DCEU Blog: Batgirl Cancelled, The Flash Ends And DC Studios A Go?

Well, if this hasn't been the most volatile of months for DC fans, I don't know what has been. A lot happened this month and a lot of it, not so good.

Let's talk about Batgirl, shall we? In the space of this month, it got cancelled (despite being in post production) for a tax write-off by David Zaslav, the directors were locked out of access of their own movie, a funeral screening was held and now its confined to a vault, never to be released. Not exactly a great precedent there, Zaslav.

Speaking of Zaslav, he did go on to mention a potential DC Studios with a possible ten year plan and that movies won't get released until they are done and he only wants sure fire hits, so possibly expect less experimental stuff moving forward for now.

However rumours of a DC Studios has Dan Lin as a potential candidate to run it. Lin was a producer on the ill fated Justice League Mortal movie as well as credits such as The Lego Batman Movie and Aladdin.

Ezra Miller has also had a meeting with WBD about their recent scandals and it seems for now they still have a job. The Flash movie has tested positive in test screenings and will for now make it's June 23rd 2023 release date.

Joker: Folie A Deux has officially been confirmed for an October 4th 2024 release date with filming due to begin in December. Joaquin Phoenix will reprise the title role with Lady Gaga as the new female lead while Zasie Beetz will also return as Sophie Dummond. Todd Phillips will direct from a script co-written with Scott Silver.

Mattson Tomlin will co-write the sequel for The Batman with Matt Reeves. Expect further developments on this movie over the next few months.

Yet again there are rumours of Henry Cavill appearing in Black Adam as Superman. I'll believe it when I see it but thought I should mention it nonetheless.

Shazam! Fury Of The Gods will now be released on March 17th 2023 while Aquaman And The Lost Kingdom will now take the December 25th 2023 release date instead. Blue Beetle for now remains on August 18th 2023 but don't be shocked if that gets moved as well.

CW wise, The Flash TV series upcoming ninth season will be it's last and comprise of 13 episodes. It'll air in 2023.

Both The Penguin and John Constantine (rumoured title) shows are rumoured to start filming in early 2023 for HBO Max. The former is a definite but the latter, given the way JJ Abrams is losing WB projects, I wouldn't be too confident just yet.

The Sandman was the number one title for Netflix in it's first three weeks of release. A second season has yet to be confirmed but hopefully it'll get it.

The third season of Stargirl premieres tonight on the CW. Given the dearth of promotion for the show, I wouldn't be optimistic about it going beyond this season.

Jordan Elsass will not be returning for the third season of Superman And Lois as Jonathan Kent and the role will be recast. Filming is due to start next month on the CW series.

Pennyworth has been strangely retitled Pennyworth: The Origins Of Batman's Butler and will premiere in October on HBO Max.

HBO Max will not be releasing Batman: Caped Crusader but the show is being shopped around with Netflix, Hulu and AppleTV apparently interested in the show. 

My Adventures With Superman is still being worked on, Harley Quinn has been renewed for a fourth season while the future of Young Justice has yet to be revealed.

Well, that was a jam packed month. What other hits can DC take? Will any rumoured projects go ahead? Here's hoping the next few months are more positive.

My Review of House Of The Dragon's 1x02: "The Rogue Prince"

 

Written by Ryan Condal

Directed by Greg Yaitanes

Daemon (to Corlys, re Viserys): "I will speak of my brother as I wish. You will not."

Into the second episode now and things are certainly moving at quite a pace. Time often does in this world bit we had something of a jump here where Viserys has gone from grieving over the loss of Aemma to ow being strong armed by his council into getting a new wife. The idea of Rhaenyra being a future queen really has threatened their delicate sensibilities, something which Rhaenys took immense satisfaction in pointing out.

Especially when it comes to both Otto Hightower and Corlys Velaryon aka the Sea Snake. Both men have had the same idea of using their daughters to get closer to the Iron Throne. Needless to say, at one of them actually succeeded with the idea while the other took their defeat rather poorly and threw their lot with Daemon by the end of this episode. It's not hard to guess who is it?

I am really glad that Viserys had the decency to turn down Lady Laena (Nova Foueillis-Mose) because watching both Corlys and Rhaenys trying to marry off their child to a man nearly four times her age was unsettling. Viserys at least had the sense to be against the idea and not go through with, even though it put him on shaky ground with the easily slighted Corlys.

Then there was Otto Hightower whose plans to get Alicent married to Viserys managed to pay off. Its still massively inappropriate but there was the sense in the episode that Alicent and Viserys genuinely cared for one another. However, I think we can all assume that Alicent's friendship with Rhaenyra has definitely gone down the drain along with the latter's chances of getting the Iron Throne.

Speaking of Rhaenyra, she has better instincts for the kingdom than her father does, which was why I think both Otto and Corlys and even Rhaenys were determined to undermine. You know who didn't though? Yup, the guy mad at being replaced by his niece, who even went as far as to steal a dragon egg and pretend that he took Mysaria for a wife and she was pregnant. 

Daemon had the perfect chance to kill Rhaenyra on the spot and he chose not to. He literally had the bigger dragon and army and yet, he listened to Rhaenyra and handed the egg back to her. Whatever issues he might have with Viserys, he undeniably respects both him and Rhaenyra. He wouldn't even let Corlys talk poorly of his brother in front of him.

Daemon and Corlys's  team up to one side, another lingering threat of this episode was the introduction of the Crab Feeder aka Prince Admiral Craghas Drahar causing trouble for Viserys and Corlys at the Stepstones. It's not quite White Walkers stuff but it's an interesting set of problems for the Kingdom outside of the more personal ones presented at the moment.

- The theme tune literally is Game Of Thrones all over again with the title sequence being somewhat similar, though with plenty of blood spilling. It looks great.

- Congrats on the show getting an early second season renewal. The ratings alone for the first episode were a record for HBO.

- Rhaenyra took Ser Criston Cooe as her Knight for the White Cloak Guards. She was mentioned to be fifteen while Laena was mentioned to be twelve. I assume Alicent is similar in age to Rhaenyra.

- Daemon's dragon is called Caraxes while Rhaenyra's is Syrax. Both have great entry scenes in this episode. Daemon has currently taken over Dragonstone. Laena also seemed interested in missing dragon, Vhagar.

- Viserys does seem to be rotting away as this episode had his finger in maggots in order to stop it from rotting completely.

- Chronology: Six months since the events of the first episode.

The Rogue Prince started off as a surprisingly slow episode and shorter than the opening one but in spite of pacing, things actually moved along faster than expected. I anticipated there would be a threat to Rhaenyra's claim to the Iron Throne and this episode presented several while Daemon's various shades make him a rather compelling character to watch.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 3x07: "Another Sharkley Adventure"

 

Written by Sarah Nevada Smith

Directed by Cecillia Aranovich & Jennifer Coyle & Mike Milo

Poison Ivy (re Bruce): "Oh shit. Okay, so there's that baggage you were talking about."

Selina: "I cannot be here when he wakes up."

Last week's episode took a change of pace and focused on the Joker becoming Mayor. This episode pretty ignored all of that in favour of three other storylines that all had their own merits. One of them being a much needed focus on King Shark.

As a character, King Shark hasn't had a lot to do this season. This episode finally gave him more spotlight following the death of his father and his brother, Prince Shark assuming the mantle of King now. Except that the Prince wanted to sell his Kingdom to Ocean Master and of course, King Shark wasn't having any of that.

It didn't take long for the brothers to fall out over their ancestral land being sold to Aquaman's brother and it didn't take much for King Shark to kill his brother as well. I guess this means he's now the river of his homeland, unless he can palm it off to someone else.

With that plot, taking up a good chunk of screen time, the other big storylines were more focused on Harley and Ivy coming up with ways to rescue Frank by kidnapping Bruce Wayne. However with Ivy being ill from trying too hard to connect with the Green, it was up to Harley to go and get Bruce all by herself. 

Of course that would've gone a bit smoother had Batgirl not been the clingy friend in which Harley tried to blow her off and Mad Hatter (Griffin Matthews) wasn't trying to control people again with those hats of his. Still though it was fun watching Harley and Batgirl working together though we can add Mad Hatter to the list of ever growing dead rogue gallery members.

As for Bruce Wayne, he was super annoying in this episode. Moping for Selina dumping him, being like a love sick puppy when she didn't show at the gala before getting himself tied up and gagged by Harley. I have to admit, the writing has been really bad for the character this season.

- Clayface is still using the Billy Bob Thornton look, even though the film has been completed.

- I'm with Nightwing regarding his comments on Selina. Again the writing for her has been the worst for the character.

- Tawny opened the episode with her show spotlighting a romance between Ratcatcher and one of his rats.

- Chronology: From where the last episode left off.

Another Sharkley Adventure hot the ground running with the three main plots. The strongest being the Harley, Batgirl and Mad Hatter but the King Shark and Bruce Wayne ones had their moments too.  A very engaging episode.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Sandman's 1x11: "Dream Of A Thousand Cats/Calliope"

 

Written by Catherine Smyth-McMullen

Directed by Hisko Husling & Louise Hooper

Calliope (to Richard): "All writers are liars."

And just like that, Netflix only went and served us another helping of this wonderful series. Well, two very different and affecting stories in one new episode. Now do one better, Netflix and serve us up a second season renewal already.

The first story of the piece ventured into animation territory.  Dream Of A Thousand Cats saw a young Tabby cat (Rosie Day) sneak out of the house of her owners (David Tennant and Georgia Tennant) with another cat in order to hear the tale of a Siamese cat (Sandra Oh) who shared a rather interesting secret about the former dynamic between humanity and the feline world.

Through her own flashbacks the Siamese cat talked of how her owners (Michael Sheen and Anna Lundberg) callously got rid of her kittens and how she ventured into the cat version of the Dreaming where she learned that once humanity were subservient to cats before they dreamed up the world the roles have been reversed.

The Siamese cat's hope was simple - to get enough cats to dream back the way things were but her audience seemed indifferent to her mission statement, minus the young Tabby who genuinely took her word and began to dream herself of cat paradise. Perhaps a world ran by cats might not be the worst outcome after all and I say this as someone who is more of a dog person.

The second story of the piece went back to live action and had something of a damning commentary on writers and their muses. Calliope focused on that particular Greek muse as played by the fantastic Melissanthi Mahut. In this story, Calliope found herself at the misfortune of two desperate writers, the first being Erasmus Fry (Derek Jacobi) who kept Calliope prisoner for sixty years and now hands her over to another desperate writer.

The second writer being a male feminist called Richard 'Ric' Madoc (Arthur Darvill) who at first seemed a little reluctant about keeping Calliope prisoner and even tried to placate her for inspiration until the threat of having to pay back money drove him into forcing himself on her for book material. Unfortunately his horrendous methods got him the inspiration he needed but his morality continued to plummet as the episode progressed.

With Calliope unable to appeal to Madoc's better nature and the Kindly Ones/Fates unable to intervene, Calliope's only chance for help was her ex-husband, Morpheus himself. We learned pretty fast their marriage ended badly and they lost a son, Orpheus but while Calliope was hesitant to seek out Morpheus's help, he actually did help her nonetheless.

Morpheus's punishment of Madoc by overwhelming him with enough ideas to drive him to absolute madness was a pretty inspired punishment and fitting for the story. It was hard to sympathise with Madoc but it was interesting to watch the dynamic between Calliope and Morpheus. Morpheus has proven that he's capable of positive change while Calliope was determined to make sure what happened to her would never happen ever again.

- This episode was released two weeks after Netflix dropped the first season. While I don't see Netflix going the weekly route with their shows, it's clear they're seeing the benefits of split releases as well.

- There has been a fair amount of Doctor Who actors who appeared in this show but this episode felt like the majority of the cast were. I would've loved to have seen David Tennant in a live action role.

- Arthur Darvill previously played by Rip Hunter in Legends Of Tomorrow. James McAvoy who voiced Golden-Haired Man also voiced Morpheus in the Audible version. Neil Gaiman himself voiced The Skull Crow.

- Chronology: 2018-2022 for the live action segment of the episode.

Dream Of A Thousand Cats/Calliope could've arguably been saved as the opening episode for a second season (seriously, Netflix, c'mon, you know you want to) but thematically, it does serve as a gorgeous epilogue to this first season. Two fantastic stories adapted seamlessly together into one of the best episodes we've had so far. I absolutely loved this one.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Stories: "Facelift"

 

Written by Manny Coto

Directed by Marcus Stokes

Fay (re Virginia): "She didn't deserve this."

Enid: "Can't you see? She never belonged here but you do."

It's been over twelve years since Nip/Tuck came to an end and to be perfectly honest, everything that happened in this episode could've easily made up a mini arc of sorts on the show. Welcome to the anti McNamara/Troy take on things.

Unsatisfied with ageing, in debt widow Virginia (Judith Light) finds herself being tempted by a facelift courtesy of a rival named Cassie (Cornelia Guest) who recommends her to a very mysterious plastic surgeon named Enid Perle (Rebecca Dayan). Initially Enid played hardball and refused to work on Virginia until the latter appeared at her most desperate to do whatever it took to look younger.

Needles to say, Virginia moved things around, ignored the advice of her sensible stepdaughter, Fay (Britt Lower) and went ahead with the surgery that Enid offered. Then Virginia spent the majority of the episode in bandages for both her face and hands and in a shit load of pain for added measure. Instinctively something should've told Virginia something was off with this set up but she got in deeper than ever.

Virginia got in so deep she even went to Enid's little mountain place in order to get her bandages removed and after rejecting Fay one too many times, Virginia was ultimately on her own. It turns out the not so good doctor literally turned Virginia into a pig woman and all because she was part of a group that worship beauty and a deity named Etain.

From there on in, it wasn't long before Virginia's attempts to escape were derailed by a former crush Bernie (Todd Waring) and got speared to death by everyone else in the process. Judith Light gave one hell of a performance as the desperate Virginia in spite of the character's mountain of misfortune throughout this whole episode.

As for Fay, she quickly went from being sad about her stepmother's death to embracing a life as part of the beautiful ones with a subtle glow up and a hunky would be love interest by the end of this episode. Yup, it did not take much to get Fay around that cult's way of thinking.

- This is the second episode in a row factoring a deity into the mix, though Etain is from Irish mythology.

- Maybe it's because of the premise of the episode but I was genuinely surprised we didn't get a nod of sorts to Nip/Tuck here.

- This episode was also intended to be the sixth and wasn't moved.

- Chronology: I'm assuming it's 2022 for this episode.

Facelift wasn't quite as strong as the previous episode but it was a solid enough tale with strong performances from Judith Light, Rebecca Dayan and Britt Lower and Dayan set to return to the main show, I'm hoping that Light and Lower won't be far behind.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Sandman's 1x10: "Lost Hearts"

 

Written by Jay Franklin

Directed by Louise Hooper

Desire: "Oh, poor Dream. I really got under your skin this time, didn't I? Next time I'll draw blood."

Well, this was a finale that resolved one threat a little too quickly in some respects, another in a nice case of self sacrifice while at the same time neatly setting up two further threats in the hopes that Netflix may actually grant a second season. We can only hope, right?

First of all, the Corinthian. He's been a strong antagonist for most of the season with this episode being the only second on screen encounter he's had with his creator. In this episode he tried his hardest to push Rose further into getting rid of Morpheus while also inspiring the Collectors to really see themselves.

Unfortunately for the Corinthian, Rose wasn't as easy to get on board as he had hoped and Morpheus seemed to dispatch of him a little too quickly while giving the Collectors a harsh wake up call on their true nature. On the other hand, while the Corinthian's death was a tiny bit anticlimactic, this episode also hinted at a very likely reimagining of the character next time around.

Slightly more satisfying however was the resolution to the Vortex storyline. Having Unity take in the Vortex in order to spare Rose from death seemed like a very obvious thing to do but it actually worked well from a dramatic perspective. Perhaps we'll see Unity Kinkaid again. I do think we'll likely see Rose and especially Lyta, given that the latter gave birth and Morpheus will likely make good on his promise.

As for the threats set up, it was Desire who got Unity back in the day in order to take out the Dreaming. For a character who has had about five minutes worth of screen time in the four episodes they've appeared in, I have to give Mason Alexander Park props for really bringing Desire to life here. The rivalry between Desire and Dream can only intensify more.

As for Lucifer, this episode decided to check in on them and yes, they're still smarting from Morpheus's defeat of them. It's why Lucifer was keen on making God livid by listening to the Lords Of Hell's plans to expand the place. Looks like Morpheus will have two major problems if this show does manage to get a second season.

- Both Destiny and Delirium were mentioned in this episode. Surely both of those characters must be a shoe in for a second season.

- Rose went on to write a fantasy book while her and Jed moved in with Lyta, the baby, Hal and Carl. Zelda and Chantel bought Hal's B&B.

- Morpheus showed willingness to change by giving Lucienne more responsibility and even letting Gault become a Dream while Fiddler's Green resumed their natural form. 

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Lost Hearts served as a strong finale to an impressive first season. Easily one of the best Netflix shows we've had this year and I'm hoping it'll be back considering that there are plenty of others stories that can and should be translated on to the show.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Sandman's 1x09: "Collectors"

 

Written by Vanessa James Benton

Directed by Coralie Fargeat

The Corinthian: "Hello Rose. Don't worry, you're safe with me."

Oh, look, it's a cereal convention episode. A whole episode discussing the merits of Coco Pops, Rice Krispies, Corn Flakes and so on. Wait, what do you mean, that cereal means serial killer convention? What kind of false advertising is this? 

Anyways, the Corinthian and Jed have made their way to that convention and for the most part, Jed seemed blissfully unaware of the fact that Fun Land was a bit more than a friendly weirdo before witnessing his new friend and others killing a wannabe serial killer.

Yes, it turned out that the Boogieman (Lewis Reeves) aka Phil Sitz doesn't have quite the body count his reputation would have believed. In fact I'm sure he doesn't have a body count full stop and that he's little more than a fanboy with a deep thirst for The Corinthian. Needless to say, it didn't end well for Phil but the Corinthian was too busy making himself known to Rose than finishing up on Phil this week.

Then there's Rose and Jed. They properly reunited in this episode, managed to get away from an overeager Fun Land and then found themselves cornered off by the Corinthian. On top of that, we also found out that the rather helpful Gilbert was in fact Fiddler's Green and it's looking more and more likely that Rose might have to die in order to prevent worlds from shattering even further.

When the episode wasn't getting the Corinthian to his own goals, it was also doing a great job in creating a rift between Morpheus and Rose. The latter didn't take to Morpheus removing Hector from Lyta and she certainly didn't take kindly to Morpheus's threat of coming for Lyta's unborn child at some point. Morpheus really does have form for pissing the wrong people off.

On the other hand, he did show some character growth by apologising to Lucienne and he certainly seemed more forgiving of Fiddler's Green/Gilbert than he was with Gault in the previous episode. Perhaps he might be more willing to work with Rose in order to deal with their Corinthian style problem in the next episode.

- Seeing the various breakdowns in serial killers at the convention was interesting. That religion section though. 

- I think we got ourselves a Superman and Static Shock cameo of sorts when Jed was watching cartoons in his hotel room.

- I do find it nice that both Matthew and Merv each managed to get both Morpheus and Lucienne back on speaking terms with one another.

- Chronology: From where the previous one left off with the action mainly in Georgia. 

Collectors had some serious fun with the cereal conventions tropes as the Corinthian felt right at home, Rose and Jed finally united and Morpheus realised that he had to deal with both the vortex and getting people on side. 

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of House Of The Dragon's 1x01: "The Heirs Of The Dragon"

 

Written by Ryan Condal

Directed by Miguel Sapochnik

Viserys: "I've decided to name a new heir."

Daemon: "I'm your heir."

Viserys: "Not anymore."

It's been a little over three years since the divisive ending for Game Of Thrones and with one spin-off idea not making it past a pilot episode which never aired, can this prequel series (based on the book Fire & Blood) fare much better? Going by this opening episode alone, it's chances are somewhat decent.

Set nearly two hundred years before the death of the Mad King, the Monarch in question here, King Jaehaerys Targaryen (Michael Carter) has chosen his heir - grandson, Viserys (Paddy Considine), much to the disappointment of his granddaughter, Princess Rhaenys (Eve Best), the cousin of Viserys. To be fair, Viserys turns out to be a decent ruler but this episode also quickly established that he himself would need an heir as time moved rather fast in this opening episode.

Quickly there were two candidates assumed for this coveted role. The first being Viserys younger and more volatile brother,Prince Daemon (Matt Smith) and the other, a potential son from Viserys's wife, Aemma Arryn (Sian Brooke), only for tragedy and a brutal medieval C-section that resulted in the deaths of both mother and son.

With Daemon vastly overplaying his hand and saying the wrong words in front of the wrong people, Viserys turned his attention towards neglected daughter, Princess Rhaenyra (Milly Alcock) to assume the Iron Throne and given the way things are, it probably won't be too long before she might succeed her own father for the least envied position in the seven kingdoms.

This opening episode does a strong job of getting to the nitty gritty of everything important. Viserys allowed his pride to consume in certain ways (his wife's fate, his brother's machinations and his counsel perhaps not having his best interests at heart) but he was smart enough to realise his daughter was likely his best heir and even informed her of certain future events that their mere mention was enough to remind where this show. Not to mention a certain cut on Viserys's back cant be good for his long term health.

While this episode was certainly front and centre with it's Targaryen clan and at least two dragons, other characters did stand out. We had Viserys's scheming hand, Otto Hightower (Rhys Ifans) and his daughter, Alicent (Emily Carey) along with low born Dornish hunk/knight Ser Criston Cole (Fabien Frankel), Daemon's lover, Mysaria (Sonya Mizuno) and Rhaenys's husband, Lord Corlys Velaryon (Steve Touissaint), all of whom made a strong enough impression and helped fleshed out the goings on in King's Landing with the Targaryens.

- No flashy opening sequence so far for the series but the closing credits did use some very familiar music to again remind viewers the world they were re-entering. Emma D'Arcy who will play Rhaenyra later in the season did the opening narration.

- We had Starks and Baratheons in this episode with mentions of Westeros and Winterfell along with hints of the arrival of a certain season and the doom it will bring about.

- This show will apparently have a lot of dragons but here we just met the dragons owned by Rhaenyra and Daemon. Their scenes together certainly had a degree of tension to them.

- Daemon really does seem to despise his wife, who I assume we'll be meeting sooner than later. There's also a rivalry set up here with him and Criston.

- The most brutal moments of the episode outside of Aemma's death were Daemon's punishment for criminals with the Gold Cloaks as well as most of the tourney tbh. 

- Chronology: 172 years before the birth of Daenerys Targaryen. Nine years passed within the episode itself. 

The Heirs Of The Dragon kicked things off to a modest enough start but make no mistake, this show very much is picking up from where Game Of Thrones left off. The characters might not grab you as instantly as the previous series did but they definitely leave a strong impression and certain characters remind me of certain characters from that show too. With nine episodes left to go, I'm expecting bigger and badder stuff to happen as our characters get deeper into their own ambitions and play the game.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Sandman's 1x08: "Playing House"

 

Written by Alexander Newman-Wise

Directed by Andres Baiz

Morpheus: "Time to wake up, Jed Walker."

Okay, if there was an episode that highlighted just how needlessly harsh Morpheus can be, it's definitely this one. I mean, even Lucienne, his biggest enabler seemed to have opposed the way he handled the situation with Gault (Ann Ogbomo/Andi Osho).

Let's talk about Gault, shall we? If the Corinthian become obsessed with taking his work into the waking world, the Gault's determination to change her profession provided something of a nice contrast. Shes a Nightmare who wants to be a Dream. A Nightmare who instead of making a traumatised young boy's life worse, she tried to make it better. How are we not supposed to root for her?

Gault genuinely cared about Jed and in his dreams, she let him be his own Sandman, complete with superhero attire, going up against the baddies that he couldn't in the waking world. I absolutely believed her when she talked about wanting to be a source of inspiration. How Morpheus dealt with her and the punishment he inflicted on Gault was beyond harsh. Saying that though, it's not the first time this season we've seen Morpheus being needlessly cruel.

He started the episode willing to help Rose locate Jed but the moment he got his true aim in Gault, he abandoned her. I got to say that seems to be an unwise thing to do, considering that Rose's Vortex abilities are getting stronger and she's now jumping into her friends dreams to boot. Those friends of hers have some rather interesting dreams, don't they?

For example, Lyta's inability to have moved on from Hector intensified with this one. She dreamed about being pregnant with Hector's child and now in the waking world, she's actually pregnant. Has Rose's influence made that happen? And if Rose can influence a dream/ghost pregnancy with her friend, then Morpheus really should be worried and not get on her bad side.

As for Jed, it was hard not to sympathise with him. Barnaby was an evil brute and Clarice, while clearly terrified of her husband also did nothing to stop him from terrorising Jed. You know things are bad when even the Corinthian seems like a safer option for Jed than Barnaby and Clarice. Not surprisingly enough, the Corinthian did take Jed in order to draw Rose to him.

- Hal seems to have mommy issues, Ken was naked and terrified Barbie would leave him, Barbie had a doglike friend named Martin Tenbones (Lenny Henry) while Zelda spent time at a graveyard and Chantel spoke about making laws in their dreams.

- Some nice mention of characters such as Pied Piper and Doctor Death in this one, who became a part of Jed's rogues gallery in his dreams.

- Rose mistook Matthew for a crow at one point in this episode and the Corinthian killed three characters in this one in his bid to get to Rose and Jed.

- Chronology: Where the previous episode left off with the action mainly in Cape Kennedy.

Playing House very much moved things along and with two episodes left, we've got this Vortex storyline, an inevitable confrontation between both Morpheus and Corinthian along with Rose and Jed reuniting for real. This was a very strong episode with the ante very much getting upped here.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Embiggen Y'all

Yup, this one I should've done a bit earlier and there's two shows starting/concluding that I will talk about next month but here's a rundown of stuff I've been watching. 

Ms. Marvel: With the next show having already debuted on Disney+, I should talk about this six part series that wrapped up over a month ago. It might not have been as big a hot as previous MCU shows but this series did what it needed to do in terms of getting Kamala Khan's origin story off the ground and setting the character up for her big screen debut in The Marvels next year. Iman Vellani did a great job as Kamala, her supporting cast were great, the Clandenstines made for an okay group of baddies and it was nice to get a brief appearance from Carol Danvers to boot.

Stranger Things: Netflix coming to the realisation that going down the split season route with big shows and having a big pay off for them might be the very thing to help them out of the doldrums they're currently. The finale two episodes of the fourth season of this show basically played out like two movies with all the separate groups almost converging on one another in order to take Vecna was stunning. Sure we lost Eddie, Max is in a coma and both Will and Eleven know that worse will come but this was a fantastic way to end what has easily been the best season of the show we've had so far. The expectations for the show's final season are definitely higher than ever now.

The Boys: Season 3 just about managed to prove that while Soldier Boy isn't worse than Homelander, he's not that far off. Both of them being related certainly made a lot of sense along with Ryan siding with his father after Billy's treatment of him earlier this season. This season ended with Homelander being untouchable, Maeve gone, Starlight fully joining the Boys and Billy possibly on the way out. And then there was the Herogasm event that while tamer than the source material itself still managed to be a rather shocking episode.

The Flash: Season 8 ended on a somewhat decent note and now that the end really is nigh, overall this has been a very disjointed season. Reverse Flash got recycled again, Fast Track did nothing of note and who know what Chillblaine brought back from the dead in lieu of Frost. Not to mention Iris's time sickness storyline which dragged out for too long and Cecile being overpowered as a character. I really hope the last season can end this show on a decent note.

The Thing About Pam: In a nutshell, this limited series seemed like Renee Zellweger's attempt to bag herself an Emmy nomination but tonally it was a bit too Dateline meets Desperate Housewives that it jarred a bit. Zellweger did give a good performance as killer Pamela Hupp who murdered her best friend (among others) and tried her best to get away, only to get caught in the end. It's not the strongest limited series you'll watch this year but the six episodes do fly by, so it has that in it's favour.

• Sarah Michelle Gellar will be a regular in upcoming sequel series Wolf Pack for Paramount+ as well as an executive producer.
• Russell Tovey, Zachary Quinto, Sandra Bernhard and Isaac Cole Powell will feature in the upcoming eleventh season of American Horror Story.
• And Just Like That  will see John Corbett reprise his role as Aidan for it's upcoming second season.
• Neve Campbell and  Steven Pasquale have joined the cast of David E. Kelley's ABC series, Avalon.
• Yellowjackets have added Lauren Ambrose, Simone Kessell and Elijah Wood to it's cast for it's second season.
• Dan Levy has joined the cast for Sex Education's fourth season.
• Tom Hollander, Calista Flockhart, Diane Lane and Chloe Sevigny have joined the cast for FX's Feud: Capote's Women.
• Why Women Kill has been cancelled after two seasons.
• Rory Culkin will feature in the sixth season of Black Mirror.
• Kirby Howell-Baptiste and Colin Farrell wil star in upcoming Apple+ series, Sugar.
• Monarch, the country music series starring Susan Sarandon for FOX will feature country music legends.
• BBC/Showtime will make the Gothic thriller The Woman In The Wall, starring Ruth Wilson and Darryl McCormack.
• Only Murders In The Building  has been renewed for a third season.

My Review of Harley Quinn's 3x06: "Joker: The Killing Vote"

 

Written by Conner Shin

Directed by Joonki Park

Joker: "I'm running for Mayor."

Remember back in the second season where both Harley and Ivy sat an episode out and the focus was on Batman getting back into the game. Well, this time around, it's about the Joker and his newfound political ambitions. Yes really.

Joker has settled into a relationship with Bethany and seems to genuinely see her children, Sophia and Benicio as his own, so he wanted the best for the best for them. The best being a dual lingo programme that Debbie stood in the way of for his step children.

The old Joker would've killed Debbie without thinking twice about it. This Joker instead decided to run for Mayor and posed enough of a threat to Gordon's mess of a campaign that Two-Face had to kidnap Benicio in order to get the Joker to drop out of. The Joker chose family over political ambition until Gordon basically handed him a win.

Simply put, with minimal efforts, some street parties with cash to give away and Gordon being just utterly useless, it was an easy win for Joker. After all, Gotham has had worse mayors and he's a changed man, right? Surely nothing can go wrong with this choice.

As for Harley and Ivy, they're back from New Orleans, worse for wear and seemingly no closer in their quest to find Frank. Of course there are four remaining episodes left this season to bring that storyline to a conclusion, so I didn't mind it being on the back burner this week.

- We got some clear shades/dialogue from Batman 89, The Dark Knight and Joker here. Debbie's a bigger pain for Joker than Batman was.

- Even Barbara thought that Joker could do a better job as the Mayor than her own father. Unsurprisingly enough, Two-Face did kill the former mayor.

- The title is a play on a certain comic and the third act of the episode somewhat subverts that comic too. 

- Chronology: Four days since Harley and Ivy's adventures in New Orleans.

Joker: The Killing Vote not only gave us a bit of a breather from the main plot this season but had a lot of fun with the sitcom aspect of Joker's new life to boot. For a character who has been overexposed a lot and will continue to do so, this was the most inventive someone has been with him for a while now.

Rating:8 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Stories: "Bloody Mary"

 

Written by Angela L. Harvey

Directed by SJ Main Munoz

Bloody Mary (to Bianca): "You have set me free."

So far this season we've had living dolls, ghost showing security apps, a serial killer and a very gross cure for smallpox. Now as we enter the second half of the season, how about a new spin on a very good and bloody tale.

Yup, it's time for Bloody Mary (Dominique Jackson) but not quite as you know it. Four girls on a sleepover decide to light a candle and summon Bloody Mary. Needless to say, the consequences for the girls in question are particularly dire. It seems when you make a request to Bloody Mary, you better do as she says. Or should you?

The girls in question being sister duo Bianca (Quvenzhane Wallis) and Elise (Raven Scott) along with the latter's friends, Lena (Kyla Drew) and Maggie (Kyanna Simone), all of whom had certain desires. Bianca wanted to go to Yale but would have to accuse a guidance counselor of rape, while Lena would have to cripple her cheer captain to take her place and Maggie would have to post a rival's nudes in order to get her ex-boyfriend back. I'll get to Elise's wish in a bit.

The three girls in question were tempted to go through these bad deeds in order to get what they truly desired but one by one, none of them could actually do it. It's a testament to the girls themselves but unfortunately choosing to do the right didn't help Maggie and Lena as both of them ended up dead soon after failing to follow Bloody Mary's orders.

Except that it wasn't Bloody Mary who killed Maggie and Lena. It turned out that Elise wasn't as strong to resist and the reveal of her working with Bloody Mary to get her desire for security and power meant that Bianca ended up killing her sister by accident, freeing Bloody Mary from her prison and assuming her place as the new Bloody Mary in return.

As twists went, it's a pretty satisfying but unfortunate one for Bianca. As for Bloody Mary, her backstory revealed she had been a slave who misused Mami Wata's powers for revenge, spilled the wrong blood and paid for her misdeeds. With her newfound freedom and a sense of self reflection, perhaps she can avoid history repeating itself. As for Bianca, she's got a lot of desperate souls at her control.

- This is the second magical themed episode we've had this season. Will we get a third?

- Mami Wata was often described as a water spirit, usually female though sometimes male. We didn't see her in the episode however.

- Dominique Jackson is now the latest actor from Pose to appear in this franchise. I'm hoping she appears in the main show at some point.

- Chronology: 2022 for most of this episode along with 19th century flashbacks for Bloody Mary's origins.

Bloody Mary took an all too familiar and did something truly interesting and different with it. Dominique Jackson did a fantastic job in the screen time she had and was suitably creepy while the episode itself didn't vilify the legend either. The young cast were also fantastic to watch. A bloody triumph.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of The Sandman's 1x07: "The Doll's House"

 

Written by Heather Bellson

Directed by Andres Baiz

Rose (to Morpheus/Lucienne): "Excuse me, I am Rose Walker. What do you know of my brother, Jed?"

Having met the character for the briefest of moments in 24/7, the importance of one Rose Walker was only made apparent with the first few minutes of this episode. In flashbacks we saw Rose and her mother being separated from younger brother, Jed (Eddie Karanja) out of spite by Rose's father. In the present day, finding Jed had become Rose's number one priority.

Fortunately for Rose, while her mother might no longer be alive, she has a team of people, all of whom want to help her in her quest to reunite with her younger brother. First of all, being neighbour/surrogate mother type, Lyta Hall (Razane Jammal), a kind woman still mourning the loss of her husband Hector (Lloyd Everitt). Lyta's rapport with Rose was rather endearing to watch in this episode. 

Then there was the mysterious Unity Kinkaid (Sandra James-Young). We had met the character back in the opening episode as a victim of the sleepy sickness but here, it was revealed that she was Rose's great grandmother and she was more than keen to help Rose find Jed. This was help that Rose readily accepted too.

The last group of allies that Rose had included B&B owner/drag queen Hal (John Cameron Mitchell) and his band of guests including glamorous couple Barbie (Lily Travers) and Ken (Richard Fleeshman), goth duo Chantel (Daisy Badger) and Zelda (Cara Horgan), all of whom were likable enough. Then there was the mysterious, Gilbert (Stephen Fry), whose brief encounter with Rose definitely had more to it than it appeared to.

As for Jed, he tried and failed to escape from some abusive foster parents while Rose found herself entering the Dreaming and conversing with both Morpheus and Lucienne. The latter had been more concerned with Rose being The Vortex than the former, and let's just say they're not the only ones invested in Rose's destiny.

Yup, Desire seemed very keen on the potential damage Rose could cause the Dreaming and specifically, Morpheus, something which took delight in discussing with their twin, Despair (Donna Preston). Of course, the Corinthian also had a vested interest in seeking out Rose but found his attentions diverted by three serial killers, Nimrod (Kerry Shale), Fun Land (Danny Kirrane) and The Good Doctor (Jill Winternitz) who wanted him for their serial killer convention. Seriously, a lot happened in this one.

- The Corinthian slept with but seemingly didn't kill Rose's other friend, Carl (Ben Wiggins). Aside from the Corinthian, both Gault and Fiddler's Green had abandoned the Dreaming.

- Desire revealed their involvement with both Nada and Roderick Burgess against Morpheus. We also met properly Dreaming janitor, Mervyn the Pumpkinhead (Mark Hamill).

- We also got to see Abel and Goldie, the Fates and a picture of Judy in this one too. 

- Chronology: Both in 2015 and 2021. Various places including Florida, New Jersey, Sussex and Alabama. 

The Doll's House was certainly a very busy episode and while not as strong as the previous two, it did a great job with setting up Rose's story and introducing several interesting characters into the mix. This final arc with the Vortex should be an explosive way to round out this first season.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of The Sandman's 1x06: "The Sound Of Her Wings"

Written by Lauren Bello

Directed by Mairzee Almas

Hob: "You're late."

Morpheus: "It seems I owe you an apology. I've always heard it was impolite to keep ones friends waiting."

Now we're into the second half of the season and Morpheus should be pleased with himself. He's gotten his tools back, taken out some threats but with this episode, we find him moping while feeding the birds in the park. Fortunately he's got at least one sibling to cheer him up.

The sibling in question being of course, Death (Kirby Howell-Baptiste) and for an Endless that you would want to be hesitant to be around, she's easily the most likable of the bunch. We had to wait six episodes to actually meet her and I really hope there's more to see in the remaining four of the season.

Death was determined to snap Morpheus out of his funk and encourage him to make a new game for himself while taking him along to see her at work, and that was so,thing we saw a lot of here. If the previous episodes were gory with their kills, this one was more on the poignant side of things as Death explained why she liked her job without sounding like a psychopath.

The deaths in question ranged from an old Jewish man dying peacefully in his home to a baby also slipping away in between certain adults also dying in a variety of ways (drowning, drug overdose, being hit by a car etc). Death talked about taking pride in her work, gave Morpheus the advice he needed to hear and of course, her story also crossed into one of a man who refused to die.

Enter Robert 'Hob' Gadling (Ferdinand Kingsley) a man so determined not to follow the crowd that even death wasn't an option for him, which even Death herself seemed to admire. In a period spanning over 600 years, not only did Hob not die, bur he struck up a friendship with Dream, loved and lost his wife and children, had beenmboth poor and rich at different points in his life and almost got himself killed by Lady Johanna Constantine (Jenna Coleman).

On top of that his friendship with Morpheus almost came to an about end when he dared to label their meetings in one specific pub as a friendship but as the episode unfolded, it was clear that Morpheus felt the same way. The last scene where the two reunited in The New Inn was a wonderful way to cap off this episode. 

- Desire made another last scene appearance in this episode to summon Despair to come to their domain. Morpheus and Death talked about missing sibling as well.

- We met briefly William Shaxberd (Samuel Blenkins) who struck their own deal with Morpheus. 

- Standout music: Bob Moses and Zhu's Desire.

- Chronology: 1389-2022 for this episode, concerning Morpheus's interactions with Death and Hob.

The Sound Of Her Wings was another beauty of an episode. Both Death and Hob were fantastic to watch, both in their scenes with Morpheus and as individuals. I would've loved to have seen the two of them interact but I'm guessing that won't for a while. As for Desire scheming against their brother, I cant wait to see these siblings clash.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of The Sandman's 1x05: "24/7"

 

Written by Ameni Rozsa

Directed by Jamie Childs

John Dee (to Morpheus): "Your life and your lies end now."

We're now at the halfway point of this season and this episode adopted a classic from the comics and brought it on to the small screen in such an intimate and foreboding way. One diner. Six characters. True feelings brought to the front. The result: absolute chaos.

I knew that by sparing Rosemary from the previous episode, John Dee would do something to counterbalance it and like David Thewlis's other DC character, Ares, this episode had Dee simply use the ruby to let the truth come out. Sometimes maybe honesty isn't the best policy. 

Our six characters here were aspiring writer/waitress Bette (Emma Duncan) who had a crush on her boss, Marsh (Steven Brand) while also playing a role in getting Mark (Laurie Davidson) to be interviewed by Vanguard couple Kate (Lourdes Faberes) and Garry (James Udom) as well as Judy (Daisy Head). These characters all managed to connect with each other as John's influence also tore them asunder.

The effects of seeing these characters bare their souls made for a beautifully character driven episode. We saw Bette's horror in realising Marsh preferring having sex with her son while she herself would then seek comfort with Judy, whose relationship with Donna had been damaged beyond repair. Bette was also the only one who could really see the danger that John posed to them all, even if it didn't help her in the end.

Then there was Kate and Garry, whose unequal relationship was taking it's toll on the pair of them. This resulted in Kate having sex with Mark and Garry likewise with Marsh. Then we had Mark kill Garry in a fight and as the episode unfolded, all of the diners managed to kill each other. This amount of chaos also brought Morpheus back into the mix.

The battle of wits between Morpheus and John Dee certainly had it's twists and turns with both Tom Sturridge and David Thewlis delivering exceptional performances. Dee's comeuppance was done in a particularly gratifying way to the damage his actions caused here while Morpheus's own victory might be under threat with his sibling, Desire (Mason Alexander Park) making their presence known at the end.

- The episode briefly introduced Rose Walker (Kyo Ra), who Judy had a phone conversation with when she was looking for Donna.

- Both versions of Ethel Cripps and the Fates appeared to terrorise John in this episode. 

- Standout music: U.S. Girls Red Comes In Many Shades.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off and again, New York.

24/7 was an exceptional piece of writing. The show has been so enjoyable to watch but this episode really hit the right spot. Fantastic guest characters, a brilliant showdown between Morpheus and Dee and the sense of more chaos to unfold. Brilliant.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of The Sandman's 1x04: "A Hope In Hell"

 

Written by Austin Guzman

Directed by Jamie Childs

Lucifer: "One day, Morpheus we shall destroy you."

Morpheus: "Until that day, Lightbringer."

With the previous episode's ending, this really did take us all the way to the depths of Hell where both Morpheus and Matthew the Raven had an audience with Lucifer Morningstar (Gwendoline Christie) themselves and let's just say that while Morpheus earned himself a victory in retrieving his helm, he also managed to incur the wrath of Lucifer to boot. 

It was less than a year ago when Netflix brought Tom Ellis's version of Lucifer to an end, so getting another version of the character so soon in the DC universe and one so removed from that version too was a bit of a treat. Gwendoline Christie really did eat up her scenes with Tom Sturridge, but in a rather understated way, delivering a quiet menace to Lucifer.

Morpheus's helm had been in the possession of a demon named Choronzon (Munya Chawawa) who had refused to hand it over until Morpheus took on Lucifer, something which the latter was only too delighted to agree. We didn't get a physical fight between Morpheus and Lucifer, more a battle of wills as the pair used their imagination to think of various ways to outdo the other.

In the end though, it was hope that was the ultimate victor with Lucifer being horrified at Morpheus for playing that particular card in their domain. Will Lucifer follow through on their threat to kill Morpheus? I don't doubt that they're going to give it a very good try to be fair.

Of course with Morpheus getting back his helm and Matthew being the one who basically saved him in Hell, it was time to get the ruby back. On the plus side, Morpheus found his ruby. The downside however would be that it no longer worked for him and John Dee had also returned to retrieve it as well. That nicely set up Morpheus's next challenge.

Speaking of John Dee, his subplot with Rosemary (Sarah Niles) was very intense. Several moments in this episode, I genuinely though Dee was going to kill the poor woman and her dog, Susie, so when he gave her the protection amulet, I was genuinely surprised. I think in her own way and most'y because she was honest about her feelings, Dee spared her. Unfortunately for the next person Dee encounters, he likely won't be so thoughtful.

- One of Morpheus's former lovers, a tribeswoman named Nada (Deborah Oyelade) had been banished to Hell because she defied Morpheus. 

- We briefly got to see Lucifer's right hand woman, Mazikeem (Cassie Clare) while both the Corinthian Lucienne sat out this episode.

- Morpheus mentioned both Tartarus and Hades here for Wonder Woman fans.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off. It was just Hell and Buffalo, New York too.

A Hope In Hell certainly presented it's challenges for Morpheus and the show's depiction of Hell certainly looked satisfying enough  with Gwendoline Christie putting in a strong performance as Lucifer while David Thewlis continued to compel as John Dee.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Stories: "Milkmaids"

 

Written by Our Lady J

Directed by Alonso Alvarez

Pastor Walter (to Thomas): "Never trust a milkmaid."

Er, actually if this episode was anything to go by, it's more a murderous child that you shouldn't be trusting. The milkmaids in question were actually trying to do some good for their smallpox infected village. Too bad no one actually bothered to listen to them.

Yes, the milkmaids included a current prostitute named Celeste (Julia Schlaepfer) who had sex with the absolutely abhorrent Pastor Walter (Seth Gabel) who spurned her once he had seen her sores and pusses while at the same time also being talked into another cure for smallpox by grief stricken father, Thomas Brown (Cody Fern).

The cures for smallpox in this episode were either puss by Celeste or eating smallpox victims hearts. Neither was a particularly appealing prospect but in terms of characters, this was an episode where the male characters were anything but sympathetic. Walter aside, both Thomas and his psychopath son, Edward (Ian Sharkey) also had their terrible moments.

As the episode unfolded we learned that Thomas was married to Celeste and took Edward away from her and when Celeste reunited with the latter, she ended up dead as a result. Not to mention that Thomas was willing to kill Celeste when he realised that she was involved with fellow milkmaid and woman of science, Delilah (Addison Timlin).

The romance with Celeste and Delilah was the better part of the episode. Some great chemistry with the two of them as we saw a newish take on the faith vs. science debate regarding the smallpox plotline. Too bad that the relationship ended on a deadly note.

As for the smallpox plot, it was done decently and hopefully by doing it here, it'll likely stop the main series from doing something more current. However given some of the rumours circling the upcoming season, this might not be the only time we see this sort of theme in this franchise.

- This episode was meant to be the seventh one this season but got moved up. I'm still not sure why episde have been shuffled this year.

- This episode was written by Pose scribe Our Lady J while Julia Schlaepfer played Alice in The Politician.

- For some reason, this episode wasn't online this morning but at least it got released a few hours later.

- Chronology: 1757 New England.

Milkmaids definitely had some really gory moments that made me glad that I wasn't eating anything at the time. Gory stuff aside, its definitely the strongest one since the opening episode and this season has continued to show an improvement.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 3x05: "It's A Swamp Thing"

 

Written by Rachel Pegram

Directed by Vinton Heuck

Constantine (to Harley/Ivy/Nora): "I hear you're looking for a thing down in a swamp. Might I be of service?"

You really can't keep a certain Hellblazer down for too long, huh? With The Sandman having Jenna Coleman playing two versions of Constantine, it was also time for another animated appearance from Matt Ryan to enjoy.

Now his appearance here isn't the main feature of this episode. John's appearance was more of a means to get to Swamp Thing (Sam Richardson) as Harley, Ivy and a fairly intolerable Nora Fries met the bloke in a bar, got super drunk with him and then left him to nurse a hangover while they went to the swamp so a certain someone could help them find Frank.

Needless to say, it didn't pan out too well to begin with as Nora hooked up with Alec Holland and then dumped him when he appeared to be a bit clingy (something of a theme in this episode) and then we had both Ivy and Swamp Thing mulling over their past friendship before reaching a compromise. Naturally, Ivy's abilities to find Frank was inside her all along.

Speaking of Frank, yup, we learned that Bruce Wayne has him and wants to find out what Ivy has done to him. At least that mystery got quickly solved but I'm starting to dislike this show's portrayal of Bruce/Batman. Also as someone who genuinely does like the Bat/Cat romance, this show's depiction of it has got to be the worst version in any continuity I've ever seen.

Catwoman has been portrayed as such an unlikable character that when this episode actually had Bruce and Selina break up during a therapy session with Music Meister (Larry Owens), it was something of a relief. I'd be fine if the character didn't reappear for the rest of the season. 

- While John didn't interact with King Shark (boo), he was later seen wearing a blue t-shirt about taking a shark. I hope we see Constantine again in the show.

- I'm not sure why Bruce thought gifting Selina two cats named after his dead parents was such a smart idea.

- The show seems to be struggling with both Clayface and King Shark at the moment.

- Chronology: From where the last one left off.

It's A Swamp Thing does get points for it's title guest character, one of my favourite characters briefly appearing but it also loses points for the Bat/Cat stuff and far too much of Nora Fries than needed for this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of The Sandman's 1x03: "Dream A Little Dream Of Me"

 

Written by Jim Campolongo

Directed by Jamie Childs

Johanna Constantine (to the demon): "Run along and fuck off back to hell."

Morpheus: "You have no idea what you have done."

Johanna Constantine: "I do though. I have just tripled my fee."

You wait a while for more Constantine content and you get enough all at once. With Matt Ryan set to appear in the Harley Quinn series and the HBO Max show apparently still going ahead (I'll believe it when it actually gets released), a right issues meant that John Constantine was off-limits for this show. However his ancestor, Johanna Constantine was up for grabs and a gender swapped version of John has also turned out to be fair game too.

Let's make no mistake, the Johanna Constantine we saw in this episode was in fact a female version of John Constantine, complete with a variation of his backstory and some of his ex-lovers to boot, as well as his most tragic mistake and encounter with the Sandman. That's fine, because throughout the episode it actually worked better than I expected.

Now I'm not gonna deny that a part of me would've loved to see Matt Ryan reprise his role on this show or even had Taron Egerton (who voiced John in the Audible version) on here but credit to Jenna Coleman, I think she did a fantastic job of nailing the core mechanics of the character. I can even see why some are now lobbying for a spin-off for the character, though I wouldn't expect it to happen.

In this episode, we saw Johanna getting a call from her mate, Erica (Meera Syal) or Ric the Vic about a clandestine wedding between a royal family member and a fit but shit footballer. Needless to say one of the pair happened to be housing the demon, one that Morpheus wanted to talk to before Johanna sent it on it's merry way to hell. While Morpheus might not have been pleased about Johanna's actions, he did manage to however persuade her to help him retrieve his sand.

The sand in question being left with Johanna's ex-girlfriend Rachel and because it's Constantine, you can easily tell that things were going to go to hell for Rachel due to her exposure of the sand. At least Morpheus gave Rachel a peaceful death and Constantine herself seemed to renew a little faith in humanity in Morpheus. The latter then ended the episode by taking his new raven, Matthew (Patton Oswalt) to hell in order to get information on his missing helm.

As for Ethel and John Dee, their story took another interesting turn. Ethel spent most of the episode resolute that her murderous son should remain a prisoner, only to sacrifice her life, give him her protection amulet as he escaped his prison after learning the truth about his father. Not so coincidentally, John Dee also had a chance encounter with the Corinthian, who was encouraging of Dee making his destination.

- In this episode alone we saw Johanna lose Astra (but not her arm) to the Newcastle incident, had a Mucous Membrane poster and even the proper way to pronounce Constantine as well. Also mentions of exes such as Sarah, Oliver and Kit Ryan along with Chas and Renee.

- Ethel talked about living for 116 years before she passed on her amulet to John. The latter also mentioned that the ruby only works for him now.

- Mad Hettie (Clare Higgins) appeared in this episode, mostly to warn Johanna of Morpheus looking for her. She's 280 years old. 

- Chronology: The episode went between London, UK and Buffalo, New York.

Dream A Little Dream Of Me made for an extremely satisfying use of Johanna Constantine and her scenes with everyone was truly fun to watch. Yes, there's a part of that would've preferred John but the show managed to make Johanna just as well and even Morpheus had his softer moments too. One of the best episodes so far.

Rating: 9 out of 10