Santa Muerte Is Coming

Another TV Jumble, another catch up on some of the biggest shows I've been watching over the last few weeks.

911: This show really has been swinging out some really strong material into it's third season. The most recent two episodes delved into a chapter of Athena's past previously unexplored while Henrietta caused a devastating accident. Some genuinely powerhouse performances from both Angela Bassett and Aisha Hinds in these episodes while this season has also explored the reckless actions of both Eddie and Maddie in different areas of their personal lives and careers.

Derry Girls: I'm not sure when RTE1 plan to air the second series but I will try and catch it before Channel 4 get around to the third one. The last episode of the first season had a talent show and more importantly revealed that Claire was a "wee lesbian". I think the show did a good job of handling the story with Erin being initially horrified by her friend's reveal before taking to her defense. I definitely want to see where the show goes with Claire from here on in.

Love, Victor: If you're a fan of Love, Simon then this streaming series spin-off is definitely the worthy successor to it. We're back in Creekwood High and this time, it's Victor Salazar (Michael Cimino) coming to terms with his sexuality, getting involved with Mia while also wanting to be with Benji as well. It's a sweet, feel good series with a likeable cast and lead man and the continuity to a certain movie definitely works in the show's favour.

Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels: Now I loved the original series and reviewed all three seasons of it, so I was looking forward to this sequel series but two episodes in, I hate to admit it, but it's leaving me a little bit cold so far. On the plus side, Natalie Dormer is doing a good job as the main baddie, Magda and the latter's various disguises but Tiago needs to be a bit more dynamic as a lead character and the pacing needs to seriously pick up.

The Good Place: It's taken E4 an age to actually air the third season and with the show long since finished it's run in the US, better late than never. Last time we saw them - we had Eleanor, Chidi, Tahani and Jason all on Earth, essentially getting the chance to have a do over with Michael nudging them along. The opening episode was a little slow but it was a nice enough reintroduction to the gang and it'll be interesting to see if Michael's experiment will succeed.

The Politician: I'm going to start the second season of this show very soon but the last three episodes of the first season were pretty strong. The two part assassination plot felt like a finale while the actual finale felt more like an opening episode for the next season. I'm not sad to see some of the characters leave (Dusty won't be missed) or to see the main action in New York and I'm already on Team Dede and Hadassah than I am Team Payton and his inexplicably growing list of supporters.

- Jeremy Pope will play a love interest for MJ Rodriguez's Blanca in the upcoming third season of Pose.
- HBO have cancelled Run after one season.
- The upcoming fourth season of Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina on Netflix will be the show's last season. A potential fifth season would've featured a crossover with Riverdale.
- Stargirl has been renewed for a second season but will air on the CW instead of DC Universe.
- Lucifer's fifth season will see Tom Ellis playing Michael as well as the title character.
- HBO Max have commissioned a spin-off streaming series for The Batman that will focus on the GCPD. More on that in a later blog.
- Amazon have renewed Hanna for a third season.
- Lucy Liu has been cast in ABC pilot, Fka Bossy.
- The Crown has been renewed for a sixth and final season.
- Lee Daniels will helm a reboot of The Wonder Years, focusing on a black family for ABC.

My Review of Doom Patrol's 2x05: "Finger Patrol"

Written by Chris Dingess & Shoshana Sachi
Directed by Glen Winter

Baby Doll (to Candlemaker): "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

On one hand, I have to admit that Baby Doll is my least favourite of Jane's personalities to watch but on the other hand, I didn't see her presence being the one that would have Dorothy lose control and cause Candlemaker to spring forth and go for the kill in the Underground.

Candlemaker's been itching for a showcase and this was a good taster of what he can do as Jane realised that he wasn't going to be easily taken down. Even Hammerhead couldn't match him and Baby Doll (who was intolerable) ended up paying the price here.

Kids do fight and when both are volatile like Baby Doll and Dorothy, it was pretty obvious that their friendship was going to be rather shortlived. Baby Doll made the mistake of trash talking Niles to Dorothy and the latter made the mistake of underestimating Baby Doll's actual powers, which resulted in one of Dorothy's imaginary friends, Manny being killed as well. Maybe Niles should have actually kept an eye on the pair as he was doing nothing else here.

Getting away from the Dorothy and Baby Doll stuff, Larry's attempts to reconnect with his other son, Paul and the latter's son and grandson, Dex and Toby went as badly as predicted. I wasn't shocked that Paul instantly turned on Larry or that Dex ended up in the crossfire as well. At least Larry had his Negative Spirit and Rita to get him out of there this week.

Meanwhile, things were on a slightly lighter-ish note with Cliff and Victor this week. The former seemed to be in a better mood when he realised that Niles intended to upgrade him for the better but then also reached out to Silas Stone as he feared that Niles might not be around long to actually carry out with the upgrades.

As for Victor, well, he had the buddy cop moments with Cliff, which I enjoyed as well as some nice scenes with his father. However the highlight was seeing him and Roni reconnect and here's hoping nothing disastrous happens with those two for the remainder of the season.

- It was revealed that this season was meant to have 10 episodes but due to COVID, the number was reduced to nine instead.
- Rita auditioned for a role, and despite her audition going wrong, she managed to get the part. I did like her scenes with Toby here.
- I loved the whole Steele & Stone montage. One of the funniest moments the show has done.
- Chronology: Not long from where the previous left off.

Finger Patrol finally gave Candlemaker his moment to shine after weeks of him merely being a voice for Dorothy to ignore. I have to admit that I did enjoy the other two plotlines more than the Dorothy/Baby Doll stuff this week  but we're at the half way point and things are nicely picking up.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Batwoman - Season 2: Javicia Leslie To Play Ryan Wilder

Back in May, it was announced that after one season, Ruby Rose would depart the series as Kate Kane/Batwoman. It was initially assumed that the second season of Batwoman would see a recast of the title character, but the CW had other ideas.

Instead of a new actress to play Kate Kane, the CW thought it would be a better idea to have a new character assume the mantle of Batwoman. The character in question would be called Ryan Wilder, also an out lesbian and former drug runner (according to a character description released last month) who would be inspired by Kate Kane to become Gotham's latest protector, following the disappearance of the former in the show's upcoming second season.

Last night, it was revealed by the CW that Javicia Leslie, whose credits include the recently axed God Friended Me has been cast as Ryan Wilder/Batwoman. The actress whose character has also been described as "likable, messy, a little goofy and untamed" will be the second live action iteration of the character and for those wondering if Leslie is a member of the LGBTQ+ community, she had this to say herself on the matter ....

"And as a bisexual woman, I am honoured to join this groundbreaking show which has been such a trailblazer for the LGBTQ+ community."

Already current cast members of the series (and from other Arrowverse shows), including Camrus Johnson and Meagan Tandy have congratulated Javicia on joining the show as did former Batwoman herself, Ruby Rose (which I thought was a rather classy gesture).

I've not seen Javicia in anything prior, but I'm intrigued by her casting and while I do think it would've made more sense for the series to have simply recast Kate Kane instead of creating a new character in Ryan Wilder, I am intrigued to see how the upcoming second year will readjust certain stories that were clearly meant for Kate, how Ryan herself will interact with the remaining cast members and how the crossover with the upcoming series, Superman & Lois also pans out. If the show can succeed with this new Batwoman, then it will be unstoppable going forward.

Press Release: https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-53346036

Batwoman's second season will begin filming later in the year and will air from January 2021 onwards on the CW. E4 are currently airing the remaining episodes of the show's first season.

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 6x11: "The Reckoning"

Written by Inda Craig-Galvan
Directed by DeMane Davis

Gabriel (to Michaela/Connor/Oliver): "I know who killed Asher."

With four episodes left to go, I am really glad that this show did not decide to prolong this particular mystery. First of all, Asher's killer wasn't a main character but rather an FBI agent named Pollock who seems to be working for Xavier Castillo. However Gabriel did believe it was actually Laurel until he clapped eyes on Pollock and immediately told the remaining Keating kids.

It does feel like the show at this point is trying to keep Gabriel relevant enough to the main plot, even though he should've left last season but at least he did the right thing by telling Connor, Oliver and Michaela about Asher's killer while they mourned their former friend's life and felt guilty over their last moments with him before he died.

The flashbacks succeeded in eliciting sympathy for Asher as he recorded an apology to his friends before Pollock killed him. Going by the trailer for the next episode, it also seems that we're not going to have to wait long for Asher's death to also be avenged either, which is nice.

As for the gang - yup, Annalise found out about the deal that they took and the show didn't waste time with that confrontation either. I think points were made from both sides here, even if I still did side with Annalise just that little bit more. I also wasn't surprised that Nate also screwed Annalise over as well.

The best part of this episode was Annalise's scenes with Ophelia. Every time this show brings Cicely Tyson for an episode, it's a delight and yet again, there was some brilliant moments with Annalise and Ophelia, such as the latter finding out about her daughter's relationship with Eve and of course, turning on Nate too. I'm really glad that ship has been completely burned as we head into the remaining episodes of the season.

As for Bonnie and Frank, both of them were thinking about their own skins and you can't really blame them. However neither of them actually did anything there and pledged their loyalty to Annalise as the three held firm here.

- This episode apparently was the last one to feature Matt McGorry, even though he filmed a scene for the series finale that was cut for time.
- The show really does seem to be hinting at a potential pairing with Annalise and Tegan.
- Standout music: Ursine Vulpine's Do You Realise?
- Chronology: Over a week since the events of the previous episode.

The Reckoning definitely saw Annalise coming out swinging here and like I said, her scenes with both Tegan and Ophelia were the highlights along with the continued references to the chain of events that have led to this moment. With the mystery of Asher's killer revealed, it's time to see what happens next.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of How To Get Away With Murder's 6x10: "We're Not Getting Away With This"

Written by Tess Leibowitz
Directed by Sheelin Choksey

Connor: "I'm only signing if you agree to one more term. Michaela gets the same protections I do, even if she doesn't sign."

I know, it's been over a month since the series has ended and I've been busy with other things but catching up with the final six episodes of this series, things got off to an interesting start with this particular episode.

So let's recap: back at the end of 2019, it turned out that Asher was killed after being outed as a mole, Connor and Michaela looked like they were about to take the rap for his death and Annalise had left the country. Of course with this show, there's always a few twists to contend with.

Sticking with Connor and Michaela first, this episode easily could've set them against one another but it shows how far both characters have come that they had the same idea and ensured they both got the same protection when signing a new deal. Will they actually betray Annalise? It's possible but I'm betting another twist will emerge on that front.

I'm glad that both Connor and Michaela chose not to listen to either Oliver or Solomon and went with their own instincts here. Fortunately for both of them, it's paying off for now but again, I do see some jail time coming their way as the net has definitely closed in on them.

Speaking of nets closing in, I knew Annalise was going to get caught but I thought it would happen a little later into the latter half of this season. I don't think she made it one day in Mexico before effectively putting herself in the way of being arrested but I assume there will also be a few more twists there too.

Keeping with the twists, this episode didn't really give much in the way of clues as to who killed Asher. We got some more flashbacks with him and while both Bonnie and Frank were acting shady as anything, it's fairly safe to assume that neither of them will ultimately be involved in Asher's actual death. I do however think that Gabriel knows more than he's letting on, considering that it appears he was the last person to see Asher alive.

- I recognised Annalise's handler as Iyari Limon, who played Kennedy in the last season of Buffy The Vampire Slayer.
- Tegan wasn't pleased with Annalise's disappearance, Nate was annoying in the little screen time he had and even Connor's mother was a bit OTT at times here too.
- Standout music: Lux's Yesterday's Wake and Seven Of Cups Strange Unknown.
- Chronology: More or less from where the mid season finale had left off.

We're Not Getting Away With This opened up the remaining episodes to this final season on a great note. Annalise's scenes were short but the moments with Connor and Michaela and the Asher flashbacks more than kept things moving along nicely.

Rating: 8 out of 10

The Flash Movie: Characters That Should Appear In This Movie

With DCFanDome still over a month to go and rumours about upcoming projects popping up a lot (though it'll be interesting to see if any of them are true), here's a rundown of some of the characters who should/will likely appear in the upcoming The Flash movie, starring Ezra Miller in the title role, directed by Andy Muschietti.

1: Selina Kyle/Catwoman (Michelle Pfeiffer)

With Michael Keaton's much older Bruce Wayne/Batman being brought into the DCEU apparently for this movie and the future, the only other character from that universe who should also appear in this movie would of course be Michelle Pfeiffer's Selina Kyle/Catwoman. Thanks to Crisis On Infinite Earths we already know these two got back together and got married. Seeing this iconic pair on screen again would be fantastic.

2: Barry's Other Rogues

Because at the end of the day, this is a movie about The Flash and we do need to see his own enemies factor into things. The rumours already are that both Reverse Flash and a female Mirror Master will be in this movie but I'm sure we can get a nice opening scene where Barry encounters the likes of Captain Cold, Captain Boomerang, Killer Frost,  Pied Piper and so on as he did in The Flashpoint Paradox animated movie. I'd also put in a Gorilla Grodd cameo, setting up the character as the antagonist for a potential sequel.

3: Kingdom Come Superman (Brandon Routh)

If ever there was proof that second chances are needed, it would be this case. Brandon Routh may not have gotten the love when he was in Superman Returns but there a lot of love when he took on a Kingdom Come version of the character for Crisis On Infinite Earths. He could play the same role that Superman somewhat played in the original comic, before having Henry Cavill also appear but more on that in a bit.

4: Justice League themselves

This is more something that should appear towards the end of the movie when things are back to a new normal. It's clear that Barry's messing with time will have long term consequences (Michael Keaton's Batman/Bruce Wayne instead of Ben Affleck) but it'd be a missed opportunity not to have Gal Gadot, Jason Momoa and possibly Henry Cavill and Ray Fisher appear in some capacity in this movie. Especially if rumours of a Rebirth movie have any merit to them. Maybe even Zachary Levi's Shazam as well for good measure.

5: Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie) - but not quite!!!!

With Birds Of Prey scribe Christina Hodson also writing this movie, it's very likely some characters from her previous DC effort will surface here, mainly due to the characters in question actually being in the original Flashpoint comic or some added in lieu of others being scrapped. With no Thomas Wayne Batman appearing in this movie, it's likely we won't get Martha Wayne Joker so maybe in lieu of that, perhaps we take Harley's Flashpoint counterpart YoYo and slightly merge with the Martha Joker here for a brief scene with Keaton's Batman. Then our Harley could make a brief appearance at the end.

6: The Flash (Grant Gustin) - CW TV Series

I know some DCEU fans hate the idea of anything CW related being within sniffing distances of a big screen movie but a cameo from Grant Gustin's Flash (maybe a post credit sequence between both Gustin and Ezra Miller) is something I think would delight a lot of fans, myself included. Yeah, that's it really.

7: Jack Ryder

It's amazing that for a character who has been around for over 50 years, we've not had one live action version of him. Man Of Steel nearly brought him to the big screen but replaced him with original character, Glen Woodburn. Jack Ryder appears in a minor role in the Flashpoint comic but I think you could use him in the same role that Lois Lane had in the comic and he's a character that's flexible enough to pop up in other movies as well.

8: Constantine & Zatanna

With rumours of both characters getting their own solo movies (and I emphasise the word "rumours" here) and HBO Max working on a Justice League Dark series, having this magical pair appear even if briefly would work for me. Zatanna at least had a role in the expanded material for the comic and she's on the verge of becoming the next big break out character for the DCEU and I can never say no to seeing Constantine either. I could also see them being part of a resistance force along with some other characters. Leading into my next point.

9: Green Lanterns

We know that HBO Max have a series in the works and there's still some rumblings that a Green Lantern Corps might happen at some point but I do think some fans are going to prefer seeing some of these characters on the big screen more than on a streaming series. Perhaps characters like Simon or Jessica could briefly factor into this movie.

10: Birds Of Prey themselves

I know the movie was a mixed bag for some people and with the box office numbers, it didn't exactly set the world alight but given that Christina Hodson is writing this movie and the potential with both Black Canary and Huntress (still meh on Renee Montoya here), I definitely think this group could be part of a growing team Barry might need when trying to get things back to a new normal.

Right, those are the characters that I'd like to see in The Flash movie. Is there anyone I missed out on? Who would you add into the mix?

The Flash is due to be released June 3rd 2022, with filming to commence next year. Casting information will be unveiled at DCFanDome on August 22nd.

My Review of Doom Patrol's 2x04: "Sex Patrol"

Written by Eric Dietel & Tanya Steele
Directed by Omar Madha

Cliff (to everyone): "Is anyone going to say anything about the fact that Rita's G spot almost ended the fucking world?"

Yes, let's talk about that one then. For an episode called Sex Patrol, I certainly expected some frisky business but Rita's g spot nearly ending the world, even I didn't see that happening. Maybe Flex should limit his talents every once in a while, eh?

The returns of both Flex Mentallo and Maura Lee Karupt - two of the best guest characters we had last season was absolutely welcomed and with Danny being out of action, it was up to them and the Dannyzens to help revive the sentient street into action. Of course Dorothy also played a part in the matter too.

However getting back to Flex, helping Rita trying to unlock a past memory resulted in a sex demon named Shadowy Mr. Evans (Brad Binkley) emerging at the party and giving birth to a baby whose cry would kill all the children. Fortunately for everyone, Hammerhead happened to take over Jane's body and that baby got sent back into it's father for good measure.

Of course when Rita wasn't nearly ending the world, she was making some headway with Dorothy's age and the latter herself seemed torn as a child and wanting to see what things were like as an adult. The episode nearly had her destroy Danny but balk at the last moment before also deciding that she didn't want to grow up. It also seems that Candlemaker is slowly working his way into getting unleashed by Dorothy at any time.

As for the rest of the episode - I liked that Danny reformed as a tire and took everyone back but I really liked that Danny told Niles that he needed to do better with Dorothy. Unfortunately, I think Niles will do the exact opposite, Dorothy will unleash Candlemaker and everything will go spectacularly sideways as we head into the latter half of the season.

Dorothy aside, this episode saw Cliff and Victor both coming back into the fold while being hugged by a high Cliff was the very thing that made Hammerhead hand back control for Jane. Larry on the other hand seemed to be in a perpetual mopey state that not even a cool party could lift his spirits. I get that Larry has his regrets but I do want to see him cheer up a little this season.

As for the SeX Men themselves - well, Kiss, Torture and Cuddles were an interesting bunch of guest characters. Think Ghostbusters but for extremely oversexed spirits. They were fun to watch and it was nice to see that they weren't actually baddies in this episode either.

- There's a lovely speech in this episode Maura Lee talking about her experiences as a trans woman while also giving Victor some good advice about Roni.
- Rita's bad memory was seeing her mother sleeping with a producer to get her a part while Jane's personality Scarlet Harlot also came out to play.
- Standout music: Abigail Shapiro's take on Pure Imagination (Niles and Dorothy's favourite song), Goldfrapp's Ooh La La and Jhay C's Get It On.
- Chronology: London 1978 for Niles/Dorothy opening scene as well as 1931 Burbank for the Rita scene with her mother.

Sex Patrol definitely had it's moments. The returns of both Flex and Maura Lee was welcome, along with the insight into Rita's past and impending plot of Dorothy losing control. This episode also did highlight that Niles will be his daughter's undoing as we get into the latter half of this season.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 2x03: "Pain Patrol"

Written by Tom Farrell & Tamara Becher-Wilkinson
Directed by Samira Radsi

Red Jack: "You could have transformed into something truly exquisite. Something divine."
Caulder: "I guess I'm still just that boy in the alley."

Fancy a little pain, anyone? Yeah, probably not but this episode decided to serve a fair dollop of it with the arrival of one of the most sadistic villains the show has done so far. If you thought Mr Nobody was an asshole, then get a load of Red Jack (Roger Floyd) for good measure.

Following the end of the previous episode where a load of butterflies kidnapped Larry, this episode revealed that Red Jack was behind it and the latter didn't waste time in getting Niles and Rita to come to Larry's rescue.

Not surprisingly enough, Red Jack ignored Rita and seemed to favour Caulder, due to a previous encounter they had over a century ago. Red Jack saw something in Niles he found fascinating and wanted to make the latter his apprentice. When Niles refused, Red Jack decided to subject him to a little pain in order to bring him around.

This show hasn't been shy in it's use of bizarre and sadistic villains and Red Jack easily is one of the best they've done in less than two seasons. Having his victims turn into butterflies was a nice touch but fortunately Rita was able to save Larry and Caulder managed to kill Red Jack before he could any more victims to his collection.

One of my favourite parts of the previous season was the rapport with Rita and Larry and this episode drove that home even more. I love how accepting Rita is of Larry and even when he tried to tell her that he was a lost cause, she proved him wrong. I don't want a romantic relationship with these two but I do love seeing them working together.

As for the rest of the episode - Dorothy's screen time was shorter compared to the previous episodes but that was a good thing. I did like her playing hide and seek with her imaginary friends, even if Danny the Brick didn't fare well as a result. I also liked her scenes with Niles and Rita in this episode as well.

As for the rest of the gang - Cliff tried to reconnect with Clara, only for the latter to call the most sympathetic cops on him ever while Jane found herself in the midst of an intervention and then taken out as the dominant personality. Given the build up in the previous episodes. I definitely saw this coming.

Last but not least, I'm liking Victor's building relationship with Roni even if it's one step forward and then a few backwards. Either way, it helps that both actors have chemistry and that Roni seems keen on letting Victor know everything about her. Saying that, will Victor rejoin the rest of the cast or will he remain separate from the main story until the last few episodes?

- It seems that Clara has a wife or girlfriend and they're expecting a baby. Cliff did seem happy at the end of being a grandfather.
- I liked that Larry seemed to be a fan of Rita's past acting roles and the latter being critical over another actress's performance on an old movie was amusing.
- Caulder's drawing up a blueprint for Robotman 2.0.
- Chronology: Flashbacks to London 1888 with Caulder and Red Jack's first meeting and 1966 to Larry first moving into the manor and befriending Rita.

Pain Patrol definitely lived up to it's title as all our main characters suffered in various ways and again, Red Jack has got to be one of the best villains the show has done in terms of design, characterisation and acting.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 2x02: "Tyme Patrol"

Written by April Fitzsimmons & Neil Reynolds
Directed by Harry Jierjian

Crazy Jane: "Maybe it is time for a change."

Onto the second episode and well, things certainly keep taking an interesting turn, don't they?Following Dorothy getting the warning about Niles facing imminent death, this episode focused on trying to slow down the process with a little help from Tyme. Yes, that's how it's really spelled.

Specifically Doctor Jonathan Tyme (Brandon Perea) who has a certain continuum in his head that could actually help Niles out. Rita was determined to get it. Jane agreed to go along and Cliff took some persuading but eventually also decided to help as well, in spite of his growing hatred for the Chief.

Dr Tyme's world though was a lot of fun to see. A roller disco derby with a certain Donna Summers song on repeat, it's actually a pity that we didn't get to see more of it. Tyme himself was a little under utilised and it came as no shock that the gang messed things up when Rita aimed for the head. Is it bad that I'm not that anxious for the Chief to survive?

I mean if he does, fair enough but the majority of the first season both portrayed him in a horrible light and posed the question as to whether or not the gang would be better without him. Of course, it's also implied here that without the Chief around, Dorothy could unleash hell on Earth but a part of me thinks everyone on this show, Dorothy included would be better off without him.

Keeping with Dorothy here - she spent a good portion of the episode in denial over her father possibly dying before getting Rita to help her learn to cook, which I thought was a nice moment between the two of them. I've noticed that Rita has been stepping more and more this season so far and I'm loving it.

As for the rest of the gang - it seems that one of Jane's other personalities, Miranda is vying for dominance and I'm guessing that Jane allowing that to happen will be both a bad idea and fairly imminent while Cliff was a lot more focused on sticking it to Caulder at every opportunity this week.

Then there was Victor. He went to a support group and then clashed and somehow bonded with Roni (Karen Obilom) - a military vet who certainly had a spark with him. As for Larry, he attended his son Gary's funeral, had a reunion with other son, Paul (John Getz) and then a swarm of butterflies captured him during the last moments of this one. Both Larry and Victor's plots were separate from the main action this week but both were very strong.

- Danny being a brick was another thing I'd forgotten about but going by trailers for the season, I don't think this will last too long.
- I wonder when we'll meet more of Dorothy's imaginary friends beyond Darling and Herschel.
- Standout music: Of course it's going to be Donna Summers Bad Girls, much to Cliff and Jane's annoyance.
- Chronology: London 1927 with the same flashbacks told from Niles's point of view. Caulder is also 139 years old.

Tyme Patrol was a bit stronger than the opening episode, although I do wish we had seen more of the title villain of the week and his world. Dorothy's still a strong addition to the series and I'm liking Rita's increased assertiveness in helping the gang out. Right now, I'm not sure if Caulder will survive the season. Maybe he shouldn't.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 2x01: "Fun Size Patrol"

Written by Jeremy Carver & Shoshana Sachi
Directed by Christopher Manley

Dorothy: "It's time for bed. We have to go to sleep. All of us."

It's been such a long time since the end of the first season for me that I have to admit to forgetting the fact that our main characters (minus Larry) were shrunk and yeah, that made up the majority of this second season premiere.

From where we left our band of misfits, things were certainly boiling over as Larry wasn't yielding results in restoring his friends to normal size while everyone else was either at each others throats, getting restless, killing rats and then there's Dorothy Spinner to add into the mix.

Nicely played by Abigail Shapiro, Dorothy seems to be the main focus of the second season and in particular with this episode as we learned a bit of her backstory and saw how the Chief, Cliff and Jane mainly interacted with her.

It can be weary adding cutesy precocious children into the mix and the affected English accent that Shapiro uses for Dorothy could've easily sent the character into the land of annoying but so far, I think we're onto a winner here. She might physically appear to be an eleven year old but she's actually in her nineties played by an actress in her twenties.

Dorothy's story opened with a flashback where she was kept as a circus freak and one of her imaginary friends came to life and killed all the cruel people who were jeering at her. In this episode, she seemed to genuinely care for her father while also trying to connect with Jane and Cliff. In the case of the latter, that also lead to Dorothy being freaked out when a mother rat ate the weakest of her litter.

As for the gang themselves, there were plenty of nice moments, particularly with Cliff and Jane and Rita and Victor as one of our main character now wants to be an actual hero. Of course, amusing as the shrunken antics were to watch, this episode also made the wise decision to bring back Constantine wannabe Willoughby and have the gang back to their normal size while a cryptic plot surrounding the Chief's imminent demise could be the thing to send Dorothy over the edge as the season progresses.

- The title sequence has remained the same but the HBO Max logo now appears instead of the DC Universe one.
- Dorothy's imaginary friends include Herschel and Darling as well as a mysterious voice. Larry also had flashbacks to his son Gary, who has recently died.
- Victor left the manor at the end of this episode, which didn't seem to faze Rita while Jane's personalities banded together as a change was needed.
- Chronology: 1927 London for the Dorothy flashback and I assume 2019 or 2020 for the present day scenes.

Fun Size Patrol kicked things off in a rather low key but delightful fashion. I've missed the quirkiness of this show (it could sometimes give Legends Of Tomorrow a run for it's money in that respect) but also the heart and humanity of these characters. Dorothy's an intriguing addition to the series as well and I'm interested in seeing where her story goes this season.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x13: "The Runaway Bridesmaid"

Written by Sarah Peters
Directed by Tom Derosier & Juan Meza-Leon

Harley: "I love you, Ive."
Ivy: "I love you too, Harls."

Two seasons, 26 episodes and the moment everyone hoped would finally happen actually did. Or 27 years since the pairing originally met back in the classic Batman: The Animated Series episode, Harley & Ivy if you really want to be dramatic about the whole thing.

Either way this second season ended with Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy together, the latter having abandoned her wedding day after the groom dumped her and Jim Gordon wrecked the would be nuptials by being a stupid oaf.

I love that this show built towards the pairing slowly but when it actually happened, it made sense for both characters and while it was predictable to leave it it until the finale to get them both on the same page, at least it happened. Just as good, I liked that Kite Man wasn't vilified either and that he realised Ivy wasn't in love with him and called the wedding off. I think that was a smart decision from a character point of view.

As for Gordon, his stupidity really got the better of him this time but it means should the show come back for a third season, Harley and Ivy have their dumbest antagonist to deal with. Seriously, you're a very stupid cop, Jim Gordon. Thankfully Barbara doesn't seem to have inherited your dumbness.

As for the wedding itself, it looked elegant, there were some interesting guests and returns like Catwoman, Jennifer and Nora and even though Two Face was absolutely using her for his own ends, at least he got Harley to go after Ivy for this finale. Oh and Clayface certainly didn't  let the carnage get in the way of a powerhouse performance. Someone give the guy more wedding gigs.

- Ivy got Frank to eat Condiment King in order to snag Kite Man's dream venue.
- Characters spotted in this episode included Space Cabbie, Cheetah, Killer Frost, Bane and some who looked like Tim Burton with Catwoman.
- Dr Psycho and Riddler were both returned to Arkham. No doubt to be back next season though.
- Chronology: Not long from previous episode and we got a title card saying The End? Let's hope not.

The Runaway Bridesmaid certainly wrapped  this second season  up on a rather satisfying. In some way the Thelma & Louise style last scene could serve as an end to this show but I'd rather look at it as a potential beginning for another season. Don't leave us in the dark for too long on this show's fate, DC Universe.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Your Vote Counts

Yes, another TV Jumble blog as I've been catching up with some more shows over the last fortnight.

911: It took them somewhat longer than usual, but SkyWitness are finally airing the third season and having watched the first six episodes, this season has been pretty enjoyable so far. The first three episodes took in a natural disaster as Buck falling out with the station, nearly suing them and then getting his job back. We also had a rather timely episode concerning Athena's ex husband and of course, the Halloween episode took some interesting turns involving a flock of birds, Maddie getting involved in a domestic case and a body stuck in the front of a car. It's nice to see this show hasn't lost it's touch.

Big Brother: It's hard to believe it's been 20 years since the debut of this iconic reality show and one of the few I will watch on a near regular basis. Yup, a show that made and ruined several peoples careers, transitioned from Channel 4 to Channel 5 and now back to E4 for this Zoom fest of classic episodes as hosted by Davina McCall, Dermot O'Leary, Rylan Clark-Neal and Emma Willis. It's been fun seeing some of the past glories like Nasty Nick getting outed for his gaming tactics and so on. It also feels that maybe just maybe the waters are being tested again to eventually revive this series. Should it happen? I think it's very likely that it will.

Derry Girls: Yeah, I really did leave this one for the longest of times but with RTE1 finally airing this show, I no longer had any excuses. Three episodes in and I can see why there's so much hype for this show. It's genuinely funny and the 90's setting with the main characters - Erin, Michelle, Claire, Orla and the wee English lad James definitely hits the right level of nostalgia as well. So far, we've seen nuns dying after reading Erin's diary, the lot of them getting banned from the chippers and of course, the not miracle surrounding Toto. I can only hope that RTE1 don't delay airing Series 2.

The Politician: Another day, another Ryan Murphy show and one I needed to catch up with as Netflix already have released the second season and the third will be it's last one. Binging the first five episodes of Season 1, the show isn't perfect, tonally doesn't feel that different to Glee and has a very polarising set of characters, especially with it's main protagonist Payton Hobart (and a disappointing shortlived romance with River) but I'm also enjoying the larger than life moments in this series, even if all the main characters look too old to be running for a school election.

- Lucifer has been officially confirmed for a sixth and final season on Netflix. The first part of the fifth season will be released on August 21st.
- Brooklyn Nine Nine will be scrapping some of it's upcoming episodes for it's eighth season due to the BLM protests.
- Penny Dreadful: City Of Angels will air on SkyAtlantic from July 1st.
- Season 4 of The Handmaid's Tale will be delayed.
- American Horror Stories will air on FX on Hulu instead of FX when it's released next year.
- Shows like Riverdale and The Flash could begin filming their new seasons from August onwards.
- HBO Max and DC Universe will release the first three episodes of Doom Patrol Season 2 from June 25th. This season will comprise of nine episodes.
- Shayan Siobhan has been promoted to a regular for the sixth season of Legends Of Tomorrow.
- Manifest has been renewed for a third season by NBC.
- HBO Max have renewed Love Life for a second season.

DC News: DCFanDome Event for August, Michael Keaton is Back and more

Yeah, I am really trying to hold off on the DC stuff with this blog (no, really, I am) and I was going to wait until a couple of weeks but too much stuff has come out that needs to be talked about, so let's get on with it, shall we?

The biggest headline first would be the fact that Michael Keaton is coming back to the DC universe. Yup, while he might have been playing Vulture in the MCU (as well as upcoming Morbius movie for Sony), he's also in talks to reprise his role of Bruce Wayne for the upcoming movie, The Flash, which will take on the Multiverse and a certain classic comic book as Ezra Miller's Barry Allen tries to prevent his mother's death and winds up creating another universe where Keaton's much older Bruce Wayne appears. To say I didn't see this development coming would be an understatement of the highest order.

After years of development hell, The Flash is finally coming to the big screen and while there were rumours before that Jeffrey Dean Morgan was going to play the Thomas Wayne version of Batman, it's now good as confirmed that Keaton will be an older Bruce Wayne, serving as a mentor to superheroes and may be popping up in other movies as well. This movie, written by Birds Of Prey Christina Hodson and directed by IT's Andy Muschietti is also rumored to be featuring Ray Fisher's Cyborg and a potentially recast Iris West. It also seems for now that Ezra Miller will remain in the lead role (despite an incident earlier in the year) but seeing as we're delving into the Multiverse, maybe there's a chance for a Grant Gustin cameo too? After all, we did see Ezra pop up earlier this year in Crisis On Infinite Earths for the Arrowverse, so why the hell not?

However with the arrival of Keaton's older Bruce for The Flash and fans getting the chance to see Ben Affleck in Zack Snyder's Justice League, the question remains - where does that leave Robert Pattinson? Right now, it seems that Pattinson and Matt Reeves The Batman will be in it's own universe and not affected by anything but seeing as we're in the Multiverse now, I wouldn't rule out Robert's Batman popping up at some point. Either way, it's all good and in better news, The Batman will now resume filming from July 6th, so some new information will be forthcoming in the next few weeks.

In further exciting news - if you haven't already, then mark August 22nd from 10am onwards in your diaries. On that day, we will get DCFanDome - a 24 hour event that will have many live panels for virtually every upcoming DCEU movie and current TV/streaming series as well as news on upcoming comics and games. There's even a site set up so fans can get creative with their fandoms and explore plenty of virtual content on the day itself. Needless to say, this event will generate a few blogs as I'll do my best to cover all the big hitting moments.

On a sad note, it was also announced yesterday that Joel Schumacher passed away at the age of 80. The director who had quite an amazing career with movies like The Lost Boys, The Client, Phone Booth and also his involvement with the Caped Crusader with the likes of Batman Forever and Batman & Robin left an amazing impression on Hollywood with many people who worked with him in the past speaking out about his passing.

Michael Keaton News: https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/video/michael-keaton-talks-reprise-batman-role-hamilton-trailer-more-thr-news-1299746
Joel Schumacher: https://entertainment.ie/cinema/movie-news/joel-schumacher-tributes-456036/
DCFanDome Site: https://dcfandome.talenthouse.com/

The Flash will begin filming in the first quarter of 2021 with a June 3rd 2022 release date. The Batman will now be released on October 1st 2021 and DCFanDome will stream from August 22nd online from 10am.

My Review of Justice League Dark: Apokolips War (2020)

Written by Mairghread Scott & Christina Sotta & Ernie Altbacker
Directed by Matt Peters & Christina Sotta

John Constantine: "You know what you have to do, mate. Clear the board. Start again."
The Flash: "Another Flashpoint. I promised Iris, before she... I can't."
John Constantine: "Yeah, I figured you'd say that."
The Flash: "Everything will change. Again."

With news of the DCEU going full Multiverse and a Flashpoint movie coming in 2022, let's take stock and remember that this particular animated universe started off with the same idea and with this animated movie are now ending with the same idea. An idea desperately needed as things really went to shit here for everyone involved.

Superman (Jerry O'Connell) decided to take the fight to Darkseid (Tony Todd) on Apokolips instead of wanting for the latter to attack Earth yet again. Despite both the Flash (Christopher Gorham) and John Constantine (Matt Ryan) having reservations about this plan, Superman was determined to go ahead and unfortunately for everyone involved, Darkseid was more than prepared for this particular attack.

The DC animated movies have not exactly been shy about the gore and violence and it feels like because this would be the last film in this particular animated universe, the writers decided to really up the violence and gore big time. Several characters are brutally slaughtered by Darkseid and his race of Paradooms while others such as Batman (Jason O'Mara), Flash, Cyborg (Shemar Moore) and Wonder Woman (Rosario Dawson) are given fates almost worse than death as Darkseid finds a way of keeping them alive but useful to him.

As for the survivors - time moved forward to a year and we had Constantine mourning Zatanna's death (Camilla Luddington) with an equally mopey Etrigan (Ray Chase) while a depowered Superman along with Raven (Taissa Farmiga) manage to get the two on side along with Damien Wayne (Stuart Allen) and the Suicide Squad as led by Harley Quinn (Hynden Walsh) in order to stop Darkseid from ruling the entire universe.

With the build of this animated movie universe for the last seven years (and something which the DCEU have done in a more scattered way), it's glorious to see all of these characters working together in order to save the day. Darkseid was the logical choice for a big universal threat and considering how previous movies used the character, his dominion gets played out rather well.

Especially when the second fight gets taken to Apokolips and we see the devastating effect that Batman, Wonder Woman, Cyborg and Flash have all suffered. Having both Constantine and Raven band together along with the release of Trigon (John DiMaggio) really did add to the scale of the battle as it really did take everyone (including the likes of Lois Lane and Lex Luthor working together) in order to take Darkseid out.

But then there's the end of the movie. Despite not wanting, the Flash will now create another Flashpoint event, following Constantine's advice. This obviously means that when the next animated universe starts up again, they can really start from scratch while at the same time referencing anything from this universe if needs be. It's an interesting but somewhat expected ending to probably the darkest animated DC film we've had since The Dark Knight Returns two parter.

- Both King Shark and Etrigan were dead in previous movies and yet they appeared here with no explanation at all. Continuity slip or were the writers not that bothered?
- It's nice that while this movie explored the Constantine/Zatanna romance, they also acknowledged the former's bisexuality, even if it was played for laughs with King Shark being an ex-lover of John's.
- If you get this on DVD or BluRay, you get either a short film for Adam Strange or a preview for the next animated movie, Man Of Tomorrow.
- Chronology: Not long since the events of Reign Of The Supermen.

Justice League Dark: Apokolips War as a culmination of a 15 movie universe certainly hits more than it misses. It's quite a dark movie, but it's mostly earned the darkness considering the build up of previous years and the ending does mean a new animated universe can start anew, mostly unburdened by previous events.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x12: "Lovers Quarrel"

Written by  Adam Stein
Directed by Christina Sotta

Harley (to Ivy): "Take a risk. Take a leap of faith and be with me."

There was a whole lovely speech that Harley gave to Ivy and if we don't see these two become an item by series end, it will be disappointing. I think though the show will deliver on that front but the main event was of course, Ivy in full blown hypnotised mode.

While under Dr Psycho's influence, Ivy was a big threat. The Trinity themselves - Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman all tried to take Ivy down and had their backsides handed to them. Then it seemed like Ivy might have caused an offscreen threeway with them as well.

If anyone had to break Ivy out of Psycho's control, it was always going to be Harley and while I do feel bad for Kite Man, this episode should serve as a wake up call. Not only did his attempts to bring Ivy out of being mind controlled fail, but Psycho made sure that Kite Man was all too aware of Ivy and Harley's bachelorette hook up as well.

Keeping with Psycho's rotten behaviour, when he wasn't trying to get Ivy to kill Harley, he also had both Clayface and King Shark attack the League while Harley and Kite Man worked with Sy Borgman in a way to break Psycho's mind control as well.

As for Psycho, his general plan has seemingly failed for now and Darkseid might want to get revenge another day but overall, the show has decided that Harley is no longer a villain and now she's got a new identity to forge. The thing is, will Ivy be a part of that new chapter in her life?

- The Joker sat this episode out but again, I don't see him and Bethany lasting much longer. He'll want to properly go back to his usual ways.
- The reactions from everyone seeing Harley/Ivy were priceless, notably Batgirl and Gordon's. Oh and we learned King Shark accidentally killed his brother.
- I guess flying a kite can be easy as Harley perfected it pretty sharpish.
- Chronology: Exactly from where the previous episode left off.

Lovers Quarrel was a brilliant penultimate episode. Big on the action sequences, big on the emotional stakes and while the Riddler added nothing to the partnership, other than obsessing over his calves, Doctor Psycho really did emerge as the true nasty piece of work he was destined to be. I can't wait to see how this finale ends this season.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Hollywood's: "A Hollywood Ending"

Written by Ian Brennan & Ryan Murphy
Directed by Jessica Yu

Jack (in character): "I'd like to go to Dreamland."
Rock: "I'll take you there."

Seven episodes and it's all been leading to this particular moment. After the cliffhanger of the penultimate episode saw Meg destroyed, it only turned out that the delightfully snarky editor who couldn't stand Henry had actually made a copy, and thus managed to save Raymond's bacon. Oh I wish I saw that one coming. Oh wait, I did.

The rest of this episode then led to the build up of Meg breaking box office records and of course, bagging some Academy Award nominations with the likes of Camille, Archie, Anna May and Raymond all scooping awards. Jack lost out to Santa Claus (more on that in a bit) but it's nice that he saw the funny side to that one, even if Ernie didn't.

There's been no getting away from the fact that the series has been a wish fulfillment and that's been divisive with audiences in that regard. This finale really ramped up that aspect with the award ceremony and the public outing of Archie and Rock's relationship, both met with boos/death threats but also support from the studio/Avis. Cheesy as it might be, I have really enjoyed the relationship with Archie/Rock while at the same time getting why the creative liberties taken with the latter have not been as well received.

As for Henry, his obnoxious side came out during Archie and Rock's public outing as a couple before a heel turn at the last minute saw him apologise for his predatory behaviour with Rock while offering the latter a lead in a gay themed movie with Jack. In terms of "beginnings", it was a nice note to end this series on I guess. I also don't blame Rock for not forgiving Henry even if the latter did seem surprisingly sincere with his apology.

As for Camille, there was a focus on her win and I really enjoyed her conversations with Hattie McDonald in this one. I wished the latter and Anna May Wong had been used a bit more in the series but they were excellent with the screentime they had as was Jeanne Crandall, who also returned to present Anna with her award.

In terms of Jack and Claire - they sped up the relationship, but it worked though. I thought the proposal was rather sweet and I also liked the pairing with Ellen and Ernie as well. Even Dick seemed to have a rather nice relationship with John but it seemed rather underdeveloped. I wasn't keen on Dick being dead in the flashforward but I am glad that Ernie survived and that Avis seemed committed to more diversity at Ace Studios.

- Jack lost out to Edmund Gwenn from Miracle On 34th Street. Of course Santa Claus was going to win this one.
- I noticed that Hedda Hopper appeared in this episode but alas a different actress so my hope of this miniseries existing in the same universe as Feud: Bette And Joan got dashed here.
- Standout music: Dinah Washington's A Slick Chick and Lee Wiley's You Do Something To Me.
- Chronology: I'm guessing the years 1947-1949 here with the awards being during 1948.

A Hollywood Ending offered a nice, comfortable ending to this wish fulfillment miniseries. I really don't think it should come back for seconds but obviously most of these actors are people you want to (and will likely) see in future Ryan Murphy productions. Overall, a very fun series.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Hollywood's: "Meg"

Written by Ian Brennan & Janet Mock & Reilly Smith
Directed by Janet Mock

Raymond: "Somebody get Ace Amberg on the phone. You can't do this."
Lon: "Go ahead and call him. Ace Amberg is dead."

Of course he is. The moment that Ace would appear to be the on the right side of things - wanting to make Avis co-president of the studio, taking Dick's threat of ruining him seriously and even admitting that Meg deserved a release. Well, it would also be the moment that Ace would die and his horrible lawyer would then take it into his hands to destroy Raymond's film for good measure.

The controversy surrounding Meg was prominent in this penultimate episode as all our main characters felt the backlash of angry racist America not wanting the film to go ahead and only Lon would ensure that it wouldn't. Or did he? I'm not convinced that somehow Meg has been destroyed forever.

Getting back into the movie itself, we got to see some of the rushes here - from the character's big breakdown to the moment leading towards it and of course, the moment where the titular character changed her mind. All the scenes were gloriously hammy to watch with Jack even giving an emotionally truthful performance at one point.

However something was lacking and in spite of not being a particularly pleasant person, it seemed that to his credit, Henry was actually trying to help the film rather than interfere with it. It does feel a bit late in the day to show this side to Henry but at the same time, his point about the main character's general motivations were on point.

As for the rest of the episode, it was also interesting to see Ernie come through for the lads and get the money for the budget that was overspent. I also liked that he managed to get a bit part in Meg and there was a certain spark between him and Ellen as well.

As for Dick, last time we saw, he had hooked up with a younger man and it seems that he's in love and confident enough to tell Ace that he's gay. It's a nice moment, albeit one that felt a tad bit rushed but still effective enough though.

- Archie and Rock have moved in together and Jack and Claire also seemed to be getting a lot closer with this episode.
- I had to laugh at Ernie taking part in a kidnap role play with a client.
- Standout music: The Keynoters The Way You Look Tonight and Doris Day;s Just Imagine.
- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Meg made for an interesting penultimate and while I definitely don't believe that all hope has been lost with this movie, that last scene certainly set up a lot for the finale. Hopefully the last episode will bring this enjoyable miniseries to a satisfying conclusion.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x11: "A Fight Worth Fighting For"

Written by  Tom Hyndman
Directed by Tom Derosier

Harley: "I told you, I tried. Didn't work. Ivy said no."
Joker: "Are you prepared to live with that?"

Well, this I didn't see happening. The Joker might be back and he may be determined to do his usual bout of killing, maiming and so on but for this episode, we entered buddy cop mode with both Harley and her ex looking for a certain book. In other news, it turns out the Joker can give some decent advice.

In this one he told Harley to fight for Ivy and that in itself might possibly be the strangest thing the character has ever done in his 80 year history. Unfortunately for Harley, just as she was about to actually take the slightly changed Joker's advice, Dr Psycho put Ivy under his control to kill Harley.

Cliff hanger wise, it's a good moment as Ivy went from throwing herself into trying to marry Kite Man to falling into Psycho's latest trap. After all, if a Parademon can't kill Harley, then her best friend just might. Except we all know that Harley will probably snap Ivy out of it by next week.

As for the Joker, I really enjoyed his scenes with Harley and Batman during the mission to free the Justice League from Fables book. Even the romance plot with Bethany was surprisingly effective as he realised that he actually cared about her. I don't see it lasting but it was a nice story and the League are free too, which is a bonus.

As for Psycho, there's no going back for him. This episode pivoted on him being the big baddie for the last two episodes with Riddler as a side kick and we also have Darkseid somewhat added into the mix as well. This plot felt inevitable with Psycho, so here's to Harley and the gang giving him the much needed beatdown he deserves.

- This episode opened and ended with Frank and a stoner named Chad as the former bought everyone up to speed on events so far.
- So are Clayface and King Shark gone now? Even Darkseid seemed disgusted by Psycho's reputation.
- Zatanna freed the League. Can we get more of her next season?
- Chronology: From where previous episode left off, also six month for the Joker since meeting Bethany.

A Fight Worth Fighting For excelled with the best Joker/Harley content we've had in a long while, really went to town on Psycho being an evil little shit (along with a flashback to when he first enjoyed human suffering) and was just fun from start to finish.

Rating: 8 out of 10

Walking Away

It's been slightly longer since my last TV Jumble Blog, I've not watched as much as I wanted to during lockdown but here's some of what I've finished up with in the last while.

Batwoman: It's nice to see that for a show that started off so ropy that post Crisis, it really showed genuine improvement. In spite of the chaos ahead of the second season (another blog on that soon), the final four episodes for Kate Kane really upped the ante. We saw Alice and Mouse take over Arkham, the latter die, the birth of Hush, an introduction of sorts for Bruce Wayne, Mary added into the mix, Jacob continuing to be the absolute worst, a Sophie/Julia pairing and the hints of next season baddie, Safiyah. Oh and some decent material for Luke. Season 2 really will have an uphill battle on it's hand after the show managed to turn things around after such an unpromising start.

Killing Eve: Yes, I watched the whole of Season 3 and the general consensus would be that it was mostly an improvement on it's second season but still lacking on the greatness of the first year. There's a part of me that thinks that the fourth season should be it's last one as the show feels in danger of running out of steam. None of the new characters really made a great impression, except Dasha and she got a rather anticlimactic exit. The male characters except Konstantin are poorly written and Carolyn needs something more to work with. Eve and Villanelle both keep the show afloat and it does seem like the show will eventually cave into shippers desire but the stuff with the Twelve is losing me as well.

Supergirl: A mixed bag of episodes for a mixed bag of a season. On the plus side, at least Lena came to her sense and both her and Kara are on the same team once again, but the Leviathan storyline was mostly a bore, Acrata poorly used, the Kara/William rather dull and while I do enjoy Jon Cryer's Lex Luthor, next season might want to break away from the character but given the cliffhanger of this finale, that will obviously not be the case.  Perhaps the longer break will give the writers some better ideas.

The Flash: A widely uneven season with too much time of Iris being trapped in the Mirror universe and took long for Barry in figuring out that his wife was missing. On the other hand, though, Eva turned out to be a massive improvement in terms of baddies after the terrible use of Bloodwork in the show's first half. However given the real life situation, this finale really wasn't meant to be one but despite feeling rushed, it mostly works. Next season will have to quickly wrap up the Mirror Master storyline among other behind the scenes mayhem as well.

- Hartley Sawyer has been fired from The Flash and will not return for the show's upcoming seventh season. It has yet to be confirmed if his character will be written out or recast.
- Batwoman will have a major reboot of it's title character.
- American Horror Story's tenth season will now not air on FX until 2021. A spin off series, titled American Horror Stories will also debut next year.
- The second season of LA's Finest has been delayed.
- Evan Peters has joined the cast of WandaVision in an undisclosed role.
- It looks like Lucifer will get a sixth season on Netflix after all.
- The remaining seven episodes of Supernatural's final season will air in the autumn on the CW.
- UK viewers will be able to see Roswell: New Mexico on ITV2 from June 22nd.
- Maisie Richardson-Sellers will not be returning for the sixth season of Legends Of Tomorrow.
- Gal Gadot's Hedy Lamarr miniseries has now moved from Showtime to Apple.

My Review of Harley Quinn's 2x10: "Dye Hard"

Written by Jamiesen Borak
Directed by Vinton Heuck

Harley (to Joker): "I'll be seeing you soon, Mister J."

It's amazing that the majority of this season has survived so well without the Joker but after meeting his normal self a few episodes back, this show was always going to have revive him in some way. Here, in a strange sense of symmetry, it's Harley who has recreate the man who helped create her in the first place.

To the episode's credit, Harley did her best to try and stop her evil ex-boyfriend from remembering his former self and that was in spite of them being bound together during a siege at Wayne Tower and the team up of Dr Psycho, a jacked up Riddler and some remaining Parademons.

However it was obvious from the moment that bartender guy wad struggling to remember where the book that had the Justice League trapped in it that Harley had to end this one by throwing him into a vat of chemicals yet again. With the Joker back in time for the final three episodes, Harley and her decreasing band of friends are somewhat done for.

Dr Psycho wasted no time in posing a challenge for Harley with his control of the Parademons and his team up with Riddler while amusing, also wasn't that surprising either. If someone had to turn on Harley from her gang, then it had to be Psycho.

Of course with Psycho gong full evil, it was Sy Borgman who sacrificed himself to get Harley out of a scrape while King Shark and Clayface were under the influence of Psycho's mind control. Things did not look good for them either but I'm not writing them off as casualties yet.

- Title and setting alone, this was an obvious nod to Die Hard. Harley even  shot someone with a cancer ray while Joker unknowingly killed someone with a pencil.
- Batman still wants to resume crime fighting as he recovers but allowed Gordon to capture Parademons with the Batplane.
- No Poison Ivy or Kite Man this week but we did Harley confide in Joker of all people about her feelings for her best friend.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Dye Hard definitely found its own unique way to bring the Joker, have Harley assess her feelings while working with Gordon and also try and have her correct her own mistakes with her former alliance with Darkseid. I mean she mostly failed here but this was entertaining to watch unfold.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 5x14: "Swan Thong"

Written by Keto Shimizu & Morgan Faust
Directed by  Kevin Mock

Charlie (to the Legends): "Actually guys I think this is the end of the line for me."

I think after the last few weeks, the exit of Charlie was to be expected and unlike with Amaya during the finale of the third season, this time, it's really it for Maisie Richardson-Sellers. It's been a fantastic four years since her play two very different roles with Amaya and Charlie but exit wise, this felt right.

It might have taken some sound advice from Lita but Charlie played her role in making sure that Lachesis would not mess around with free will again after second attempt came crashing down due to the Legends getting Gideon back on side.

With Atropos being killed off early in the episode and Sara regaining her sight/losing her powers, it up to the gang to go through the museum of bad stuff and engage in arguably the best fight sequence we've seen in the Arrow universe against some Encores one more time,

Encores out of the way, this was a satisfying way to end the story with the Fates and now we've gotten the Godlike out of the way, anyone care for some extraterrestrial next season? Going by the ending for this one, Sara's gotten herself into a new kind of trouble that her teammates will have to deal with next season.

Speaking of next season with Charlie gone and Sara snatched, this finale also resolved the situation with the two Zaris as well. Realising that she can't coexist along with Behrad, Zari Tomaz made the sacrifice to go back into the Totem while Zari Tarazi and Behrad will don the airbending powers for next season while Zari 2 and Constantine are now an item.

As for the rest of the team - Ava will be co-captain, Nate's a bit heartbroken over losing Zari again and Mick is happy being a father. Astra seems to have gotten past her own issues and has John's place for herself but I also think we'll be seeing her again next year. Mona and Gary just seemed to slip away but they're also likely returns next season.

- Some of the Encores included Marie Antoinette, Stalin, Vlad the Impaler and Charles Manson while bad ideas included cigarettes, pogo sticks, shake weights and a certain 2000 hit song.
- I still wish Ray and Nora appeared and what happened with Enchantress?  I did laugh at Nate wanting to text Dion though.
- Standout music: Having an animatronic version of Sisqo singing Thong Song during that big fight scene was a stroke of genius.
- Chronology: 2020 but with a four month jump and in the 1970s for Charlie's exit.

Swan Thong might be a clever play on words for exits but both Charlie and Zari 1's departures packed a punch while the Fates story ended on a strong note. It's going to be a wait for the next season , especially with that cliffhanger to consider.

Rating: 8 out of 10