2021: A Year In Review

While 2021 might not have been the greatest of years, there was still that I managed to watch during the year and while some shows I probably should've watched (Line Of Duty, Succession) but didn't get into. I still did manage to watch a variety of stuff. Here are some of the highs and lows I had for 2021.

In terms of Ryan Murphy, I quite enjoyed current seasons of 911 and 911: Lone Star with the latter showing a marked improvement on it's first season. I did however miss Halston, which didn't seem to have any following at all and despite enjoying the first episode, I found myself not sticking with Impeachment: American Crime Story. Then there was American Horror Story: Double Feature, which started well and dove off a cliff within it's second half while spin-off series, American Horror Stories had one genuinely gripping episode while the rest felt sorely underdeveloped. As for Pose, the series might have ended too soon but it definitely went out on a high note.

This year was also a year for continuing the sequel series trend. The L Word: Generation Q added Rosie O'Donnell to the cast but did very little to warrant any interest while And Just Like That has somewhat been divisive with fans while at the same pulling in strong numbers for HBO Max. Gossip Girl upped the raciness and LGBT content while Dexter: New Blood gave a little more life into the title killer. None of these shows have successfully recaptured the magic of what came before but none of them have been out right disasters either.

Then there was Doctor Who. The year got off to a strong start with festive special, Revolution Of The Daleks while Series 13 introduced us all to John Bishop's Dan Lewis, hinted at the final days for the 13th Doctor and Yasmin Khan, saw most of the universe decimated by the Flux and gave us a campy sibling act in Swarm and Azure.We were also introduced to Karvanista, Bel and Vinder, had the return of Kate Stewart and with three specials for 2022 and Russell T. Davies back from 2023 onwards, this show isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

In terms of dramas, nothing came close for me than Russell T. Davies miniseries, It's A Sin. The five part series starring Olly Alexander and Lydia West to name a few was an incredible piece of television that got all the award love, broke streaming records for Channel 4 and tackled the AIDS crisis issue from a poignant point of view. One of the most sublime pieces of television and easily Davies most important work he's done in his career.

As for crime related material, Mare Of Easttown cemented a career high for Kate Winslet but my favourite crime series was of course, Only Murders In The Building. Steve Martin, Martin Short and Selena Gomez truly delivered as murder solving, podcasting trio Charles, Oliver and Mabel while The Long Call gave us a gay lead detective in Ben Aldridge's Matthew Venn, and though the show itself didn't stray too much from the trusted ITV format, it was still massively enjoyable.On the non crime front, I finished up the likes of Bridgerton, Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina, Schitt's Creek, Friends: The Reunion and even found both The White Lotus and The Nevers pretty enjoyable.

As for the MCU, this year they definitely dominated in both theatres and on Disney+. Keeping with the latter, both WandaVision and Hawkeye were the best ones for me. I personally found What If to be the weakest of the bunch while both The Falcon And The Winter Soldier and Loki definitely had their moments too. Let's see if the next batch of shows can match the mostly high standards that these first five (or four out of five) have set up.

Meanwhile while HBO Max have yet to debut any of their own DC shows yet, they did give us the third seasons of both Titans and Doom Patrol, with the former being a mixed bag and the latter as enjoyable as ever. Pennyworth also pulled in a stronger second run while Netflix had both the last run of Lucifer as well as the debut of Sweet Tooth. CW wise, there was the endings of both Black Lightning and Supergirl while Batwoman debuted a new version of the title character and changed the show's whole dynamic. The Flash resolved the Mirror Monarch storyline, tackled the Forces and Godspeed before going all Armageddon on us with Despero and Reverse Flash. Legends Of Tomorrow played around with aliens, magic mushrooms, stranded our team in 1925, ditched some characters and added others while Stargirl tackled both Summer School and Eclipso. However the DC highlight of the year was of course the debut of Superman And Lois, which more than lived up to it's expectations.

Last but not least, some other LGBT highlights aside from shows I mentioned earlier in the blog. Legends Of Tomorrow might have seen Matt Ryan retire the role of John Constantine but having remain as gay scientist Dr Gwyn Davies continued to highlight why he's one of the best actors on the show while fans of Sara and Ava got to see them getting married. Then there was the second season of Love, Victor which ended with a triangle between Victor, Benji and newcomer Rahim while the main love story in the Chucky series was of course between Jake and Devon. 

Okay, those were my highlights of 2021- what were yours? What are you looking forward to in 2022?

DCEU Blog - Batgirl Adds Keaton's Batman, Blue Beetle Goes To Cinemas And Much More

It's certain been an interesting and rather busy December for DC. Upcoming projects are in full swing as we close the year with some interesting reveals. Here we go.

Michael Keaton will not only reprise his role as Batman for The Flash movie but he will also reprise the role for Leslie Grace's Batgirl movie for HBO Max, which has now begun filming.

The Flash will also see the returns of both Michael Shannon and Antje Traue reprising their roles as Zod and Faora.

An animated Crisis On Infinite Earths movie has been rumoured for a future release.

The WB released a final trailer for The Batman while Empire magazine has released several new photos and details about the movie. We're so close to it now.

Peacemaker will release it's first three episodes on HBO Max from January 13th with the remaining episodes being weekly releases. A UK broadcaster hasn't been confirmed yet though it's likely it'll go to Sky.

Both Amy Jo Johnson and Elizabeth Henstridge have directed recent episodes of Superman And Lois. The second season premieres on the CW from January 11th.

Jennifer Holland's Emilia Harcourt will appear in Black Adam. Henry Winkler is also rumoured to be playing the original version of Atom Smasher (Al Pratt).

Gal Gadot has been rumoured to be appearing in Shazam! Fury Of The Gods as Wonder Woman. This hasn't been officially confirmed, so take with a pinch of salt for now.

Legends Of Tomorrow and Batwoman's current seasons will air their finales on March 2nd. Both shows return to the CW from January 12th.

Blue Beetle will now be a theatrical release and is heading into cinemas from August 18th 2023. Filming begins in early 2022.

The CW are in early stages of developing a Gotham Knights series, but although it'll be from the writers and producers of Batwoman, it'll be set in a different continuity.

The Metal Men will now be an animated movie, instead of a live action one.

And that's it for DC News in 2021. How you enjoyed it and here's to seeing what will be on the horizon during 2022.

My Review of Crawl (2019)

 

Written by Michael Rasmussen And Shawn Rasmussen

Directed by Alexandre Aja 

Haley: "Apex predator all day."

Sometimes you just crave something a little different in the horror genre and every once in a while, a movie like this will come along. It's something different alright. No masked murderers. Just mother nature and a certain group of water based predators proving they're every bit as dangerous to all and sundry.

This movie focused on swimmer Haley (Kaya Scodelario) who has something of an estranged relationship with her father, Dave (Barry Pepper). Haely's sister, Beth (Morfydd Clark) wants the two to reconnect. Reluctantly, Haley agreed to her sister's wish and went to the old family home in order to try and recpnnect with their father.

Of course Haley picked the worst day for a reunion as the place her father was living in was not hit by a Category 5 hurricane but  also the house became flooded, her father badly hurt and on top of that, both Haley, Dave and the family dog, Sugar spent the majority of the movie being chased by alligators and these guys seriously meant business.

The threat of the alligators within this movie was something that worked far better than I expected. I have to admit there were moments that genuinely made me jump and while I was often more worried for the dog than Haley and Dave, the latter two definitely had their moments too. Before that though, I should add that the dog did make it out of this movie alive. 

As for Haley and Dave, some of the issue largely steamed from Haley's mother leaving them but as the two progressed, both of them were able to work through their issues. They also managed to work together, fending off the rather hungry gators in question as the whole town was ravaged by the hurricane. In the end, man just about managed to survive human nature. 

-  Both Kaya Scodelario and Barry Pepper worked together in the Maze Runner movies. The cast was largely made of UK actors for a US based movie.

- Quentin Tarantino  cited this as a favourite movie of his and Sam Raimi also has a producer credit to it.

-  Standout music: Rick Boston's Driving In The Car and Bill Haley And The Comets See You Later, Alligator.

- Chronology: Gonna assume around 2019 for this one.

Crawl was not a movie I had particularly any big expectations for, so as a movie, it was a pleasant surprise. The alligators /hurricane provided a different kind of threat and both Scodelario and Pepper were on fine form as Haley and Dave. I've hears rumours of a potential sequel but I'd be fine if this remained a one off. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

And Just Like That .... Another TV Jumble Blog

Also my last TV Jumble blog of the year. You know the drill, stuff I've been watching over the last few weeks. Let's get into it.

And Just Like That: It's somewhat odd to think of Sex And The City as a franchise but it is one. It was a popular book, then TV series that ran for six seasons, spawned two theatrical movies, a prequel series that ran for two seasons and now a sequel series, sadly lacking Samantha Jones. Still, the first four episodes have seen Carrie, Miranda and Charlotte navigate their social circles in lieu of their former friend's absence while also dealing with widowhood, getting older and learning more about the world around them. Four episodes in and there's no denying this sequel has lacked the magic of it's original series and some of it's attempts of presenting more diversity has been dicey at best. Hopefully the show will get it's groove for the remainder of the season.

Chucky: For a movie franchise that has spawned six sequels and an unnecessary reboot, taking the most evil doll for a cable series could've been easily been a mixed bag. After watching this eight episode first season, I can definitely say this series was an overwhelming success. Chucky works just as well on the small screen as he did on the big and straight to streaming. Te uses of classic characters such as Tiffany, Andy, Kyle and Nica along with new protagonists such as Jake, Devon, Lexy and the unfortunate Junior worked brilliantly. This show was a joy to watch from start to finosh and I'm really pleased that it will be returning for seconds.

Dexter: New Blood: With only three episodes left, this show definitely feels like it's shaping up to be a mid-tier season/series for me. It's not quite recaptured the heights of the first few seasons but it's also managed to avoid the lows of the last few seasons as well. It was nice having appearances from both Angel and the Trinity in episodes along with Angela becoming more aware of who her boyfriend really was. Less good has been Harrison, who has become somewhat annoying to watch while Kurt definitely could be a more compelling antagonist for Dexter. He's become rather underwhelming, in spite of his efforts to come between Dexter and Harrison.

Hawkeye: It's been a mostly good year for the MCU's debut with Disney+ shows and ending this year was this delightful six part series, focusing on Clint Barton and new protege Kate Bishop. As a pairing the two of them were excellent to watch, Lucky the Pizza Dog was obviously adorable too. The use of the Christmas worked in the show's favour, Maya was set up well for her own Disney+ series and it was nice to see Yelena again. Minor quibbles, would be Eleanor's painfully obvious villainy and perhaps Wilson Fisk being a tiny bit underused. Other than that, I still had a really good time watching this series.

Pennyworth: I wasn't a huge fan of the first season of this Alfred Pennyworth based series but upon learning that it had been renewed for a third one, I decided to give the second season a go. I'm glad I did as I actually found myself enjoying this season a lot more than expected. Like Gotham before it, this show found it's strength by reveling in being utter batshit crazy and became more enjoyable as a result. Whether it was the gang working together against the Stormcloud plot, Thomas and Martha getting to be parents to a girl, Alfred's reunion with his father or even the oddball romance with Bet and Katie, this season definitely hit it's stride. I'm looking to seeing what next year's time jump brings for this show.

The Flash: After the last two seasons being sadly poor, a part of me has felt ready to bail on the show. Fortunately this five part event has managed to breathe some life into things. It's not quite as good as crossover events from series past but both Reverse Flash and Despero certainly gave Barry the ring around. Not to mention some welcome returns from Ray Palmer and Damien Darhk, hints of future events for other characters and of course, other characters about to return. It's a good start and here's hoping the quality can be maintained when the show returns in March.

• Netflix have cancelled Cowboy Bebop after one season.
• David Tennant's Around The World In 80 Days has been renewed for a second series. It will premiere on BBC1 on Boxing Day.
• BBC3 will relaunch as a terrestrial channel again from February.
• American Dad has been renewed for two more seasons.
• Turner & Hooch has been cancelled after one season on Disney+
• A prequel series for Walker is in early development from the CW.
• UK viewers can see The Resident on Disney+ from next month.
• The third season of Atlanta will premiere in March on Starz.

My Review of Single All The Way (2021)

 

Written by Chad Hodge

Directed by Michael Mayer

Peter: "This is the best present ever."

Ah, Netflix. It only took you a year to get into the gay Christmas romance spirit and after rival studios gave us treats such as Happiest Season and Dashing In December to name the two obvious ones, the question remained: could this one deliver? Well, let's see, shall we?

Our protagonist of the piece was Peter (Michael Urie) - a social media guy who had more of an affinity for plants that he did with Instagram. Then there was his best friend Nick (Philemon Chambers), both a handyman and author of a children's book based on his dog, Emmett. We don't get to see a lot of Emmett in this movie, so that's a minus I'm afraid.

As for Peter and Michael, it's somewhat apparent that the two of them are in love with each other. Every other character can see it but them and every other character isn't afraid to point out the obvious. They're also not afraid to do their level best to push Peter and Nick together. Most of these people also being Peter's family.

Peter had the great idea of bringing Nick home for Christmas to meet the family. Pete's mother, the rather festive Carole (Kathy Najimy) also thought it would be fun to set Peter up with handsome personal trainer James (Luke Macfarlane). As a character, I did like James but even he could see that Peter and Nick were meant to be, so needless to say, James felt more of a diversion than too much of an obstacle for the budding couple.

As for Peter's family, well I definitely think they filled out some tropes here. You had his father, Harold (Barry Bostwick), sisters Lisa (Jennifer Robertson) and Ashleigh (Melanie Leishman) as well as their kids pushing for Peter and Nick in the way that you'd only see in a romcom. Not to mention, Peter's aunt Sandy (Jennifer Coolidge) who also brought the two together by getting them to work on her rather bonkers  Christmas pageant titled Jesus H. Christ. As a family unit, they were definite'y entertaining and fortunately not too overdone as supporting characters.

However, the main point of this movie was seeing Peter and Nick actually getting together and this movie didn't disappoint in that regard. Both Michael Urie and Philemon Chambers did a good job making me want to root for Peter and Nick as a couple and had rather strong chemistry together. Overall, the movie did what it needed to do with the two of them. 

- At the start of the movie, Peter was briefly in a relationship with Tim (Steve Lund) who turned out to have a wife. 

- We had influencers such as Kyle Krieger and Max Emerson more or less playing themselves for Peter's razor photoshoot. 

- Standout music: Britney Spears My Only Wish (This Year) and Dan Finnerty's Single All The Way during the closing credits.

- Chronology: Christmas 2021 I presume.

Single All The Way doesn't exactly reinvent the wheel for seasonal romance movies and it's tropes are too predictable but it's a likable movie with likable leads. It's also hopefully not the only time we get this type of movie from Netflix as well. I'm also hoping we get more of Philemon Chambers because of this movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Spider-Man: No Way Home (2021) - SPOILERS INCLUDED

 

Written by  Chris McKenna And Erik Sommers

Directed by Jon Watts

Aunt May (to Peter): "With great power comes great responsibility."

Trilogies are an odd beast, aren't they? The third part might be a good ending, it might also be the weakest of the bunch. Then there's the possibility that it might be the best installment of the lot. Can you guess the category where this particular movie falls into?

Following being publicly outed as Spider-Man from the previous movie, Peter Parker (Tom Holland) has found himself to become a polarising figure among the residents of New York. It's also gotten to the point where both himself and Aunt May (Marissa Tomei) move in with Happy Hogan (Jon Favreau) and his associations with MJ (Zendaya) and Ned (Jacob Batalon) have jeopardized their own futures. 

Because of that, it would make sense that Peter would try and fix things. However Peter's method to do that mean getting in touch with Doctor Strange (Benedict Cumberbatch) in order to make the world forget about him being Spider-Man. A spell that Peter managed to mess up on Stephen and as a result, the Multiverse made it's introduction into the MCU on the big screen.

Specifically, Peter's bumbling resulted in enemies from at least two different universes landing in Peter's own world. The enemies in question being Doctor Octopus (Alfred Molina), Green Goblin (Willem Dafoe), Sandman (Thomas Haden Church), Lizard (Rhys Ifans) and a revamped Electro (Jamie Foxx). If they had added one more member, you would've had a Multiverse Sinister Six there.

The five baddies in question make their presence known to our Spider-Man and the latter teamed up with Strange in order to contain them. However it didn't take much for both Peter and Stephen to have different opinions on how to deal with the visitors from other worlds. Peter also learned the hard way that no good deed goes unpunished when the baddies predictably turned on him and as a result, Peter found himself losing the one important adult figure in his life and felt despondent.

Of course the highlight of the movie and the elephant that has been in the room for a year now was the returns of two other Spider-Men. Yes, both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield are in this movie and the moment they're in scenes with Tom Holland, everything elevated to pure cinematic heights. Seeing these three actors together could be dismissed as fanservice but it's far greater than that.

There's history with both Maguire and Garfield's versions of the web slinger and it's respectfully honoured throughout here. Our Peter learns from his other selves as they learn from him and seeing the three of them band together in order to save the day definitely feels like a moment you'll want to witness on the big screen if you can. It's comic book history made on screen and the joy in seeing it play out truly felt unbridled. 

However there are lingering consequences to Peter disrupting the spell that Stephen tried to initially do and it's our Peter who will feel them for a while. It's like the MCU not only acknowledged certain criticisms regarding their handling of Holland's Spidey and felt this movie was the perfect place to deal with them head on, by setting up an interesting new status quo for Peter to set up his next trilogy. Even I didn't expect it to play out like it did.

- Charlie Cox might not have put on a certain suit but we did briefly see him here as Matt Murdock, who represented Peter at the start of the movie.

- Of course Flash would write a tell all book about his 'friendship' with Peter Parker while Betty has a job at the dailybugle.com.

- J. Jonah Jameson (J.K. Simmons) certainly went out of his way to antagonise Spider-Man that I really do hope they have scenes together in the next movie.

- Giving Aunt May that infamous line as well as having two Spider-Men say it too worked beautifully here.

- Chronology: We did get to see parts of Halloween and Christmas as time progressed throughout the movie.

- The mid credit scene gave us a brief cameo of Eddie Brock (Tom Hardy) and the Venom symbiote with a little of the latter remaining the current MCU. 

There's no denying that Spider-Man: No Way Home delivered and then some. Every single cast member brought their A Game with Tom Holland giving his best performance in the MCU so far. Seeing him with both Tobey Maguire and Andrew Garfield was sublime and I cannot wait to see where the next trilogy will take this version of Spider-Man. An absolute triumph of a movie.

Rating: 10 out of 10

My Review of Last Christmas (2019)

 

Written by Emma Thompson And Greg Wise And Bryony Kimmings

Directed by Paul Feig

Kate: "Why can I feel you?"

Tom: "Because I'm a part of you. Take care of my heart."

Kate: "Yeah, I promise."

Tom: "It was always going to be yours, one way or another."

It's the month for festive romances and this one from two years ago was on my list of ones to catch up with. Namely because of the lead actors and also because of the polarising reputation. Is this really that bad a Christmas movie? Not really. At least not for me.

Emilia Clarke when she's not using dragons to demolish King's Landing takes on the lead of Katarina 'Kate' Andrich, a somewhat selfish young woman, who when she isn't auditioning for her big break and alienating friends and family alike, also works at a Christmas shop for Santa (Michelle Yeoh) aka, Huang Qing Shin. Santa turns out to be a fair employer while Kate might not be the greatest of workers. However there's a lovely rapport between the pair and this film for it's credit has a few of those.

The main pairing of course being the one between Kate and charming volunteer Tom Webster (Henry Goulding). The latter doesn't take long to initially wind up Kate, before charming her and throughout the movie, it's easy to see how Kate becomes so smitten with Tom. Henry Goulding really does work wonderfully as a romantic lead and his chemistry with Emilia Clarke shines throughout the movie.

Of course where the movie earned it's polarising reputation was in it's reveal of Tom's actual backstory and the way it tied into Kate's own previous health problems. Looking at it objectively, I think the signs had been there from the start with Tom and while I don't actually hate the reveal itself, it's still a bit sad though. However, its also a mice subversion for this particular genre. 

Throughout the movie, Tom's influence on Kate turns out to be a positive. Kate's not a bad person. She's a refreshingly openly flawed protagonist  and she does have some great moments too. We get to see her set up Santa on a date and while she did out her sister, Marta (Lydia Leonard) to their parents Petra (Emma Thompson) and Ivan (Boris Isakovic), thongs did later resolve themselves as the movie progressed.

Kate's family are entertaining but Tom's biggest influence was getting her to help out at a volunteer shelter and organise the big Christmas event with the obligatory musical number. Not to mention the ultimate goal of getting Kate to open herself to the world. That's pretty good going for a guy who technically wasn't there to begin with.

- Emma Thompson who played Petra co-wrote this movie with her husband. She also got the director on board, even though he wasn't keen on directing another Christmas movie.

- The parallels between Tom Webster and George Michael are very apparent throughout the movie.

- Standout music:Well, this was a bit of Wham! fest with Emilia Clarke getting to sing a certain song to boot. 

- Chronology: It opened with a scene in 1999 Yugoslavia with the main action being set in 2017 London.

Last Christmas for me was something of a surprisingly enjoyable film. The script isn't perfect but it's enjoyable for the most part. There's also no denying that Emilia Clarke and Henry Goulding are a fine pairing and work wonderfully here. I actually don't get the hate for this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Doctor Who: Flux - Chapter Six: The Vanquishers

 

Written by Chris Chibnall

Directed by Azhur Saleem

Time (to the Doctor): "Your time is heading to its end. Nothing is forever."

Well, this was something of a mish mash of things, weren't it? This six part series almost made the landing but ultimately things just fell apart. Chibnall's time might be coming to an end within the next year, but his divisiveness continues to be an unfortunate trend in his storytelling.

Following Tecteun's destruction, Swarm and Azure looked like they were about to take out the Doctor, only to spend the majority of the episode lording it over her. If you're going to be an actual threat to the Doctor, talk less and do far more. A lesson that this brother and sister should've learned if they want to stop the Doctor. And they were so close to it as well.

Instead they spent too much time going on about they can kill the Doctor, baiting her to open up a certain watch and wanting to put the final Flux event on a loop as an eternal punishment. In all that time, the Doctor found herself split in three and slowly coming up with a way to deal with the Flux altogether, in a very hastily done manner.

One version of herself caught up with Bel and Karvanista while the other version also reunited with Yaz, Dan, Jericho and met up with Kate and Williamson. Add Claire into the mix and some flirting from two Doctors and it turns out you've got a means for using the Sontarans to save the day. Not to mention rescuing Vinder and Diane from Passenger too.

Anyways, aside from one choice scene in a corner shop, Chibnall has made the Sontarans a bit more effective in this series than they have been so far. In this episode, they held the Earth prisoner, used both Claire and Jericho to pinpoint the final Flux event and even managed to trick the Daleks and Cybermen as part of a scheme to make themselves immune to destruction.

However their own arrogance, a lot of characters and essentially three versions of the same Doctor along with matter over antimatter and things sort of resolved itself. The Sontarans defeated, Flux resolved (though the universe ain't that in great shape), it was also time for both Swarm and Azure to be taken care of.

I have to admit, I thought the return to Atropos and introduction of godlike Time were handled badly. Swarm and Azure were promising villains wasted throughout this episode and given a rather unsatisfying exit. The Doctor also got a foreboding warning about her imminent demise and yet again, regeneration might not be on the cards for her.

As for the status quo, the Doctor had some nice scenes with Yaz and after what he went through this series, Dan also officially joined as a companion. These three specials almost have an impossible job in seeing out this era and having the Doctor open up that watch. It didn't surprise me that she chose not to do so here, but it was frustrating nonetheless.

- Bel and Vinder reunited and are now with Karvanista. The latter was implied to be a past companion and Division came up with a way to stop him revealing the Doctor's past.

- The Sontarans ranged from killing the Lupari to having one of their generals being a bit too partial to chocolate.

- What happened to the Ood at the end? Did we really need the Grand Serpent? Why did Jericho have to die? Will Claire team up with Kate and UNIT? Diane also chose not to go for a drink with Dan.

- I definitely sensed a near romantic moment between the Doctor and Yaz and I'm not sure there's a need for this plot, given that there's only three specials left. It also seems like the Master has been set up for the final threat for this particular Doctor.

- The next special will be Eve Of The Daleks, due to air on New Year's Day.

- Chronology: December 5th 2021. They really timed the airing of this series, didn't they?

The Vanquishers really had the potential to bring this all home. I liked that Chibnall tried to be ambitious with this series and I liked nearly all of the new characters. Alas, the plot came to a disappointing conclusion and it looks like we really will have to wait nearly a year before we can finally put this Timeless Child plot to bed. Just three specials to go.

Rating: 7 out of 10

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