that, Brain. The idea she suggested was definitely evil sounding, even if it meant playing the long game a little bit.  Maybe Madame Rouge might be too evil to keep around. That three groups she's managed to get herself removed from, one way or the other.

Rita made the mistake this week of letting Laura talk long enough to escape and get back in cahoots with the Brotherhood of Evil. Mallah did everything to try and get her to leave them alone while the Brain felt that Madame Rouge was useful enough to capture Cliff, which she managed to do successful. Of course before that we did a very strange sequence where the gang had to fight Laura while she was in the guise of a baby.

I did feel bad for Cliff here. He genuinely believed that Clara had come to get him actual help and Rita being fixated on getting revenge undermined that for him, only for Laura to capture him and the Brain to take his body. This season really has found new ways to screw Cliff over.

Then there was Laura herself. If Rita was fixated on revenge, then Laura was about self preservation and also revenge, given that she wanted to save destroying Rita for last. She should've seen Brain's betrayal coming a mile off bur being dumped in the woods? Why didn't Mallah just simply kill her there and then? I guess Rita will have to do that one.

As for Rita, her desperation for revenge got the better of her throughout the episode and it let to a bus crash, along with Jane/Kay's own distress issues. Larry might have been right to have called Rita out on her hypocrisy, he definitely picked the wrong time to do it though. Then again, he was also dealing with the space parasite and everyone else's emotion getting the worst of him.

As for Jane and Kay, both of them weren't dealing with the loss of the other personas and Jane was quickly proven right about having an empty underground not being such a good thing. Last bit not least, no one seemed happy about Victor not being Cyborg anymore and even I'm wondering of this change will remain going into the next season. Should it?

- The CGI of Madame Rouge as a baby fighting the gang did look both dodgy and creepy during those scenes. 

- Kay got Victor to interview her like Niles has done with all the other personas.

- The  Brain doesn't seem to have a grand scheme and surely the remaining Sisterhood members are going to resurface for the finale?

- Chronology: A brief 1917 flashback with Rita, Laura and the Fog with the rest of the action in the present day. The Brotherhood of Evil were retiring in Florida.

Evil Patrol did a good job in reintroducing the Brotherhood of Evil while also giving the rest of the team a chance to air out some issues as Rita became fixated on revenge. With one episode left to go, can the gang get their shit together long enough to get Cliff back to into his body? The latter better hope so.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Eternals (2021)

 

Written by Chloe Zhao And Patrick Burleigh And  Ryan Firpo And Kaz Firpo

Directed by Chloe Zhao

Ikaris: "Eternals assemble."

For those who have too often proclaimed that they wanted the MCU to mix things up a bit, this movie might either the very thing you were hoping for or a classic example of being careful what you wish. For me, there's definitely elements of both here.

In the thirteen years since the MCU launched, we've had various solo and team up movies. The Avengers are a cinematic giant. The question this movie posed was whether or not these god like alien beings who have watched over humanity for 7000 years can match them? In terms of powers, definitely. In terms of impact, it's a bit harder to say.

For this movie introduced ten of these Eternals, along with the promise of more to come, should a sequel become a reality. The Eternals here are leader Ajak (Salma Hayek), second leader Sersi (Gemma Chan), the divisive Ikaris (Richard Madden), warrior Thena (Angelina Jolie) and her protector Gilgamesh (Don Lee). Completing the lineup would be speedster Makkari (Lauren Ridloff), mind controlling Druig (Barry Keoghan), as well as Bollywood sensation Kingo (Kumail Nanjiani), illusion casting Sprite (Lia McHugh) and inventor Phastos (Brian Tyree Henry). 

It's admittedly a lot of characters to introduce at once and in news that wont be surprising to anyone, some of them are better utilised than others and not all of them make it out of the movie alive. The movie started with the title group coming to Earth on a mission by the Celestial Arishem (David Kaye). The Eternals believe it's their duty to protect the planet from the Deviants. The real mission however turned out to be somewhat darker instead. 

Dark enough for the team to splinter on whether or not to save the planet they've spent millennia becoming attached to or following the orders of a being who has constantly reset them and lied to them. Leading the sides of conflict are of course Sersi and Ikaris, who take the lovers to enemies to something far more complicated altogether. 

As a baddie, Ikaris probably worked better than the actual Deviants themselves. Even his other Eternals struggled to hold him back from allowing Tiamut to rise from the Earth. The use of a Uni-Mind might have put the main monster to sleep while Thena's own warrior skills dealt with the main Deviant, Kro (Bill Skarsgard) but Ikaris was the only villain to make an impact here. As for his final moment, given the nature of the Eternals, it's unlikely that he's gone for good.

While the villains are definitely the weaker part of the movie, most of the Eternals have their moments. There's a lovely rapport between Thena/Gilgamesh and Druig/Makkari while Sersi had an intriguing relationship with a civilian Dane Whitman (Kit Harrington), Kingo and his manager, Karun (Harish Patel) as well as Phastos's family life with husband Ben (Haaz Sleiman) and son Jack (Esai Daniel Cross). Diversity definitely is the  biggest strength of this movie.

- Mid credit scene introduced Eros/Starfox (Harry Styles) who offered to help Thena, Druig and Makkari to find Sersi, Kingo and Phastos.

- Post credit scene set up Dane Whitman to take on the mantle of Black Knight with a voice cameo from a future character getting their own solo movie.

-This movie not only featured a same sex kiss with Phastos and Ben but also a sex scene with Sersi and Ikaris. 

- Chronology: 2023 as well as various time periods and locations. 

Eternals has lofty ambitions, some of which are successful while others are not. It's a beautiful movie in some parts bit also too long for it's own good. The humour lands in some scenes and flatlines in others. The serious moments are good, as are the set ups for future MCU projects but the main monsters are poor. Saying that, I liked a lot of the movie and I definitely want to see Zhao tackle a sequel and learn from what didn't really work here. It's not the MCU at it's best but it's far from the worst as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 7x04: "Speakeasy Does It"

 

Written by Keto Shimizu And Emily Cheever

Directed by Kristin Windell

Ava (re Bullet Blondes): "We're not sisters."

After that performance, Ava, no one in 1925 will ever make the mistake of thinking you and Sara are siblings. Ever. This episode might have done very little to advance the plot, but it more than made up for it with character moments and then some.

Hightailing it to Chicago and trying to avoid Terminator Hoover (unsuccessfully, of course), the majority of the Legends found themselves holed up at a speakeasy with a kind owner named Eddie (Hamza Fouad). Unfortunately their attempts to improve his business and make money to get to New York resulted in Eddie losing his bar, thanks to meanie gangster, Ross Bottini (Sage Brocklebank).

This episode was where Zari 2 was her best. Having half to deal with a racist wig owner earlier in the episode, she got the Legends into helping Eddie raise funds to buy his own speakeasy by using Hell Manor for a one night only Bullet Blondes performance. The night went down well, Eddie got his money, Zari 2 formed a lovely connection and was totally in her element and the gang got enough money to go to New York and capture Hoover. In fact everything went a little too swimmingly.

In the midst of all this though, we had one of the most revealing exchanges between Nate and Gary on their relationship issues. Gary was right to point out the dynamic Nate has had with both Amaya and Zari 1 while Nate quickly realised that Gary liked being bossed around by powerful people. I'd be surprised if the show actually paired Gary with Zari 2 and would prefer if they didn't but at the same time, it's time we actually saw Gary get a love interest, even if it's just for a little while.

As for the B-team, they also managed to make their way to Chicago but narrowly missed reuniting with the rest of the gang. Saying that though, the subplot that Astra, Spooner and Gideon did have was pretty good stuff that also tied in the Bottini character, specifically his singer girlfriend Maude (Aubrey Reynolds).

Astra hasn't always been the best with wanting to help others but here, I liked that she in a similar manner to Zari 2 went out of her way to help Maude with both Spooner and Gideon backing her up. These three characters have been a boy to watch together and the way they dealt with Bottini was brilliantly done. However it's time for all the Legends to unite and find Gwyn Davies.

- I'm pretty sure being bound and gagged wouldn't be enough to keep not Hoover restrained. I do like that Zari was brought out to get him to talk though.

- Spooner using her powers to get inside Bottini's head was excellent to see. Also this episode gave Gideon another chance to sing. 

- Why Gary of all people to be trusted with the key on a train to New York? Astra did manage to track Zari 2's phone by accident.

- Chronology: Chicago 1925, but it's New York from next week onwards.

Speakeasy Does It might not have hugely advanced the ongoing plot but in terms of sheer entertainment and character moments, I really enjoyed this one. Every one got something fun to do (even Behrad was on fine form jamming away). Four episodes in and this season could be a firm favourite for me.

Rating: 8 out of 10