My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 3x02: "There Are Worse Things Than Murder"

Written by Angela Robinson
Directed by Zetna Fuentes

Connor (to Irene): "I did what you did. Killed a guy and I didn't have as good an excuse as you but I did it and I got away with it."

Oh dear, Connor, now why would you go and say something like that? If that little moment of madness doesn't come back to bite him in the backside later in the season, I'll be genuinely surprised but that reckless confession aside, this episode more or less gave me all the feels and I'll refrain from using that cringey term now.

On one hand you've got Connor and Oliver's break up. The same break up where they were still living together, supporting each other on their career paths and even shared a kiss. Really, why couldn't they have gotten back together? Mainly because Oliver needs more time, so Connor decided to move in with Michaela by the end of this one.

This week, Oliver started working for Annalise and Connor led a case against an abused wife named Irene Crawley who killed her husband and has served 32 years of her life for the price of her freedom. The case looked like a complete lost cause and Connor being put in charge initially led to disaster until his confession moment changed everything in Irene's stance.

While it's nice that Connor won the case and there was some realistic moments (things didn't go swimmingly for him), still it was an incredibly dumb thing for him to confess to a complete stranger that he was responsible for another person's life being taken. Technically Connor you haven'#t actually murdered anyone but you've certainly covered up a dead body or two though.

As for Oliver, aside from the fact that he was adorably nervous for his first day working for Annalise, the better news is that in the flash forwards, it was revealed that he was actually alive. Each episode is promising to rule out a potential victim, so I'm expecting the next few to rule out each of the Keating Five as well. Of course, Oliver is now having to wipe incriminating phones while watching Annalise being arrested by the police.

As for the rest of the episode, I found Annalise and Bonnie's team up to use Laurel to ensnare Frank to be an interesting move. A predictable one maybe but it definitely makes sense to do this. Speaking of Frank, this week he was too busy fooling Nate about his location when he wasn't disposing of the hitman that Annalise sent after him.

- I found it adorable that the rest of the Keating 5 didn't turn on Oliver but they certainly did assume the worst of Connor though.
- Simon Drake is turning into an amusing mini-antagonist for the Keating 5. I did love Connor shooting him down though. Connor's lack of reaction to Asher/Michaela also highlighted his upset over Oliver too. Both Michaela and Megga pointed out some race comments in this one too.
- The board predictably tried to suspend/fire Annalise over the 'killer' posters and even better was Annalise threatening to publicly shame them if they did. And we're gonna meet Laurel's father again?
- Chronology, not long from where We're Good People Now left off.

I absolutely loved this episode. The case was genuinely interesting and even broken up, we got so much Connor/Oliver goodness onscreen whether it was together or seperately and with Oliver being alive, we at least have narrowed down the body by one. I genuinely don't believe any of the Keating 5 are going to end up dead.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 3x02: "Sin That Amend"

Written by Cherien Dabis & Carlito Rodriguez
Directed by Craig Brewer

Jamal: "That man was being so polite."
Cookie: "I don't trust polite people, stupid."

I have to admit that last week's episode didn't really pull me in and wasn't exactly the show at it's best but this episode certainly was a step in the right direction.

First of all, the best moment this week was seeing Jamal, Andre and Hakeem all together in one scene. Okay, that's hardly unusual but the reason why the scene stood out more so this week was because all three of them acknowledge their current problems and promise among themselves to get themselves back together. Then the episode ended on that note.

Seeing Andre getting arrested by two asshole cops at the end of this episode was something I could do without. Given the current political climate, I can see why the writers went with this storyline though and given that Andre was doing was just simply collecting the rest of his things from his old home made it even tougher to watch.

Another brilliant moment for Andre this week though was his scene with Cookie. Cookie's never been able to deal with his bipolar (despite her best attempts at trying) but I loved seeing her trying to reach out to him this week, even if her mind was elsewhere.

Cookie had something of a balancing act this week. When she wasn't resisting Lucious's OTT attempts of wooing her back (and going over past history in flashbacks), she was also trying to get Jamal back on track with his music and butting heads with friendly politician, Angelo (Taye Diggs), who by the end of the episode even managed to rub Lucious up the wrong way as well.

I do like that Cookie is still standing her ground with Lucious, even though I am seriously loving the flashbacks between the two of them. Their history continues to be such a compelling part of the show, even if Cookie is better off not letting Lucious back into her life and with Angelo around, Lucious will probably have another obstacle in his mission to get Cookie back too.

- It's pretty obvious the show plans to go somewhere with Hakeem/Nessa too as they've set Shyne up as an obstacle for them. I kind of love that Anika is afraid of Leah as well. We also heard Rhonda and Becky could be on the way out if she listens to her boyfriend.
- Tariq's webcam in the bear plot came to an abrupt end. I did like his inclusion in the Lucious/Cookie flashbacks. Angelo is also the new Berry too, right?
- Standout music in this one was Hakeem/Nessa's Remember My Name and Biz Markie's Just A Friend.
- Chronology, not long from where Light Into Darkness left off.

This was a far better episode than last week's opening one. Sin That Amend had some glorious character interactions, better music and the flashbacks were superb. Good one, show.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Story: Roanoke: Chapter 3

Written by James Wong
Directed by Jennifer Lynch

Matt: "What did you do?"
Shelby: "I don't know what you're talking about."

After last week's non event of an episode, this one finally cranked things up a notch with a nice backstory and a gory death to boot, along with our protagonists being terribly divided with each other towards the end.

First of all - the death. Nope, it wasn't Flora who is very much alive and with Priscilla but it was of course, her father Mason. Mason is one of those character who was obviously going to die but even I'm surprised with how quickly he was dispatched of here and in the manner too. His death while not shown onscreen was certainly gory and the episode ended up with Lee predictably arrested for the deed she probably did not commit.

The less predictable aspect was the fact that Shelby called the police on her sister in law but after seeing her husband have sex with feral witch Gaga in the woods probably influenced her decision to rat out Lee. Seeing Shelby with a bit of a nasty side was certainly a shock but after the underwhelming previous episode, things certainly jolted here.

We finally got a backstory for Kathy Bates menacing Colony leader - Thomasin White, also known as the Butcher and wife of John White. It seems her people and son (Wes Bently's Ambrose White) grew tired of her poor leadership and decided to send her to the woods to starve to death, only for Enchantress 2.0, I mean Gaga to feed her a heart and claim her soul, resulting in Thomasin coming back stronger and more malicious than ever.

Bates simply works in the villain role and strange accent aside, delivered here with more substantial dialogue and stuff. Her confrontations in this episode with Shelby, Matt, Lee and Leslie Jordan's medium, Cricket (that hair though) were certainly a highlight as was Cricket himself. While I do find that medium types like him can be objectionable people in some regards, the character certainly brightened up some scenes when he wasn't filling in Thomasin's backstory and confirming that Flora is alive too.

The narration scenes in this episode seemed to exposing some more cracks between our three heroes. With Lee, she certainly tensed up a lot when recalling the events and thanks to the interviewer of the piece, we also learned that she had another daughter named Emily that she lost as well.

- Although we didn't see him onscreen, Cheyenne Jackson was the one interviewing Shelby/Matt/Lee this week. Still have yet to see Evan Peters and Finn Wittrock and get a title sequence.
- The word 'Croatoan' got bandied about this week but it didn't have that much effect though.
- Some Coven vibes were felt from this one as well with Gaga's character and Thomasin having to wear that head piece as punishment.
- Apparently the sixth episode will turn this season on it's head, but I'm guessing the shock will be that our narrators aren't so reliable.

Chapter 3 certainly improved on things a little. After last week's non event, this episode managed to up the creepy content, give us some actual answers and show us other sides to our heroes as well. Not to mention that Kathy Bates makes for an excellent villain of the piece.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Gotham's 3x02: "Burn The Witch"

Written by Ken Woodruff
Directed by Danny Cannon

Ivy (to stranger): "Something happened. I changed. Grew. I'm different, inside and out."

Last week saw the somewhat 'death' of Ivy Pepper and departure of Clare Foley from the role and this week saw the origin of Poison Ivy and the debut of Maggie Geha in the role. However, despite this week's episode title being about another prominent female character and the focus being on that character, it was the newly changed Ivy that generated the most attention and interestingly so.

Emerging from the waters, a little scattered brained at first, Ivy went to a random stranger's house who made the mistake of trying to help by her. Said stranger asks her a few necessary questions, comments on her beauty (which surprises Ivy) but makes the cardinal error of throwing away a withering plant, which later becomes the very thing that Ivy killed said bloke with.

I know the changing of actresses and ageing the character has been something of a divisive thing but to be honest as much as I'll miss Foley in the role, I do think Maggie Geha is off to a promising start. If the show can show a little restraint and not go overkill on the temptress angle with Ivy, then there's some real potential here to do something really interesting with the character.

How Ivy will go on to interact with the rest of the characters now, I'm not sure. I know there's an upcoming plot with Bruce we could all do without but other than that, I do wonder will she cross paths with the likes of Oswald, Nygma, Barbara and Tabitha as well as Selina once again. Either way, I'm interested to see where the show will now go with the character.

As for the main plot itself, once again both Gordon and Valerie worked together in order to 'catch' Fish, only this time around, it was Valerie who kind of got the better with Jim. I did notice that like with Leslie back in the second half of the first season, the writers just threw Gordon and Valerie together. Speaking of Leslie, she popped up right at the end just at the very moment when Gordon decided to move as is often the case with television shows these days and romantic entanglements.

Getting back to Fish though, I guess it's a good thing the episode didn't kill her off. It would've been the easiest thing to do but ultimately would've made her return completely pointless to boot. That being said, Oswald did come close to taking her out before she managed to manipulate him (without using her powers). Fish also made off with Hugo Strange when she wasn't holding Bullock hostage, so there's another future plot brewing there.

I have to admit, it's a good thing this freak plot hasn't been overdrawn. The mini-arc mantra the show's been adopting since last season has worked in it's favour but with Fish out of the city, I guess it's time to move on a little. Except for the fact that Alfred and Bruce have just encountered the latter's clone and there's still the sort of threat of the Court of Owls (never officially confirmed onscreen) in the background too.

- A few absences with Selina, Nygma and Tabitha sitting in this episode out. Maggie Geha has also been promoted to regular status. Barbara also popped up briefly to wind up Gordon and Valerie.
- Given the way that Oswald has been managing to rile citizens these last two episodes, I know which plot they're going to do next with him.
- Owls lady has a name - it's Katherine. She also promised Bruce that he wouldn't see her again but somehow, I doubt that.
- Chronology, not long from where Better To Reign In Hell left off. Next week, Mad Hatter time.

A solid episode but nothing too extraordinary either. Burn The Witch might have focused on a literal witch hunt for Fish but it was really Ivy and the four minutes of screen time that I think most people will remember about this one, along with that last scene with Bruce and his double.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Class - Everything You Need To Know

It's less than a month to go but finally, some concrete information in relation to upcoming BBC3 series and Doctor Who spin-off, Class has been confirmed as yesterday the cast and crew took part in a Facebook chat. Here's what we now know for definite.

- The characters are Miss Quill (Katherine Kelly), a physics teacher with maybe an evil streak, the hapless leader and gay Charlie (Greg Austin), the passionate and caring Ram (Fady Elsayed), wise and mentally strong, April (Sophie Hopkins) and child prodigy Tanya (Vivian Oparah).
- The characters are charged by the Doctor to take care of a great responsibility against some alien creatures.
- Expect a gay sex scene in the third episode and also expect this show to be quite bloody in parts.
- The first two episodes will drop on BBC3 from October 22nd. They are titled For Tonight We Might Die and The Coach With The Dragon Tattoo.
- BBCAmerica however will not air the series until 2017 as they are pairing it with the tenth series of Doctor Who. Canada however plan to air it to coincide with UK transmission.
- Peter Capaldi will be appearing in the first episode as the Doctor.
- Other cast members include Jordan Renzo, Pooky Quesnel, Nigel Betts, Anna Schaffer, Paul Marc Davies and Shannon Murray.
- Lucky people can see the first episode from October 20th at Class World Premiere in Shoreditch, London.

A trailer for the series however seems to be a bit further off but one will be seen at NYCC from October 5th-7th, which the cast are attending for the BBCAmerica panel. There will also be a Doctor Who panel with Peter Capaldi, Pearl Mackie and Matt Lucas in attendance with some exclusive footage for the year's Christmas special and Series 10. Speaking of the Christmas special, it's been confirmed that Matt Lucas will be appearing in it as Nardole and that it will be directed by Ed Bazelgette (The Girl Who Died and The Woman Who Lived) and so far, that's all that's been confirmed.

Press Release: http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/articles/5MzbR5LJXbTVKtTR5bn4VHQ/6-things-you-need-to-know-about-class

Class airs Saturdays on BBC3 from October 22nd and will air on BBCAmerica from Spring 2017. Filming for Doctor Who's tenth series continues.

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 3x01: "We're Good People Now"

Written by Peter Nowalk
Directed by Bill D'Elia

Annalise (to the Keating 5): "We're good people now. Say it to yourself until you believe it.”

Continuing with the onslaught of catching up with new shows, the third season of ABC's popular crime series came back with an interesting bang, a shock (unknown) death, a break up and several interesting flashbacks and one of the better cases of the week.

The flashbacks first are somewhat scattered but over the course of the summer, you've got Annalise and Wes realising that Frank somewhat set them up with the Wallace Mahoney public shooting, but it led to a scene where the two of them exorcised that particular demon and came to peace with one another, which was nice.

The other flashbacks though, ranged from Annalise giving Laurel an ultimatum to cut Frank out of their lives (which Laurel seemed to actually do), promising Connor not to give Oliver a job (which she later went back on), refusing to loan the newly poor Asher any money and helping Michaela out of a DUI as well.

In the present day though, there were bigger problems to be had. First of all, Oliver did ask for a job from Annalise, managed to bag one and then dumped Connor when the latter didn't blow up over Oliver sabotaging his attempts to get to Stanford last season. I have to admit, I found the break up scene with Connor and Oliver somewhat odd but right now, seperating them might be a good thing. I do however hope that it's not a pernament one though.

Of course the big buzz about this episode was the body found in the Keating house at the end. Who's come a cropper this time? Is it Frank? Nate? Oliver? Wes's new girlfriend? Someone else? Either way, it generated a pretty strong reaction from Annalise and this season is apparently promising that every episode until the mid-season finale will rule out a potential victim as well.

As for the main case of the week, it was one of the better ones we've had. We had an immigrant named Kareem taking the fall for his daughter's possession charge and despite some moments where it looked like Michaela and Wes were going to crack the case, things went pear shaped towards the end of things. It's still one of the better cases we've had though.

As for Frank, well he's certainly in no-one's good books these days. Even Annalise had an unsuccessful attempt to take him out, which also makes me wonder if he won't be the body found. Then again, I'm not sure how he can get back into Annalise's good books after the events of last season though.

- Mr Drake, the fellow law student in the class and Wes's second in command seems to be a non fan of the Keating 5, who not so shockingly are the lowest scoring members in Annalise's actual class.
- Nice to have Lauren Velez on the show as Soraya. I hope the show utilises her well before she leaves. I also don't think Frank is the one sending the 'killer' posters to Annalise.
- What Frank has lost in hair. Connor seems to have gained a little. Annalise seems to have a new look as well.
- Excluding flashbacks, we've jumped ahead four months since the events of Anna Mae.

One of the stronger opening episodes I've seen this week. We're Good People Now saw Annalise wanting to change a new leaf but things slipping back into murky territory once again. I'm curious as to whom the body will end (please not Oliver) being.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Empire's 3x01: "Light Into Darkness"

Written by Malcolm Spellman And Joshua Allen
Directed by Sanaa Hamri

Lucious (to Bella): "Wait til we show them how dark hell can get."

And this one certainly started off darkly too. Last season we had the cliffhanger of Anika and Rhonda about to go over and one of them certainly did. Because there was no way this show was going to murder a pregnant woman, it was Rhonda who ended up taking the fatal dive and died within the first two minutes of the episode.

My thoughts - damn it! I really liked Rhonda and thought her and Andre were a great team and regardless of it being an 'accident', this makes Anika a killer in respects. Anika already caused Rhonda to miscarry and now she caused Rhonda's death and having Lucious cover it up as a suicide adds further insult to injury along with the lack of an onscreen funeral.

However we did get to see Rhonda haunting a distressed Andre towards the end of the episode and I'm hoping that Andre exacts some revenge on Anika within the first half of the season. Speaking of Anika, she gave birth to a girl named Bella and was forced to move in with Lucious in order to make the marriage convincing, which only further enraged Cookie and Hakeem in the process.

I'm not surprised that Lucious claimed Bella as his own and it's certainly leading to a battle of sorts with him and Hakeem but I'm also intrigued to see how dark Lucious can actually make hell because he's done quite a bit of that in the previous two seasons. As for his half-brother, Tariq, I'm not big on the character. Right now, he just seems a bit annoying and will inevitably fail to get Lucious though he did succeed in needling everyone else during that dinner scene.

As for Cookie, this wasn't her best episode. While she had some lovely moments with her sons and sisters, most of the episode was her just sniping at Lucious for marrying Anika. I do think she made a good decision by trying to put some distance between her and Lucious and not rising too much to Tariq's taunts though.

As for Jamal, I like that they're continuing on with his trauma but at the same time, he's willing to forgive and even help Freda while pulling Lucious apart (nothing different there but still great to see). I also seeing him working with Shyne's daughter, Nessa during this episode as well. Oh and when Hakeem wasn't trying it on with Tiana, he also seemed enamoured with Nessa as well.

- New regulars this season are Morocco Omari (Tariq), Xzibit (Shyne) and Bre-Z (Freda). Kaitlin Doubleday is now a special guest star.
- I think they're setting up a moment where Leah might actually pose a danger to Anika later in the season.
- There was a time jump in this episode, given that we skipped Rhonda's funeral and Jamal shaved his hair. We also got flashbacks to younger versions of Lucious, Cookie, Carol and Candace.
- Standout music in this episode included Jamal's Need Freedom with Nessa.

We've had stronger opening episodes but Light Into Darkness was a good way of getting things started. I'm sad to see Rhonda go but I'm hoping her death will spur Andre into action against Anika. As for the new regulars, so far I'm a little meh on them.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Story: Roanoke: "Chapter 2"

Written by Tim Minear
Directed by Michael Goi

Flora (to Lee/Mason, re Priscilla): "They're going to kill us all and save me for last."

Week two of the creepy house in North Carolina and things are not moving as fast I kind of hoped they would do. While there are still some nice jump moments and the talking heads/re-enactment stuff still holds up well, this really should've advanced things better than it had.

On the plus side, we did get a glimpse of Kathy Bates leading a tribe of colony folk with both Wes Bentley and Lady Gaga at her side. Shelby observed them placing a pig's head on some unfortunate bloke before burning him alive before legging it out of there when she startled Bates's savage character.

Of course, despite reporting this to the police, they proved once again to be ineffectual but at least Shelby wasn't the only one having strange encounters in this episode. Lee was getting to see entrails all over the house with blood when her daughter Flora wasn't talking about her not so imaginary friend Priscilla wanting to kill them all.

Needless to say, that certainly soured things between Lee and her ex-husband. Lee then taking Flora and the child going missing as part of the cliffhanger. Not bad stuff but the sort of thing you could see coming a mile off though.

On the plus side, at least we also got some more screen time for Denis O'Hare this week. We learned that his character is called Dr Elias Cunningham, who moved into the house to research a book on a group of murdering sisters/nurses named Bridget/Miranda (Matt encountered one of their crimes in a dream) and quickly moved into a smelly cellar when shit got too creepy for him.

If you were hoping that the show would at least try to come up with a reason for Shelby and Matt to be stuck in that house, then this episode offered one. It seemed that thanks to that dodgy realtor/banker, they can't leave the house without selling the thing. It's not the greatest reason but it does at least make some sense though.

- Still no opening credits. FX's secrecy with the marketing this season is starting to grate now. It's not maintaining the mystery in a good way.
- Evan Peters, Matt Bomer and Cheyenne Jackson still have to show up, not to mention we don't have names for Kathy Bates, Lady Gaga or Wes Bentley's characters.
- Why don't Shelby and Matt try taking photographs of their strange encounters?
- The nods to Murder House seem apparent every episode now, don't they?

Chapter 2 really could've benefited from pushing things a little forward. I do like the new format but unlike last week, I found my attention drifting at times. The characters need to be a bit smarter. Lee in particular this week was monumentally reckless with bringing Flora back to the house.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Gotham's 3x01: "Better To Reign In Hell"

Written by John Stephens
Directed by Danny Cannon

Nygma (to Oswald): "Details can be distracting. Sometimes a simple solution is best, so no matter what she's planning, just remember, penguins eat fish."

Ah, yes, that piece of information that every viewer of this show deduced back in 2014 when the series debuted and we were glimpsing the dynamic between Oswald Cobblepot and Fish Mooney. Of course, it was nice of Edward to reiterate the point during his brief encounter with his pal whilst still being stuck in Arkham.

Speaking of Oswald, my love for the character knows no bounds and this episode sure as hell maintained. Whether it was just him being an actual friend to Nygma (fanservice or not, their dynamic is fantastic), reminding Tabitha repeatedly that Butch's affections for her are keeping her alive, quibbling with Barbara over club ownership or even highlighting the GCPD's spectacular incompetence, he had a lot of moments worth getting into with this episode.

Of course, it was his obsession with figuring out Fish's next plan and trying to take her out that was his main priority in this episode. His machinations with that one put both Gordon and new reporter gal, Valerie Vale (Jamie Chung getting more screen time here than she has in Once Upon A Time) in each other's orbits but truthfully, Oswald might be the least of Fish's problems right now.

It seems that her newly acquired powers come with a price and the one she's paying is imminent death. I like that there's an obvious consequence to Hugo Strange's meddling with science for Fish and her band of mutants but at the same time, it might a bit of a cop out if she does eventually peg it though. We at least need another confrontation between her and Oswald before that probably happens too.

However with Fish being a problem for enough characters this episode, we had the pairing of Gordon and Valerie and it's an okay enough pairing. Valerie has a decent charm to her as a character but Gordon is as crap a bounty hunter as he was a cop with most of his plans going spectacularly awry yet again. His antics in this episode resulted in Peabody getting kidnapped by Fish's men before being aged to death by Marv for good measure. A fate that also kind of befell Ivy who unwisely incurred Fish's wrath towards the end of this episode but she's not gone from the game just yet.

As for the rest of the episode - Barbara and Tabitha with their own nightclub has potential. I still don't really care for them as a couple (from an LGBT perspective, other DC shows have done so much better) but I did like them mostly standing on their own ground with the mob squad trying to muscle in on them though.

Then there's Bruce. First of all, his doppelganger was skulking about the place, spying on him but not really aware of his existence (though he managed to freak out Ivy). I'm guessing he won't be too long for the series either if all the other experiments are on the way out too. However, the real Bruce managed to get himself kidnapped by the Court of Owls after his little outburst at Wayne Enterprises. Someone really needs to do something about the security at Wayne Manor right about now.

- Barnes is back as Captain and Lucius has joined the GCPD. Gordon initially tried to get back with Leslie but balked when he realised she had moved on with Mario Falcone.
- Valerie Vale is the aunt of Vicki Vale (who I assume we'll meet later in the season).
- Selina really does know how to flit from groups of characters to other groups of characters and do it so effortlessly. Babs and Tabs nightclub is called Sirens by the way.
- It's been six months since the events of Transference. This season's subtitle for now is Mad City.

A solid and engaging premiere episode. Better To Reign In Hell certainly felt more like a set up piece and while it arguably had too much going on in some parts, it was nonetheless as enjoyable and as bonkers as we've become accustomed to with this series.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of American Horror Story: Roanoke: "Chapter 1"

Written by Ryan Murphy And Brad Falchuk
Directed by Bradley Buecker

Shelby: "Humans respond to fear in two simple ways. Fight or flight. There's no shame in getting the hell out of the way."

With all the secrecy surrounding this season, I've decided to change things up. Instead of recaps, I'll do a more traditional review for the new season and after months of waiting, we finally know (for the most part) what exactly this new season is actually about and it's certainly a bit of a departure from seasons before.

Told in a Paranormal Activity documentary style, My Roanoke Nightmare focuses on an interracial couple named Shelby (Lily Rabe), a yoga teacher and Matt Miller (Andre Holland), a pharmaceutical rep who along with the latter's former cop sister, Lee (Adina Porter) recalls the events of the couple buying a farmhouse in North Carolina, in Roanoke and the crazy goings on that came with it.

Here's where it goes all documentary style. Rabe, Holland and Porter are recalling the events but it's actually being seen via Sarah Paulson (as Shelby), Cuba Gooding Jr (as Matt) and Angela Bassett (as Lee) within the events themselves as Shelby and Matt deal with some unhelpful locals and one too many crazy event throughout the hour long premiere episode.

For instance, Shelby herself witnesses a hailstorm of teeth, is nearly drowned in a hot tub by a ghostly Colony woman (Kathy Bates) whom she later hit with her car and even got locked in the basement with her sister in law to watch a video of a terrified man (Denis O'Hare) being hunted before stumbling into the woods and encountering some scary locals, which also included Wes Bentley as the episode came to a swift end. By comparison, husband Matt almost fared a little better.

There's a sense of this season trying to recapture the 'innocence' of sorts that it had when the show debuted in 2011. Shelby and Matt are similar enough to Ben and Vivian from the first season but somewhat a little more likeable and happier together as they deal with the loss of a baby, Matt being assaulted by a gang of thugs and moving from the city back to country. It also helps that both Sarah Paulson and Cuba Gooding Jr have great chemistry with each other as well.

This opening episode certainly took a slower pace than seasons past and by not having too many cast members all at once, I think it maintained it's focus a little better. Needless to say, all the praise in the world needs to be heaped onto Sarah Paulson/Lily Rabe, Cuba Gooding Jr/Andre Holland and Angela Bassett/Adina Porter but even with the scantest amount of screen time, Kathy Bates was pretty unsettling as well. I can't wait to see where the rest of this season is going,

- We didn't get the title sequence as such for this episode but both Evan Peters and Cheyenne Jackson are regulars this season. Matt Bomer and Lady Gaga are recurring. Oh and Chaz Bono made a brief cameo in this one.
- Roanoke (the official title) was actually mentioned back in the first season and I'm curious to see if this season will references former years like Freak Show and Hotel did.
- Sarah Paulson and Cuba Gooding Jr were also on The People V. OJ Simpson earlier this year. Paulson will be appearing in Feud next year as well.
- Now that the mystery is out of the way, I hope we get some proper cast pictures/trailers for this season.

An intriguing start to the new season. Chapter 1 certainly feels like the show starting from scratch all over again and it's documentary/real life events style format worked well enough for this opening episode, though whether it can be sustained I'm not sure. I do like that they scaled back on some of their more overt excesses as well for this episode too though I'm sure things will undoubtedly get crazier as we progress into the season.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Moffat vs Barrowman: Is Torchwood Being Blocked?

Well, the end of last week certainly gave us fans of Torchwood something to chew as John Barrowman gave people a clue as to why the series has not been on the air since Miracle Day aired back in 2011.

According to John Barrowman at a recent convention, it seems that "certain egos" have stopped the popular spin-off (currently revived in audio form, via Big Finish) from returning to BBC1. In fact, Barrowman's comments seemed to be aimed at current/imminently departing Doctor Who showrunner Steven Moffat playing some role in Torchwood not being brought back with even a suggestion of Barrowman also having a meal with Chris Chibnall about the show's possible television return. Needless to say, certain fans ran with this on social media and piled it on Steven Moffat with the latter forced to make a response.

Moffat's response being this ....

“To be very clear – I haven't blocked it; I wouldn't block it; I wouldn't even be ABLE to block it. I didn't even know a revival had been mooted till I read about it on the Internet. 
“As John perfectly well knows, it's not my show and I could no more prevent it happening that he could cancel Sherlock. I am bewildered, and a little cross, even to be included in this conversation.”
“For the record, I really liked the show (especially the third series) and would be very happy to see more – monsters and mayhem, why not?” 
“But the fact is, it has nothing to do with me. Please pass this on to the anxious and the angry – I've had enough hate mail now.”

My own thoughts on this debacle ....

I don’t blame Moffat and I feel bad that he had to state this. It should be obvious to anyone with a brain cell that he has no control or say over Torchwood, including John Barrowman himself. I get that people don’t like Moffat and his era of Doctor Who but the bile he gets from time to time crosses a line and this was another time it did that. I like Barrowman but the guy seriously needs to get a grip. If the BBC want to bring back Torchwood, they will but his constant pestering them and slagging them at conventions certainly isn’t going to do his cause any favours.

Right now, Torchwood isn't coming back and while it's divided some fans, Class is the only foreseeable spin off for now.

Press Release: http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2016-09-14/steven-moffat-is-a-little-cross-with-john-barrowman-after-suggestions-hes-blocking-the-torchwood-revival

Doctor Who is currently filming it's Christmas special. Torchwood is currently in audio form, courtesy of Big Finish.

Every Inch The Queen

We're into September and we're back into the swing of many things both debuting and returning, so here's a look at some of the things I've watched lately.

Newzoids: I sort of missed this one last year, bar seeing a few of the sketches on YouTube but last week, I watched the first episode of Series 2 along with The X Factor. Well, it's an interesting and amusing enough modern version of Spitting Image and a somewhat more successful version of Headcases from a few years back. The targets are current (Will & Kate, Tom & Taylor, Trump, BBC rivals etc) and the jokes virtually write themselves but for a half hour programme, it's pretty diverting nonetheless.

Orange Is The New Black: I effectively blitzed through nine episodes the last time I talked about this show and can I just say how much I fucking loved this season? Easily the best we've had so far with some genuinely great flashbacks episodes (Lolly, Maritza, Poussey, Bailey, Suzanne), one hell of a comedown for Piper, the amusing antics of Judy King and Black Cindy and the more serious problems of overcrowding, growing racial tensions and the worst CO's we've ever seen in Litchfield along with the death of a beloved character and a prison riot with one hell of a cliffhanger. On a nicer note, it's also great to have Nicky and Sophia back into the mix as well.

Stranger Things: The most hyped show of 2016 and while it took me a little while, I did get around to finishing the series off. By now, everyone knows that a second season (along with all the titles) has been announced but the second half of the show's debut year upped the ante as the gang and Eleven worked with the adults to bring back Will. I did like that we got more details on the sheriff's family life and Joyce somewhat improved as a character along with Nancy's boyfriend, whom the show managed to humanise a bit more. It'll be interesting to see where things go in the second season though.

Victoria: In her first major role post Clara Oswald, Jenna Coleman has swapped the BBC for ITV. A TARDIS for a palace and being an immortalised school teacher to being a young queen at the beginning of her ruling. Three episodes in and ITV's latest regal smash is certainly trying it's best to fill the void left by Downton Abbey's ending and for the most part, it's a success. Coleman is excellent as the young Victoria and she's ably supported by a great cast, notably Rufus Sewell's Lord Melbourne. While there's certainly a sense of writer Daisy Goodwin playing fast and loose with historical factor and while the downstairs staff are a little hit and miss at times, this is certainly some excellent Sunday night viewing, even with Poldark proving to be some stark competition.

Young Hyacinth: For the last fortnight, the BBC have been on sitcom revival fever. Already we've had updated versions of Are You Being Served, Porridge, Goodnight Sweetheart but Young Hyacinth possibly stood out that little more for the fact that it was a prequel unlike the others. With Kerry Howard taking on the role of everyone's favourite snob, this opening episode certainly took a little getting used to but it was certainly fun and despite needing a few tweaks here and there, I wouldn't mind seeing this one actually become a series more than anything else.

- Tobias Menzies has signed up for a leading role in upcoming AMC anthology series, The Terror.
- Tyrant, Devious Maids and Mistresses have all been cancelled.
- Mariah Carey will be playing a character named Kitty in Empire's third season.
- FOX have commissioned a pilot for Greg Berlanti's Black Lightning series.
- Grey's Anatomy will tackle domestic violence in the new season.
- Kara Royster will be guesting in an episode of Supernatural.
- Richard Madden will star in Amazon's sci-fi pilot, Strange New Things.
- Meryl Streep and JJ Abrams will be working together on a series named The Nix.
- Zayn Malik and Dick Wolf will be producing a boyband drama named Boys for NBC.
- Narcos has been renewed for a third and fourth season respectively.

Channel 4's Commissions The Bisexual

If Fleabag wasn't enough for your female British centred comedy needs, then Channel 4 are stepping in with a show titled, The Bisexual.

Created by and starring Desiree Akhavan, the series sees a young woman named Leila move from New York, following a break up with her girlfriend, Sadie to London where she flat shares with a young man named Gabe who becomes her wingman as she navigates dating men.

The synopsis for the show goes onto explain that the lead character will go through the hells of dating while also "brimming with weird and wonky slices of urban life only apparent to those living on a temporary work visa, struggling to keep up with the discrepancy between what the English say versus how they actually feel."

Going by the synopsis, the show certainly has potential and we all know that Channel 4 have a good history with various LGBT series in the past. The series is also co-written by Cecilia Frugiuele and produced by Naomi de Pear.

Press Release: http://www.cultbox.co.uk/news/headlines/channel-4-orders-new-comedy-series-the-bisexual

The Bisexual will air on Channel 4 soon.

First Look: Finding Prince Charming

If you ever wanted to see a gay version of The Bachelor, well you're in luck as US cable station Logo TV are here to cater to that particular need.

Finding Prince Charming is basically the same thing as the popular ABC show, only this time around it's thirteen strapping looking blokes all vying for the attention of the Charming of the show - in this case, entrepreneur and activist, Robert Sepúlveda Jr. In fact the series itself isn't too different from The Bachelor with each of the lads fighting to win Robert's attention and Robert himself enjoying the attention of the gorgeous guys on display in his bid to find the one.

Hosting the series will be former N'Sync singer, Lance Bass and it's certainly clear going from the press he's been doing for the show along with the dashing Robert that he's enjoying the role as host for the series. I'm going to link the official site where you can watch trailers for the show, interviews with the Charming man himself and of course, the also lovely suitors for the show as well. The show looks trashy but certainly watchable though.

Official Site: http://www.logotv.com/shows/finding-prince-charming

Finding Prince Charming airs Thursdays at 9pm on Logo from September 8th. No UK broadcaster has been confirmed for the series.

My Review of Batman: Bad Blood (2016)

Written by J.M. DeMatteis
Directed by Jay Oliva

Batwoman: "Just because I wear this, doesn't mean I'm a part of your little cult."

It's been a decade since the most infamous and associated version of Batwoman made her debut in the comics and while we're still due to see either a small or big screen version of the character at some point, this original animated feature made for an impressive debut.

Voiced by former Chuck actress, Yvonne Strahovski, this story works as both an impressive ensemble and a debut for Kate Kane into the animated movie fold as the character's backstory is told succinctly through flashbacks while in the present day, Batwoman is reluctant to join the gang comprising of Nightwing pretending to be Batman (Sean Maher) and er, the Damian Wayne version of Robin (Stuart Allen) who are on the hunt for the missing Bruce Wayne (Jason Mara) within this movie.

It seems that Bruce has been kidnapped by Talia Al Ghul (Morena Baccarin) and is getting quite the mental torture courtesy of Mad Hatter (Robin Atkin Downes). Talia's little scheme is to build her influence among the world leaders and she's certainly not lacking allies in her little cause for this one.

When she wasn't actually manipulating Bruce with Tetch's help, she also had the likes of Onyx, the Heretic (who turned out to be an older version of Damian in a way), Firefly and a group of ninja nun assassins all in her employ. I know Talia can be a pretty cold character but even in this movie, I was surprised just how callous she was, especially to Damian. There was even a moment where she commented about killing him and making another son.

I've never liked Damian that much as a character but even I felt a little bit bad for him in that moment. Other than that though, he was still fairly annoying but at the same time, while Talia's scheme was ambitious, Damian and Nightwing were able to bring Batman back from doing something he would've regretted.

As for Batwoman, this was a great debut for the character and I really do hope that the character pops up in more animated movies but she wasn't the only ally to make their animated movie debut in this one. Lucius Fox getting injured by Talia's men saw Luke Fox become Batwing and to be honest, I really could've done with seeing a lot more of him. Like Batwoman, he's a character I really hope appears in more of these animated movies.

- Loved seeing Kate's relationship with her father in this one and the scenes she had with Montoya were also a delight as well. The movie handled her sexuality brilliantly.
- Other cameos in this movie included Batgirl at the closing moment as well as Killer Moth, Calculator and Black Mask to name a few.
- Morena Baccarin who voiced Talia is also Leslie Thompkins in Gotham.
- There's a reference to Mask Of The Phantasm with the character of Chuckie Sol in this movie.

An extremely fun movie, Batman: Bad Blood gave an impressive debut to both Batwoman and Batwing and while Talia did come across as a bit nastier than usual, she certainly held her own as the main antagonist in this one. Some truly impressive fight scenes and nice character moments as well added to this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Back To Prison And Tripping Into The 80s

It's been a while as I've been a little too DC focused at the moment but here's a run down of some of the stuff I've managed to catch between then.

Daredevil: Last month I talked about the show unsurprisingly being renewed for a third season. Now, as for the final three episodes, they were something else altogether. A part of me was a little surprised that Fisk didn't properly re-enter the fray but the Yakuza plot played out reasonably well with Elektra truly coming into her own while the Punisher storyline came to a satisfying conclusion as well. It was though disappointing to see Matt, Foggy and Karen so distant with each other but hopefully they can mend fences in the next season (which will be a wait for us all). Overall, a fantastic season.

Orange Is The New Black: I've been catching up with this one a little later than usual. Four episodes into the fourth season and it's an improvement on the previous year. Sure, Piper seems to be pissing off people left, right and centre and both Sophia and Nikki need to be properly reintroduce into the general populace but the arrival of new inmates, celebrity chef Judy King, the loveliness of Brooke and Poussey's growing relationships, stronger flashbacks and Alex and Lolly's dynamic has been fascinating to watch as well. A very promising start to the new season.

Stranger Things: Remember last year when everyone was raving about Sense8? Well, this year, Netflix have managed it again with this delightful 80's nostalgia fueled series. I've only watched the first four episodes and aside from giving Winona Ryder and Matthew Modine's careers a much needed jolt again, it's really the kids who shine on this show. Authentically written and acted, the children and teenagers are the driving force of the series in light of the disappearance of a young boy named Will and the arrival of a mysterious, powerful girl named Eleven as well. If you haven't tuned in yet, you should do very soon.

The Catch: Recently finished up on SkyLiving, the last four episodes of this daft but entertaining show certainly upped the ante a little. Casting Mrs Patmore from Downton Abbey as Margot and Rhys's mother was a genius moment and it was blast having her, even if it was for two episodes. I'm still not hugely compelled by Alice and Ben as a couple but they did have some good moments, especially in the finale and I certainly liked seeing both Alice and Margot trying to outwit the other as well as Alice's encounter with Rhys too. Also while we got the tired trope of Ben and Rhys pretending to be a couple for a con job at least the show made it clear where Sean swings when he asked a surprised Danny out. I'll give the next season a go.

- Katie McGrath has been cast as Lena Luthor for the second season of Supergirl. A musical crossover between the show and The Flash will be happening.
- Savitar will be the second main villain of The Flash's third season alongside Dr Alchmey. Wentworth Miller will reprise his role as Cold in the fourth episode. Joey King will guest star as Magenta.
- Gotham may feature a version of Harley Quinn at some point. The Mad Hatter and Court of Owls are the main antagonists for the first half of the third season.
- Charisma Carpenter will be appearing in an episode of Lucifer's second season.
- Mr Robot has been renewed for a third season.
- The CW are planning a reboot of The Lost Boys.
- UK viewers will be able to watch the US version of Dirk Gently on Netflix from December. BBCAmerica are airing it from October 22nd.
- Will Traval will be appearing in Arrow as the Human Target.
- The creators of Gossip Girl will be bring Marvel's The Runaways to Hulu next year.
- Robert Knepper will be appearing in the sixth season of Homeland. The show has been renewed for a seventh and eighth season respectively.

Doctor Who - Series 10: Guest Stars Confirmed

It's been a bit of a while since I've posted anything in relation to Doctor Who but here's a blog with some of the more up to date information I can find.

David Suchet best know for his role as Poirot has been cast as the Landlord. Appearing in the fourth episode, written by Mike Bartlett (Doctor Foster), Suchet will make his debut in the series and going by the recent filming pictures, it seems like he will be Bill's (Pearl Mackie) landlord as it appears she lives in a house with a few other students. Not much is known about the fourth episode other than it's writer and director, Bill Anderson (who also directed episode 3 by Sarah Dollard), other than it's contemporary and we're meeting people from Bill's normal life. There's also the fact that the house from Blink reappears but nothing that suggests that this will be a story featuring the Weeping Angels though. It does seem like the BBC are keeping very tight lipped about most of the filming this series.

Meanwhile filming has also completed on Sarah Dollard's episode and it's another one where very little seems to have been disclosed of. However given the costuming that both the Doctor (Peter Capaldi) and Bill have sported, it's certainly a historical episode though, possibly a Regency episode. Other bits of information that has been revealed is that Royale Family actor Ralf Little will be Frank Cottrell Boyce's second episode (which included filming in Spain) along with Mina Amwar while rumours have also surfaced that filming for the series will see the gang heading to Vancouver in October, though that's something yet to be confirmed. There's also the fact that the show has yet to film this year's Christmas special as well and I'm intrigued to see what they'll do with that one this year.

Press Release: http://www.doctorwho.tv/whats-new/article/acting-legend-david-suchet-joins-the-guest-cast-of-doctor-who-series-10

Series 10 of Doctor Who is currently filming and will air in Spring 2017 on BBC1 and BBCAmerica. The Christmas special will be filmed soon.

My Review of The Killing Joke (2016)

Written by Brian Azzarello And Alan Moore
Directed by Sam Liu

Barbara: "Why are you doing this?"
The Joker: "To prove a point."

This has been something of an interesting month for DC, hasn't it? We've had Suicide Squad rock up in the cinemas and give the middle finger to Guardian readers while Batman V. Superman and Gotham's second season have released on DVD and the current Rebirth titles continue apace and then there's this.

The straight to DVD (but also briefly in cinemas) release adaptation of Alan Moore's controversial 1988 comic has finally arrived and not so shockingly enough, it's managed to be as polarising as the source material itself and not just because of that. Nope, this particular movie managed to even something new to cause some division among the comic's fans and critics alike.

Not surprisingly though, the controversy is still centred on the treatment of Barbara Gordon in this adaptation. In the comic, she's shot by the Joker and photographed naked in a bid to drive Commissioner Gordon to the brink of madness and while I've always hated that treatment of Barbara here, I've also found the double standards surrounding it quite maddening as well. I can't help thinking the same people who lose it over Barbara's treatment are the same ones who never batted an eyelid when Jason was being tortured and killed by the Joker as well in Death Of The Family but that's for another discussion.

This adaptation however decides to correct some of the comic's flaws by not making Barbara an entire victim in this movie. With the last scene nicely setting up her future as Oracle, the first half an hour of this actually focuses on her escapades as Batgirl and the cat and mouse games she has with an upstart gangster named Parry, whose lust for Batgirl is nothing short of irritating to be honest.

It's also during this segment that her relationship with Batman is given some of the most thorough of focus as he fears that she's getting far too in over her head. Her eventual attack on Parry makes Batgirl realise that her mentor might be onto something when she decides to hand over her cowl and take a break from crime fighting.

The 'controversy' though isn't that Batgirl showed some recklessness with a low level thug but more that her and Batman engaged in some rather public sex and things became awkward afterwards with the pair of them. I've never liked the idea of a Batman/Batgirl pairing (something which Batman Beyond and earlier animated shows alluded to) and I definitely didn't like it here. It's definitely something that no-one wanted and ultimately doesn't add anything into the mix as well.

As for the rest of the movie, it's more or less a faithful adaptation between Joker's brutal attack on Barbara, attempting to drive James Gordon mad and of course his confrontation with Batman at the amusement park and the Red Hood flashbacks. As a backstory, I've always preferred Joker's to be more ambiguous and even here he admits to remembering whatever is convenient for him. Ending the thing on a laugh from Batman was an interesting creative choice in the comic and it translates well into this movie as well.

Cast wise, Tara Strong is excellent as Barbara Gordon/Batgirl and similarly both Kevin Conroy and Mark Hamill continue to be on fine form as both Batman and the Joker alike. The animation is pretty top notch as well, capturing the comic's look pretty well throughout the whole thing. The musical sequence falls a little flat but it's still an interesting moment though.

- The popularity of this announcement resulted in this getting a two day cinema release. How cool was that?
- There was images of the Jokers from both the 1989 Batman movie and The Dark Knight. Nice one.
- Barbara got a sassy gay best friend named Reese during her scenes in the library. We never met Colleen in this movie though.
- Harley Quinn was rumoured to have appeared in this movie. Given that Suicide Squad sort of alluded to her having a role in Jason's death in their universe, maybe they missed a trick here.

This was always going to be a polarising adaptation but honestly, I think aside from the needless Batgirl/Batman subplot, this was a pretty swift adaptation. It's not a perfect one but then again, neither is the source material but with some stunning performances from Strong, Conroy and Hamill, it's definitely a worthy addition to the collection.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Suicide Squad (2016)

Written And Directed by David Ayer

Harley (to Flag): "We're bad guys. It's what we do."

I was hoping that after the serious divisiveness that Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice generated that Suicide Squad would be somewhat immune to it. Things seemed good with the praises for the trailers but prior to the movie's release, some of the more negative criticisms emerged and I did worry that they might have impacted the movie badly. Fortunately that doesn't seem to be the case.

Not only has the movie had an impressive opening weekend for an August release, but the disconnect between critics and cinema goers continues apace as the reception between both is worlds apart. I'm not going to pretend this movie is a cinematic masterpiece but neither am I going to deny the fact that it's an absolute unbridled mix of chaos fun either.

The premise is simple and actually follows on the consequences of DCEU's previous entries with Amanda Waller (Viola Davis) wanting to assemble Taskforce X/Suicide Squad in the case the next Superman isn't quite as merciful and anyone who knows the tiniest bit about Waller will know that if she wants something, she'll do anything to get it.

The people in question for her little team include expert marksman Deadshot (Will Smith), former Arkham psychiatrist (and lover of the Joker), Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), Aussie robber Captain Boomerang (Jai Courtney), Killer Croc (Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje), Slipknot (Adam Beach) as well as the rather fiery El Diablo (Jay Hernadez) with the rather militant soldier Rick Flag (Joel Kinnaman) and his own assassin, Katana (Karen Fukuhara) keeping an eye on them.

Of course the other member of this group was meant to be ancient witch Enchantress, currently in the body of Flag's archaeologist girlfriend June Moone (Cara Delevingne) but within the first half of the movie, Enchantress tires of being Amanda's puppet, unleashes her brother Incbus and together the two of them cook up a scheme to wipe out humanity once and for all and they would've gotten away with it if it hadn't been for that pesky squad of course.

The villains are a common problem with the DCEU movies if I'm being honest. While Enchantress is a bit of an improvement compared to this universe's depictions of Lex Luthor and Doomsday, her whole scheme feels rather underdeveloped and while her defeat comes at the hands of some genuine bad ass team moments with June actually surviving the events, it's a bit flat compared to everything else. Then again Flag and June's relationship is also pretty flat in this movie.

The best stuff about this movie are mainly our squad members to be honest. While Flag is somewhat a bland, ineffectual leader, compared to the more ruthless Waller (this is a woman who literally takes no shit from anyone and Viola Davis is amazing) and Slipknot is quickly killed off, everyone else is pretty much on point.

Captain Boomerang and Killer Croc are essentially comic relief but never in a way that it feels like either character is being demeaned while Katana doesn't say much but a fair amount on her backstory is revealed nonetheless. El Diablo is a man haunted by his past, spends most of the movie reluctant to fight before being goaded into it, is forced to confront his demons in a very telling scene with the gang before ultimately getting the heroic sacrifice by taking out Incubus for the gang. Needless to say that he was one of my favourite characters within the movie itself.

Then there's Deadshot. Will Smith can sometimes play himself in movies but this honestly didn't feel like that here. Deadshot has been a character I've grown to like in recent times (usually I've been meh on him) and in this movie, he was a far better leader of sorts than Flag could've been. I liked the exploration into his relationship with his daughter Zoe and his interactions with the rest of the gang (particularly Harley and Diablo) was nothing short of fun.

As for Harley Quinn herself - let's be honest, Margot Robbie owned the role. She was possibly the most perfect person cast for Harley and essentially she dominates this movie from start to finish. This is her movie and regardless of your stance on this film as a whole, you're gonna want to see more of Robbie in the role and in other movies and more than likely, that's exactly what's going to happen.

Harley's onscreen depiction might not be the sort of thing that will please Tumblr feminists but neither is it anywhere as problematic as they would claim it to be. I won't deny that there's a certain emphasis on the character's sexuality but at the same time there is an effort to give Harley (as well as Waller) enough agency as a character too, which the movie succeeds in doing.

Her relationship with the Joker (Jared Leto) forms a subplot in the movie. His role here is to basically expand on Harleen's backstory and nothing more. Some of the darker elements of their union are played down a bit and there's a merging of both her Mad Love and New 52 backstories (with a little twist) but essentially, this is a consistent depiction of the character and that relationship. It's hard to gauge Leto's version of the Joker but he's okay enough in the role for now. Another movie where he'll have a bigger role will determine whether or not he's truly suited for the role though.

Coming away from the movie, the four favourites for me were Harley, Deadshot, Waller and El Diablo. They're the most developed and engaging of characters with Robbie, Smith, Davis and Hernadez delivering some truly stunning performances though no-one slouches too badly here.

- As for the cameo appearances from the heroes, both Batman (Ben Affleck) and The Flash (Ezra Miller) are sublime onscreen and used appropriately in the right places here.
- The mid-credit scene perfectly sets up Justice League, even though Wonder Woman will be the next movie we'll see here.
- There are some truly fun Easter Eggs to spot in this movie ranging from the comics and other related media. Have fun spotting them.
- The soundtrack is also one of the best with the likes of Heathens, Gangsta, Without Me, Bohemian Rhapsody being some of the highlights. Music is certainly a strong point along with the colourful opening and closing credits.

Suicide Squad isn't going to go down as a masterpiece but it's a promising step in the right direction for the DCEU movie universe and it's certainly a lot of fun. This lot may be the bad guys but rooting for them wasn't that hard and I certainly came away from this movie rather pleased with what I had seen.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Assault On Arkham (2014)

Written by Heath Corson
Directed by Jay Oliva & Ethan Spaulding

The Joker: "I'm here bitches and I've got favours for everyone."

With today being the release of Suicide Squad (and the next thing I'll be blogging about), I decided it was time to do a review of the animated movie version of one of the most dysfunctional and ever changing task force of baddies and antiheroes in the DC universe.

The movie opens with Amanda Waller (CCH Pounder) trying to apprehend the ever gloating Riddler (Matthew Gray Gubler) only for Batman (Kevin Conroy) to intervene, so she goes for the offensive and decides to recruit a certain group for her own agenda.

The group in question comprises of Deadshot (Neal McDonough), Harley Quinn (Hynden Walch), Killer Frost (Jennifer Hale), King Shark (John DiMaggio), Captain Boomerang (Jonny Rees), Black Spider (Giancarlo Esposito) and the short lived, KGBeast (Nolan North) who Waller instructs into breaking into Arkham in order to retrieve one of the Joker's (Troy Baker) dirty bombs while also tasking Killer Frost with the side mission of killing the Riddler for good measure.

Of course with this motley crew, things go pear shaped far too quickly. KGBeast doesn't even make it out of ARGUS without Waller shooting him and the animosity between Deadshot and Boomerang ranges from both rather amusing (I always prefer Floyd to George) to somewhat sabotaging as some of their worst bickering happens during moments when they really needed to get out of Arkham to be honest.

Then there's the whole love 'triangle' of sorts between Deadshot/Harley/Joker. It could've been a terrible subplot in lesser hands but here, it's fairly decent. Harley does get to have some sexy times with Deadshot but throughout the movie she alternates between wanting to kill her Puddin' and then of course, trying to betray the team in order to save him and allow his diabolical plan come to fruition.

The addition of Batman though gives the movie a little bit of a morality boost (although most of the 'villains' are drawn sympathetically enough here). Namely the Batman is added into the movie to ultimately stop the Joker's massive case of tainted love, lecture Waller on the extreme lengths she's willing to take to get results and also to do battle with Harley twice in the movie. It's actually Deadshot who gets the chance to have a near death battle with the Joker during the movie's climax when he doesn't later try to get back at Waller in a fairly ambiguous closing moment.

As for the rest of the characters, Waller is at her stereotypically ruthless and the Riddler is certainly happy to revel in his own cleverness, even when hoisted on his own petard. The surprise though is how well both Killer Frost and King Shark are and their rapport in the movie is oddly sweet. Black Spider shows a little bit of a moral compass but he's given too little screen time to truly standout as a character. Of course though, this movie solely belongs to Harley, Deadshot and Joker and all three are on fine form in this one.

- Cameos galore in this movie with the Penguin, Zsasz, Poison Ivy, Two Face, Scarecrow and Bane all popping up at different points as well as allusions to the likes of Killer Moth and Mr Freeze.
- There are at least three allusions to Batman Returns as well as several comics and other related media. Have fun spotting them.
- For a cartoon movie, it's definitely pretty dark in parts.
- This movie is set within the Arkham games universe.

Assault On Arkham is certainly one of DC's most successful animated features. An interesting story with the best character choices, some nice bits of grittiness laced with the right bouts of humour as well. It's going to be interesting to see how the live action version with similar and different characters will fare compared to this movie.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of New Blood's 1x07: "Case 3, Part 2"

Written by Anthony Horowitz & Daniel Fajemisin & Marlon Smith
Directed by Bill Eagles

Lorca (re Stefan/Rash): "Those two little bastards? I'll tell you why. Because I've got them where I want them. Now they're paying me money but one day, I promise you, I'm really going to make them pay."

Ooh, if that wasn't a set up for a potential second series, then I don't know what was. Of course, Stefan and Rash brought Daniel Lorca down but not without unwittingly moving into one of his apartments and the man has now promised revenge. I have to admit this was a nice way of ending this episode and adding some hope for another one.

Of course, it wasn't just Lorca who came a cropper in this one. After things got predictable in relation to Lisa, David and their charity scams (along with the obvious reveal of Lisa actually having Michael killed), we got to see a truly life or death situation with Stefan and Rash and that burning car.

Naturally both of them survived long enough to move into their new humble abode with both Stefan's former housemates and Leila helping to christen the place in a pretty fun final little moment. It might have taken seven episodes but if the show gets a second series, we can enjoy seeing how Stefan and Rash actually cope with living with each other as well as working with each other.

As for Leila, she certainly got some horrible heat over Michael's death thanks to Lisa's scheming but overall, the episode ended with her bouncing back and there were even some nice moments for Alison, Eleanor and even Derek in this episode. Derek's reaction in particular to meeting Stefan for the first time was actually pretty funny as well.

- Peri Brown herself, Nicola Bryant was the TV journalist interviewing David at the start of the episode.
- I'm surprised that Alison's uncle Peter didn't play some kind of a role in this case as he did with the previous two.
- The use of 11/12/13 (December 11th 2013) was actually pretty clever. More so than Stefan 'hacking' skills.

This show has been something of a mixed bag. It's been blessed with two likeable leading actors/characters but it's struggled a bit to develop other characters and some of the stories could've been done in less episodes but if it gets a second run, I can see myself watching it again though. This was a satisfying way of rounding the series up for the time being though.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of New Blood's 1x06: "Case 3, Part 1"

Written by Anthony Horowitz & Daniel Fajemisin & Marlon Smith
Directed by Bill Eagles

Rash: "So are you gonna thank me? I was there for you, I saved you."
Stefan: "Okay, thanks. Yeah I would've got out anyway. I had a move."

Onto the third case of the series and this one already is somewhat better than the previous one as the exploration into a charity and a serial fraudster named Daniel Lorca bring both Stefan and Rash back into each other's orbit once again.

In fact the episode opened with the two of them struggling to escape from a crashed car and then went back five days prior to when Lorca's actions caused the suicides of two elderly people. I liked Eleanor's discussion on the ramifications of being scammed out of serious money and it was a moment that certainly helped to humanise her character a lot more.

I also liked that Lorca was someone unseen and unknown throughout the episode as Stefan and Rash joined up once again to try and smoke him out. I also liked the charity plot as well, especially when we met organiser Lisa Douglas (Indira Varma on good form here) and of course, her accountant, Michael.

I'll give the show some props for exploring Michael's home life (giving him a husband for example) but I also knew that the character was instant cannon fodder. However I didn't expect that his death was going to end up having a negative effect on Leila, who by the end of this episode was at risk from losing her job.

I'm not sure where the second part/series finale is going to go with this but out of the three cases so far, it's certainly a little more compelling than before. I also liked the little insights we had to both Leila and Eleanor in this one too and that rapport with Stefan and Rash keeps getting better and better.

- Three writers for this last case. That surprised me a little.
- Lisa is cooking up some scheming with an African diplomat named David Kumalah.
- Too bad Stefan and Rash's scene at the massage parlour nearly ended up in the former nearly losing his manhood. Plus side, they're still moving in together.

Definitely the strongest episode so far. I liked the tension, the humour, the fact that both Eleanor and Leila had those choice character moments as well. I just hope that the second part resolves this one well though.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Looking: The Movie (2016)

Written by Andrew Haigh And Michael Lannan
Directed by Andrew Haigh

Patrick: "I came here to close a chapter"

Despite some unfortunate ratings and HBO inevitably calling time on this modest show after only two seasons, a movie was still commissioned to offer fans of the series some closure and it somewhat managed to do that in the space of 90 minutes.

Taking place at least nine months after the end of the second season, Patrick has returned to San Francisco (he relocated, quit his job, broke up with Kevin etc) just in time for Agustin and Eddie's wedding and within this movie, there was a lot of unresolved issues that needed to be resolved.

First of all, the break up with Kevin. It was messy and thanks to their shared app, they've still had to occasionally contact each other. We learned in this movie that Kevin got back together with his ex but that didn't stop him from giving Patrick a few home truths as well as the acknowledgment of some of his own shortcomings. Fans hoping for a reunion between the pair of them will be somewhat disappointed but overall, closure was achieved between the two of them nonetheless.

Then there was Patrick and Ritchie. At the end of the second season, Ritchie cut Patrick's hair and there was a hint of a reunion of sorts. At the start of this one, they're on good terms but Ritchie's boyfriend Brady is still around and has managed to become even more annoying than before. Of course time around, instead of mutual passive aggression to each other, both Patrick and Brady were somewhat more vocal in their mutual dislike for one another.

While I didn't like the idea of either going on about to act as a gay man (Brady has some serious projection issues), I did like the end result. Ritchie did us all a favour (and himself) and dumped Brady before getting back together with Patrick. I wasn't actually expecting a reunion between the pair of them but the way the movie played it was spot on and helped to end things on a really strong note.

Of course when Patrick wasn't dealing with his two prominent exes, he was also having sex with a fit younger guy named Jimmy (Michael Rosen) but there was also a subplot where his sexual past with Dom got some exploration. At one point, the two of them got close to having sex with each other once again but ultimately that storyline fizzled out before anything more pressing could happen with it.

Then there was the wedding itself. I haven't been shy in my love for Agustin and Eddie as a couple (they were the best part of the second season for me) and I've loved the growth in Agustin's character as well. Here though we got some mutual wedding jitters from the pair and a part of me was dreading that they'd split but again, this was a good one for the shipper in me as their wedding went ahead and then the somewhat hedonistic-lite reception do that followed. That in itself is why this movie did so well for me.

- Nice guest appearance from Tyne Daly in this movie. She was the one to marry Agustin/Eddie. Cleve Jones also appeared as himself in this one.
- Some of the music choices in this movie were superb, especially with the use of Britney Spears, the Housemartins, New Order and John Grant.
- Was Doris pregnant in this movie or trying to? I have to admit, I tuned out a little there and I do like the character. It's a pity we didn't see Dom hook up with someone else in this movie too.
- Nice references to the likes of The Goonies, Saw and Brokeback Mountain to name a few.

Now this was a satisfying of tying up some loose end. Looking: The Movie gave nearly every character a satisfying conclusion and while you can argue the focus was a little Patrick heavy at times (like the series had been), I am thankful that HBO allowed the show to end on a very strong note with this movie. Absolutely superb.

Rating: 9 out of 10