My Review of Scream's 1x08: "Ghosts"

Written by Erin Maher And Kay Reindl
Directed by Rodman Flender

Piper (to Emma): "Second chances are rare. Don't waste them."

Anyone else feel like they were getting whacked with anvils left, right and centre? We've known for weeks (or speculated) that Emma had an older sibling out there and this episode definitely confirmed it. The question though, is it Piper or Branson because this episode made kind of a case for both of them.

With Piper, she's been getting closer and closer to Emma with each passing episode and yet again, she dropped the hint about her father no longer being alive, which by now is something that Emma should be picking up on. To be honest, I would genuinely be shocked if Piper wasn't Emma's mystery older sibling but at the same time, maybe the writers have been wanting viewers to think that so they could shock us with someone else. Like Branson for instance.

This episode ended with him getting caught with a scantily clad Brooke and then arrested as a suspect thanks to Noah and Audrey unveiling more about Branson's past. The fact that Maggie/Daisy doesn't seem to know the sex of her first born coupled with the fact that Branson would be in the same age bracket as Piper certainly makes him another possibility for being Emma's mystery older sibling.

Then there was the fact that Branson has a penchant for sleeping with students (Brooke, you're not the first), one of whom ended up being murdered as well. I'm not sure if Branson will actually be revealed as one of the killers but I certainly think he's an imminent death within the next two episodes and not someone whose eventual demise will generate a lot of sympathy either.

As for the rest of the episode - I liked that we met Emma's father, Kevin but it was a bit of a copout that it was only through flashbacks and Emma seemed a little too restrained over the fact that her mother hid the fact that she had another child for some reason. As for the aftermath of Will's death, aside from a few moments here and there, it seemed far less focused on than expected. I'm not entirely sure that was a bad thing either though.

- Some nice attempts of horror in this episode with Emma getting hallucinations of a split in half version of Will holding a bloody heart. I have to give the show props for that visual.
- Brooke was attacked but not killed by Ghostface. I'm starting to like the character, even if the actress is a little ropey in her emotional scenes.
- Brooke's dad got rid of the body of a fellow user friend of her mother's. Her mother actually is in rehab.
- Seth's real surname is Palmer. We also learned (unsurprisingly) that Maggie and Brandon had sex once too.

Certainly an interesting enough episode. I liked that "Ghosts" shed some further light on certain things, even if said things (Maggie having a kid before Emma etc) were obvious to begin. The fact that the show is upping the horror a little is nice too.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Scream's 1x07: "In The Trenches"

Written by Jordan Rosenberg And Meredith Glynn
Directed by Leigh Janiak

Ghostface (to Emma, re Will): "This is going to be date to remember."

Finally, they went there. Not only did the show actually kill off one of the six main characters but it also did it in a style that seemed more akin to the movies themselves than any of the previous murders have been.

I'm not going to pretend to be saddened by Will's death because I kind of wasn't but at the same time, even before his murder, it did seem like the episode made a good job of both ruling him out as one of the killers (still convinced there's two of them) and also in redeeming him a little bit. The fact that Emma accidentally hit a trip wire that saw Will being cut in half by farming equipment though - kudos for that one, show.

Will's fate was fairly similar to the likes of Steve and Derek but at least he was given a memorable enough exit. With three episodes left, I can maybe assume that another one of the core six will probably get it (most likely Brooke) with the full reveal of Brandon James history revealed to Emma along the way.

Aside from the death of Will, the rest of the episode had an awkward dinner with Emma's mum, Kieran and his father as well as Kieran not being pleased with Emma's lingering feelings for Will. On the plus side, Brooke had many good scenes in this one, particularly with her father, Jake and Noah while Audrey was largely sidelined (which was less good) but there's some question marks concerning Piper this week as well.

- Starting to get the impression that we're being lead to believe that Brandon James was not the original killer.
- Will was bound and gagged twice in this episode before getting the unfortunate boyfriend death of the week. Ex in his case.
- Are we supposed to read something into Branson's absence from this one?
- Noah and Jake suspecting each other will probably result in one of them being innocent and the other dying. Or both of them being in on it together.

"In The Trenches" probably felt like the most influenced by the movie franchise so far. I did like the way Ghostface lulled Emma into a false sense of security before Will got sliced in half. While the show still feels a little too tame at times, this was a good step in the right direction.

Rating: 7 out of 10

In Synth With Each Other

A brief run down of some of the other shows I've recently seen.

Daredevil: I've watched quite a lot of this show since the last time I've blogged about it and things certainly got so much more interesting. The flashbacks/backstories for Stick, Fisk and Matt and Foggy's friendship have been all fantastic to watch with Fisk emerging as a wonderfully complex villain as Matt's mission to take him down has rightly intensified over the last few episodes. I also liked that we went down a darker path with Karen (whose determination to do the right thing has been noble and reckless). I definitely can't wait to see where the remaining two episodes will go with this series.

Humans: A brilliant end to the first and thankfully given the cliffhanger with Niska, it's a good job that Channel 4 and AMC renewed the show for a second series. It was nice to see the Synths all come together, to have Voss/Beatrice kind of help them out and even to see the Hawkins progress as a family unit and individual characters. It's a bit of a shame we lost George in the penultimate episode but perhaps not that shocking though. It will be interesting to see what another batch of episodes will provide next year for the Synths though.

Marvel's Agent Carter: I'm not going to lie - I really like this show but I am also not really addicted to it. It might a consequence of not watching it back in January when it first aired or just generally preferring Agents Of SHIELD but either way while things are moving along rather nicely (a female assassin after Peggy, Howard occasionally popping up, any scenes with Jarvis or Daniel) - including Peggy's double life getting exposed, it's just not exciting me as much as I thought it would. The show is still a lot of fun though.

True Detective: Well, that was a bit of an anticlimax, wasn't it? I didn't hate the second season as much as others did, but undeniably at times I did find myself drifting away from it. I hated Paul's death and everything about his storyline ultimately sucked while the main conspiracy plot despite some efforts never really caught on for me. I did like Ray and Antigone for the remainder of the run but even they weren't enough to ignite the remaining episodes of the season. Hopefully the third season (assuming there is one) can recapture the stronger elements of the first year.

- Netflix have renewed Sense8 for a second season.
- Lauren Ambrose, Robbie Amell, Annabeth Gish and Vik Sahay will also be in episodes of The X Files.
- Anne Hathaway is heading to television for an adaptation of The Ambassador's Wife.
- Matt Cohen has bagged a recurring role as Levi for How To Get Away With Murder as has Famke Jannsen.
- Britney Spears will be appearing in an episode of Jane The Virgin.
- CBS are developing a Facebook inspired comedy.
- Syfy have cancelled Haven after five seasons.
- Rosario Dawson will be taking her Daredevil into Jessica Jones.
- Shannon Esper will recur in the fourth season of Orange Is The New Black.
- Chris Brochu has joined the cast of Shameless for it's sixth season.

First Look: Boy Meets Girl

A couple of months ago it was announced that BBC2 were doing a sitcom with a transgender character. I should've discussed it back then but now we know that the show is called Boy Meets Girl and that it's coming soon.

The six part series, starring trans comedienne and actress Rebecca Root focuses on the developing relationship between 40 year old Judy (Root) and 26 year old Leo (Harry Hepple) with former Loose Woman panellist Denise Welch in a supporting role as Leo's mother, Pam. Other cast members include Janine Duvitski, Nigel Betts, Lizzie Roper, Jonny Dixon and Jayden Lowther

Created by Elliott Kerrigan and also written with Simon Carlyle and Andrew Mettam, the former was discovered through the Trans Comedy Award, a 2013 BBC talent search for scripts with positive portrayals of transgender characters.

Having watched the trailer for this show, I'm definitely intrigued by this one. There's something rather sweet and funny about this show and it's high time to have an openly transgender character and actress leading a sitcom as well. Im pretty unaware of Root's previous work but she seems fantastic from what was shown in the trailer.

Press Release/Trailer: http://attitude.co.uk/watch-the-trailer-for-britains-first-trans-sitcom-boy-meets-girl/

Boy Meets Girl will air on BBC2 Thursdays 9.30pm from September 3rd.

My Review of Scream's 1x06: "Betrayed"

Written by Jaime Paglia
Directed by Juluis Ramsey

Emma (to Noah): "Audrey, what did you do?"

Apparently nothing as bad as this episode wanted us to think. Yeah, it was time for the actual law to start interviewing/suspecting other people given that Tyler was officially ruled out by having his head being found a few episodes back.

At first it did look like Mr Branson was going to be called into question (bet that'll happen later though) but instead it turned out to be Audrey who got the grilling from the surprisingly competent Lorraine Brock and for a fair portion of the episode, both Emma and Noah were forced to actually doubt Audrey's innocence when they found a fairly incriminating video of her.

Audrey wanting revenge on Nina for outing her relationship was pretty understandable but I wasn't surprised when it was later revealed that Rachael had actually calmed Audrey down and stopped her from doing something stupid. The more interesting aspect of this plot was that it allowed Maggie to open up a bit more about Brandon James.

I do like that she actually took Emma back to her old house and that it was revealed that Daisy/James were actually friends. As divisive as the show has been, I do think they've done a fairly decent job in giving the Brandon James backstory a lot of proper emphasis and weight. I do think however that Maggie/Daisy is going to be a future victim in the remaining episodes of this season though.

Keeping with interesting plots though - I liked the team up of Will and Piper as the former gave the latter enough juicy dirt on Brooke's father before both of them had a non deadly encounter with Ghostface by the end of the episode. This basically resulted in Piper being knocked out and Will being kidnapped and being a boyfriend in a Scream franchise rarely ends well, does it? If Kieran's not one of the killers, then he's definitely a future target as well.

- Oddly finding the Brooke and Jake scenes more interesting than they're supposed to. I did like Brooke tearing Will a new one over his involvement in blackmailing her father.
- Mr Branson changed his name. He might not be the killer but he's definitely hiding something other than spying on kids (which is bad enough).
- Three episodes, no kills. They're clearly setting up a big one very one. Yes, I know who.
- There was definitely a little Halloween vibe with the visits to old houses in this episode.

You know what, I really liked this one. I think "Betrayed" certainly pushed things along a little further and the lack of kills have worked well enough in the show's favour.The acting still isn't the greatest at times and even I think it would be nice if Noah could slow down on the pop cultures a tiny bit but other than that, there's been an improvement here.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Doctor Who - Series 9 Trailer 2/Private Eye Rumours

With less than six weeks to go and following the trailer we got at Comic-Con last month, BBC1 have unveiled another trailer for the upcoming ninth series of Doctor Who with some brand new clips to feast our eyes on.

Unlike parts of the previous series, it really does feel like the upcoming series is playing on the more heroic aspects of the 12th Doctor (Peter Capaldi). In this trailer alone, he's certainly getting a fair chunk of heroic style lines when he isn't musing about being in the TARDIS with a certain young lady. Speaking of whom ....

Clara Oswald. It's our third series with Jenna Coleman's former nanny/teacher as the main companion and she's definitely thrust into the main action as we see Clara confronting Daleks, Missy and Maisie Williams mysterious character amongst others. It should also be noted that there does seem to be a strong sense of team spirit between her and the Doctor this year but with the talks of "glory days" from Moffat and company, could this series spell the end for Miss Oswald?

Speaking of Missy, it's nice to see Michelle Gomez back in action as the most fun version of the Master since Anthony Ainley and in the clips we see her making her presence known to both the Doctor and Clara while also laughing in the face of a Dalek as well. If the previous trailer didn't confirm that both Missy and the Daleks weren't in the opening two episodes, then this one certainly did. I'm also guessing there's going to be some truth to those Davros rumours after all too.

As for Maisie Williams, by now we know that she's playing a brand new character and this trailer alone we saw her in two very distinct costumes - as a peasant during her scenes with Clara and then as someone a bit more well off looking during a scene with a fire breathing leonine type creature. I really do hope with all the hype that is being placed on Maisie's mysterious character that it's one incredibly satisfying pay off and not a Tasha Lem style anticlimax.

As for the rest of the trailer, there were certainly more highlights to them. We got to see Osgood running into a police station in Mexico, Rigsy looking spooked by something, the return of the Zygons, the Doctor facing off with the likes of Odin, the Mire as well as jumping out of a window, more encounters with the eyeless ghost creatures from the third and fourth episodes and so on. It's certainly an exciting trailer, arguably more than the first one was last month.

Last week, Private Eye published an article indicating that the show's tenth series (which was confirmed a few weeks ago) will not air in 2016. A few hours later the BBC issued their own statement, which didn't exactly deny the article while a poster on Digital Spy has posted often contradictory rumours about the show's future. At the moment, it's really hard to know what exactly is true and until the ninth series has completed airing (around December 5th), we probably won't know the full story until then. In the past, Private Eye have been accurate about some things, so there could be some truth to their initial reports. It could also mean that perhaps a showrunner handover may or may not be imminent either but until the BBC actually confirm anything, it's genuinely hard to tell what's going on behind the scenes at the moment.

Series 9 Trailer 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0csVdLbDMO4

Doctor Who's ninth series will air on BBC1 and BBCAmerica from September 19th.

DC Television - Crossovers & Casting Updates

Yup, with a few weeks/months before some of these shows return, the casting announcements have been pretty wild. Basically, it really is a good time to be fan of the small screen universe with DC at the moment.

Arrow

- The biggest news is that Matt Ryan will be reprising his role as John Constantine in the fifth episode, titled Haunted. He'll be there as part of the fallout of Sara's resurrection in the season.
- Rutina Wesley will be playing Lady Cop and she'll be a member of an anti-vigilante task force.
- Elysia Rotura has been cast as a love interest for Oliver while Parker Young has been cast as a love interest for Thea.
- Ryan Robbins will play Conklin, JR Bourne will be Double Down and Jimmy Akingbola will be Baron Reiter.
- Alexander Calvert will be Anarky and Echo Kellum will be Mr Terrific.

The Flash

- The CW have released a poster of Barry meeting Jay Garrick's Flash as played by Teddy Sears.
- Wally West has also been cast with Keiynan Lonsdale, who'll debut in the winter.
- Adam Copeland has the role of Atom Smasher.
- Michael Ironside will be playing the father of Captain Cold and Golden Glider.

Legends Of Tomorrow

- Falk Hentschel has been cast in the role of Hawkman and unlike Hawkgirl, he will be aware of his past lives.
- Casper Crump will be taking on the role of Vandal Savage, the main antagonist of the show's first season.
- Phil Klemmer will be showrunner for the series along with Greg Berlanti, Andrew Kreisberg, Marc Guggenheim and Sarah Schechter.
- Booster Gold will not be appearing in the show for the time being.
- Jay Jackson played by Franz Drameh could also be a specially created/original character for the show.

Supergirl

- Chris Browning will be playing Ben Krull, aka Reactron, who'll debut in the third episode as will Jenna Dewan-Tatum as Lucy Lane.
- General Sam Lane, Red Tornado and Non are all coming to the show.
- There will be no crossovers with Arrow, The Flash and Legends Of Tomorrow for now or references to the shows.
- Superman will factor into Supergirl's life but won't be appearing on the show.
- "She has a lot more to go through than even Clark Kent did in adjusting to Earth," says EP Geoff Johns.
- Britt Morgan has been cast in the role of Livewire for the series.

That's certainly an exciting bunch of spoilers. I think of these shows forthcoming seasons (along with other DC favourite, Gotham) are definitely pulling out the stops with the variety of character introductions and as someone who didn't get around to watching Constantine, I am interested to see how he'll fit into the Arrow universe. I also wouldn't be surprised if he pops up in two other shows as well over the next year.

Show Spoilers: http://www.spoilertv.com/

Arrow airs Wednesdays at 8pm from October 7th on the CW, The Flash airs Tuesdays 8pm from October 6th on the CW and Supergirl airs on Mondays at 8pm from October 26th on CBS. Legends Of Tomorrow will air on the CW from January 2016.

My Review of Scream's 1x05: "Exposed"

Written by David Coggeshall
Directed by Brian Dannelly

Emma: "My life is not a game."
Ghostface: "Yes, it is and when I say it's over, you lose."

Well, he might not have bumped off anyone else this week (yup, that's two episodes in a row sans murder) but at least Ghostface had the decency to make his/her presence known and generally antagonise a mostly embarrassed Emma this week.

This week saw Emma dealing with the fallout of having her first time with Will become visual knowledge but aside from a few snide comments, I kind of felt like there was more of a focus of using the sex tape and a confession from Brooke as a means of breaking Emma up with Will and pairing her with Kieran in almost record time.

Kieran is a slightly better character than Will (not by much though) and I guess the connection with him and Emma is decent enough. I did like that he did a little gun practice with her, even though it predictably led to a sex scene that ended the episode.

As for Will, well his tedious friendship with Jake came apart first with his secret bet on Emma being revealed and then when Jake got a little overzealous in blackmailing Brooke's father. As awful as Jake is as a person (and I hoping for him to a future casualty if he's not the killer), at least he has some get up and go about him as a character. The way he sided up to Brooke and enlightened her about her father's secrets was actually pretty effective. I still detest him as a person though.

Meanwhile, we had a memorial for the victims of Ghostface's killing spree where both Emma and Noah got to make tributes to Riley while Noah and Audrey realised that Seth was spying on people and decided to raid his laptop in the middle of the day. I did like that this episode seems to thrown some potential clues as to whom the killer may be. I'll get into a bit in this review.

- Potential suspects - Jake, Audrey, Piper (murdered father she didn't know), Brooke's father and possibly Seth. Or more likely a string of red herrings. And did Brooke's father kill her mother?
- The episode introduced a new detective who is also the ex partner of the Sheriff too.
- The phrase "I'll be right back" surfaced in this episode.
- I like that Lakewell is actually having self defence classes for the students. I also liked that Audrey kicked Will's backside as well during one moment.

"Exposed" was easily the strongest episode so far. I have to credit the show for actually keeping interest during episodes that don't actually feature any kills. I also think a certain secret about Piper is going to come out (if I'm right, I think her and Emma are sisters) fairly soon as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Scream's 1x04: "Aftermath"

Written by Erin Maher And Kay Reindl
Directed by Brian Dannelly

Audrey: "You almost make this look cool."
Noah: "Oh yeah, we are cooking with gas."

Well, that escalated a bit then, didn't it? Not only did the episode briefly touch on Riley's death but a lot of other interesting enough things actually happened here too. Namely having the formation of a Scooby Gang with Emma, Audrey and Noah as the three of them decided to explore the hospital in order to follow up on a cryptic clue sent to Emma by Brandon James.

It makes sense to put these three into junior detective mode rather than Will, Brooke and increasingly creepy/annoying Jake and I did like the rapport between Emma, Audrey and Noah as they found Tyler's head (yeah, he's not the killer) amongst some other things as well, including a few files off Nina's laptop which happened to be there as well, which lead into something else.

We know from the opening episode that Emma had a bit of a role in Audrey's relationship with Rachael being publicly outed and at the end of this episode, Audrey and Noah inadvertently uploaded Emma and Will's first time, which makes me wonder if Nina was collecting that, is there a chance that her laptop files might also have dirt on Brooke and Seth to name a few people?

The blackmail plot which has been bubbling in previous episode did feel more prominent in this episode as well. We had both Will and Jake going back to blackmailing Brooke's father just so the former could pay to go to college, which does make me wonder what they have on Brooke's father while Ghostface set up poll to see which one will end up dead next - Brooke or Emma?

Keeping with the interesting stuff, it's kind of interesting to note that Emma and Piper seem to have the opposite sort of dynamic that Sidney and Gale initially had in the movie franchise. Not it could be that the writers are setting up a lovely friendship or perhaps Emma and Piper will eventually clash as the series progresses but it's a lot more interesting to watch than anything with Will and Jake though.

- Brooke's father is clearly lying about her mother's whereabouts.
- This episode had no kills and it didn't feature either Kieran or Seth.
- The show sure does love to comment on Piper's caffeine addiction as much as Noah's geek credentials.
- Riley's parents were mentioned but not seen in this episode.

The show is definitely picking up a little and "Aftermath" definitely pushed things nicely along the way. I do hope though that the kills get a bit more creative and we could do with a different type of victim next time too.

Rating: 7 out of 10

Batman V. Superman: Two Casting Rumours/Gotham - Season 2 Promo Pictures

Take both with a pinch of salt as for obvious reasons neither have been exactly confirmed in relation to Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice.

We know that Robin somehow factors in the movie due to a certain moment we saw recently in the Comic-Con trailer but now it's currently rumoured that Zack Snyder's son, Eli might be playing the tragically killed off Boy Wonder and all because of an Instagram picture with the caption 'Boy Wonder'. It wouldn't be the first time that Eli has appeared in his father's work having made appearances in both 300 and Sucker Punch and it has yet to be denied as well. For the moment, I'm certainly not ruling it out. If it's true, then Jason Todd's death will get a live action depiction on the big screen.

Also remember when Jena Malone's casting was announced and we all possibly thought that she might be the first onscreen version of Carrie Kelly's Robin? Well, the latest rumours now is that Malone might possibly be playing Barbara Gordon/Batgirl/Oracle instead. If true, this would be the third time the character was depicted onscreen, given that we've had Yvonne Craig in Batman 66 and Alicia Silverstone in Batman & Robin. Given that we're getting an older version of Batman, it's likely (if true) that it might be the Oracle version of Barbara.

Meanwhile Gotham are pushing their promotional campaign for the second season. The latest posters are definitely geared towards the 'Rise of the Villains' arc this year, along with elevated regulars Morena Baccarin (Leslie), James Frain (Theo) and Jessica Lucas (Tabitha/Tigress) also featured in the pictures. In fact the recent trailers themselves have been heavily pushing that arc and it certain does look very exciting.

More Details: http://batman-news.com/

Gotham's second season airs Mondays 8pm from September 21st on FOX. Batman V. Superman: Dawn Of Justice is in cinemas from March 25th 2015.

Doctor Who - More Series 9 Casting/Rumours for Series 10

It's been a month since my last blog in relation to the upcoming series of Doctor Who but within the last few days enough interesting things have emerged to warrant another one as we get closer and closer to the ninth series, starring Peter Capaldi and Jenna Coleman as the Doctor and Clara Oswald respectively.

First of all, the BBC have released a nice promotional picture of both the Doctor and Clara with an interesting paragraph to accompany it ....

It shows the world’s greatest heroes in explosive form, dashing from danger but - knowing those two – running headlong into more trouble!

Is it me or does that possibly signal (along with the glory days mantra from Moffat and company) that this upcoming series might end up separating both the Doctor and Clara at the end of it? Not saying it will, but certainly not ruling it out at the moment either. Meanwhile fans of Maisie Williams, it's been confirmed that her character in The Girl Who Died/The Woman Who Lived will be a brand new character and not a returning face as previously speculated. Unless Steven Moffat is lying, which he did cryptically add when answering that question at the Television Critics Association last week.

Meanwhile filming has moved onto episode nine of Series 9. The episode will be written by Mark Gatiss and directed by Justin Molotnikov (who also directed Sarah Dollard's episode) and will guest star Gatiss's League Of Gentlemen co-star Reece Shearsmith. The actor who also played Patrick Troughton in 2013's biopic An Adventure In Space And Time will be joined by Elaine Tan (Eastenders, Entourage), Neet Mohan (All in Good Time, Desert Dancer), Bethany Black (Cucumber, Banana) and Paul Courtenay Hyu (Dalziel and Pascoe, Coronation Street). A very impressive cast there.

There's also a current rumour circulating through Private Eye that Series 10 might not air in 2016. I'll post a link and if it turns out to be true, then I'll discuss it in a future blog post.

Series 9 News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/doctorwho/entries/75f0e28d-b74a-43f3-a0c2-fa8aded8dac8
Private Eye Article: http://www.kasterborous.com/2015/08/private-eye-claims-no-full-series-of-doctor-who-in-2016/

Series 9 of Doctor Who will air on BBC1 and BBCAmerica from September 19th.

American Horror Story: More Signings For Hotel

Well, more people have been announced for the upcoming season of American Horror Story and there are some interesting casting choices here. In fact I'm actually editing this blog to include spoilers that were released from Televisions Critics Association panel on Friday.

The biggest news is that we finally have a name for Lady Gaga's character on the show. She will be playing a wealthy, fashion/art obsessed socialite named Elizabeth who owns the hotel and will be involved in relationships with characters played by Angela Bassett, Matt Bomer and Cheyenne Jackson. Bassett will be playing an actress named Ramona Royale while Jackson will be playing a fashion icon/father named Will Drake. Finn Wittrock's character will be a male model named Tristan Duffy, looking for his next high (something he gets with Elizabeth) while Bomer's character Donovan has interesting relationships with the ladyfolk.

As for the remaining characters, Sarah Paulson's Sally is a drug addict who has a budding something with Wes Bentley's detective John Lowe and Max Greenfield's unnamed fellow drug addict character while also having a rivalry with Kathy Bates's hotel manager Iris. Chloe Sevigny will play a doctor named Alex, dealing with a family tragedy and who is also the wife of Bentley's character while Denis O'Hare (in the most inspired role yet) will be playing Liz Taylor, a bar worker inspired by a certain film actress. No new information was released on Evan Peters Mr March but we did learn that characters from previous season will be checking in from episode six or seven onwards.

And because Ryan Murphy likes working with cast members on multiple projects, it seems that former Glee hunk Darren Criss will be appearing in the show's Halloween episode. According to sources, Criss would be playing a hipster named Justin who puts one demand too many on Kathy Bates's Iris and ends up suffering for it as a result. It's not been officially confirmed yet but really hoping this one is actually true though.

In returning cast news though, Lily Rabe (currently on ABC drama, The Whispers) has also signed up for the new season. It seems that Rabe will be playing a real life serial killer on the show. In fact, it seems the serial killer she will be playing will be Aileen Wuornos, who was previously portrayed by Charlize Theron in the 2003 movie, Monster. Rabe will make her debut in the Halloween episode, which she will be at the centre piece of.

Also confirmed for a role is Naomi Campbell. The model who had a recurring role in the first season of Empire will apparently be playing a rival to Lady Gaga's character (whose character name still hasn't been announced yet) for multiple episodes. I'm not gonna lie - Campbell's not exactly that great as an actor but it doesn't seem like she's going to be playing a particularly challenging one here either.

Last but not least (for now), Richard T. Jones will be in at least eight episodes of the upcoming fifth season. Jones will be playing a detective named Hahn while other cast members include Helena Mattson and Madchen Amick as a mother. Meanwhile the titles for the first three episodes have been seemingly confirmed as Checking In, Chutes & Ladders and Mommy. The Halloween episode will be titled Devil's Night and will be a two parter.

AHS: Hotel Spoilers: http://www.spoilertv.com/search/label/American%20Horror%20Story
Character Details: http://zap2it.com/2015/08/american-horror-story-hotel-halloween-max-greenfield-spoilers/

American Horror Story: Hotel will air Wednesdays 10pm on FX from October 7th and will air shortly afterwards for UK viewers on FOXUK.

My Review of Scream's 1x03: "Wanna Play A Game?"

Written by Jordan Rosenberg And Meredith Glynn
Directed by Tim Hunter

Riley (to Noah): "I can see our stars."

And that's how to do an effective death. Like with Rachael in the previous episode, I actually quite liked Riley and I found the budding relationship between her and Noah at least interesting but given that Audrey lost her lover in the previous episode, I guess we all should've seen Riley's death coming.

Unlike some of the other deaths, the tension here was actually effective too. Riley genuinely believed in Tyler's innocence and wanted to help (though the show didn't really highlight why she believed it so well) but instead found herself becoming a pawn and eventual kill in Ghostface's ongoing saga with Emma.

I'm not gonna actually blame Emma here because Ghostface was going to kill someone whether Emma had actually paid them any attention and if it hadn't been Riley, then it would've been Brooke (who I still will be a later death). Either way, someone wasn't getting out of this episode. It was just a pity that for a second episode in a row it happened to be someone likeable though.

I mean the killer (assuming it's neither of them) couldn't have paid attention to either Will or Jake, who spent most of this episode fighting over blackmail money (something also involving Tyler and Nina). Three episodes in and I still don't greatly care for either character. Will is a bit too bland for my liking and Jake's just a sleazy annoyance, even if he showed some savvy during one particular scene with Brooke in this episode.

I did like that on top of having Riley's bloody exit, we also had both Emma and Audrey realise that Rachael (during her wake) didn't actually kill herself and the Emma/Kieran scenes were a good way of getting the former more familiarised with her mother's connection to Brandon James as well. That story is continuing to bubble along well enough in the main show even if Ghostface's fixation on Emma is feeling a bit too cliched in parts.

- Piper got more information on Brandon James's first kills (the opening scene with Dara Aldean and Brett Kenner) courtesy of Noah.
- Either Brooke really is that dizzy or she's planning to blackmail Seth at some point because why else would she suggest cybersex with him?
- The way Kieren seems to drop bits of information on Emma is also potentially suspicious as well.
- At some point, someone has to actually find Tyler's body, right?

Easily the strongest episode so far. "Wanna Play A Game?" had a decent amount of tension, an effective and bloody send off for Riley, amidst a sweet romance between her and Noah and a slightly interesting-ish subplot with Will/Jake. A slight improvement.

Rating: 7 out of 10

The Masked Vigilante

A look at some of the shows I've been watching over the last few weeks.

Daredevil: Having watched both recents seasons of Orange Is The New Black and Sense8 prior to this, I decided to go and check it out and while I don't think it's the most amazing superhero show yet (think Arrow/The Flash still have that down) but the potential is definitely. Charlie Cox is perfect as the upcoming Daredevil (we so need to see that costume) and I'm loving the subtle menace of Vincent D'Onofrio's Wilson Fisk while the supporting characters of Foggy, Karen and Claire work particularly well too. Some of the mobster stuff though is a bit boring though.

Humans: This show has been consistently amazing throughout it's first season and the penultimate not only reunited all of the Synths together but we finally found out the connection that Voss had with them and it certainly packed a punch as did the cliffhanger leading into the finale. This series has been an absolute triumph for Channel 4 and while the Hawkins were initially hard to connect with as a family, the last few episodes made me start to care for them as much as Mia and company. I really hope a second series is imminent.

Marvel's Agent Carter: I'm enjoying this series quite but not more than Agents Of SHIELD (is that controversial to say?). Airing it during the summer when there hasn't been as much on was probably a wise move for FOXUK. The banter between Peggy and Jarvis is certainly a highlight of each episode as are the Alias style missions leading to the bigger conspiracy plot. I also like the continued but not too forced references to Captain America as well and as per usual, Hayley Atwell continues to deliver.

Orange Is The New Black: Season 3 has not been the show's strongest season but it still has been a hugely enjoyable one though. While Caputo and Aleida didn't get the most engaging of flashbacks, at least Daya finally gave birth, Piper got revenge on Stella (who stole from her), Alex's fate was left rather unknown and the brilliance of Doggett and Big Boo's friendship shone through. The finale itself was a good way of ending the series but for negatives, Sophia's storyline disappointed me and I don't like the idea of a Healy/Red romance for next season.

True Detective: We're heading towards the end of the season and a part of me is wondering if this show has become a victim of it's own success? Season 1 wasn't particularly straight forward television but it managed to bewitch viewers in a way that I don't think the second season has done. I'm also not sure if having a time jump midseason was particularly needed as well but at least it's helped to slightly advance things with Ray, Ani, Paul and Frank even if the main plot is struggling to engage. Hopefully the last two episodes will bring the season to a satisfying close.

- MTV have renewed Scream for a second season. A UK broadcaster has yet to pick up the series.
- Banshee will end after four seasons. The last one will air in 2016.
- Michael Chiklis will be a regular in the second season of Gotham.
- Sense8's chances of renewal are optimistic but nothing has been confirmed yet.
- Katie McGrath will be in a Canadian eight part horror series called Slasher.
- Ed Sheeran has bagged a recurring role in upcoming series, The Bastard Executioner.
- Chris Browning has been cast as Reactron for Supergirl.
- Queen Latifah and Mary J. Blige have joined NBC's The Wiz.
- Andrew Howard will be playing an agent in Agents Of SHIELD.
- Riley Smith will play a band's frontman in the next season of Nashville.

DaVinci's Demons - Season 3 Will Be Final Season

In news that probably won't shock anyone really, it has been confirmed after months of relative silence surrounding this series that the upcoming third season of fantasy historical drama, DaVinci's Demons will now serve as it's last.

The show which debuted in 2013 on Starz network and stars Tom Riley as the titular DaVinci had been a hit for the cable station but it was announced last week that Season 3 will mark the end for the show. The season will comprise of ten episodes and will be executive produced by The X-Files John Shiban, following the departure of creator David S. Goyer.

I have to admit that like with a lot of cancellations this year (Atlantis, Revenge, Hannibal) that I'm not actually that shocked by this news. The fact that Starz have yet to produce a series that goes beyond three seasons (excluding Spartacus) aside, I actually three seasons is a good place to end the series as well. It's been a fun show but unfortunately while it's likely that I will see the episodes when they air, due to circumstances, I may not be able to review them as such. I am though looking forward to this final season.

Season 3 Trailer/Press Release: http://www.spoilertv.com/2015/07/da-vincis-demons-season-3-to-be-its.html

DaVinci's Demons third and final season will air Saturdays 8pm on Starz from October 24th and will air shortly afterwards for UK viewers on FOX UK.

My Review of Scream's 1x02: "Hello, Emma"

Written by Jill E. Blotevogel
Directed by Tim Hunter

Ghostface: "You're gonna try a little batting practice on me?"
Emma: "You're damn right I will."
Ghostface: "You'll have to find me first. I could be anywhere."

Second episode in and things opened up with a nice character being killed off. Yes, this show killed off one half of the lesbian couple with poor Rachael being hung within the first five minutes as she foolishly believed that Audrey was prank calling her. It also didn't help that we learned Rachael was a cutter and that she couldn't handle the mean girl comments being posted about her as well.

Rachael's death however did serve to highlight Emma's own guilt about uploading that video but there were times where I felt like someone should've told Emma that it wasn't really about her. Then the last scene happened where Ghostface made it pretty damn clear that it was about Emma and that past sins were going to be paid via her at some point.

For me, I'm liking the phone calls between Emma and Ghostface but two episodes in (and I'm aware that this is MTV), this show is feeling rather tame though. Rachael's death is effective due to her being likeable but none of the deaths we've had so far on the show have matched even the tamer of deaths in the movies as of yet. In that regard this show needs to up it's game and get a bit more creative.

I do appreciate that because the show is ten episodes that the writers are being realistic enough by not going overkill on the bloodbaths just yet. It's also helping that we're getting bits and bobs of information about Brandon James and his past with Maggie/Daisy (Emma's father was also a survivor of that previous massacre). It's a good thing because the teen stuff is utterly boring.

With Audrey/Rachael's relationship cut too short, only Noah and Riley's budding one seems to have some marginal interest to it. I couldn't care less about Emma and Will as a couple (though Kieran deliberately causing trouble between them is slightly amusing) and Brooke sleeping with her English teacher, Seth is also dull to watch. Also the less said about Jake the better. He's by far the worst character on the show and hopefully an imminent death too.

- Tyler's body hasn't been found and they seem to have him as a suspect.
- The show has it's own version of Gale Weathers with Piper Shaw - a podcaster. We also met the mayor as well during this episode.
- Noah was actually vandalising Jake's car rather than doing any killings. Glad they cleared that one up rather quickly.
- Murder selfies, anyone?

Like the opening episode, it isn't bad but "Hello, Emma" felt just as safe as the first one. I know there are restrictions on what they can get away with but considering that this show seems to reference so many shows, perhaps it could try to take some of the risks as they do as well.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Scream's 1x01: "Red Roses"

Written by Jill E. Blotevogel And Jaime Paglia And Jay Beattie And Dan Dworkin
Directed by Jamie Travis

Noah (re Riley): "You really want to know how this ends? Let me tell you. Everyone has secrets. Everyone tells lies and everyone is fair game."

I was going to leave discussing this series until I reviewed the movies but now it's going to be series first, movies second (perhaps) as I finally caved in and watched the pilot episode, which MTV were kind enough to have on YouTube, if not the rest of the episodes.

I was wary about this series. I'm a massive fans of the movies and the first couple of trailers for this show felt generic, even by MTV's standards and I have to admit that watching this opening episode, that feeling wasn't shook off at all. Don't worry though, I will say some nice things about the show too as there were bits I enjoyed.

As a protagonist, Emma may or may not be as iconic of as Sidney Prescott but out of the main characters, she's one of the better fleshed out - likeable but flawed enough with a jock boyfriend and a mother whose past actually connected brilliantly to the Ghostface of the series and the first of several phone calls between Emma and Ghostface was suitably chilling enough.

I also liked that the opening episode concentrated on two deaths - Nina and her boyfriend, Tyler but with a series of ten episodes, there's plenty of time to add to the body count and there's probably a few characters in this episode alone (Jake for example) who future demises won't generate a lot of sympathy.

Coming up with a whole new mythology for Ghostface or Brandon James (a disfigured boy driven to murder) certainly helps to give the show it's own identity. I like the way that Noah (the Randy Meeks for the MTV generation) conveyed Brandon's backstory for both the audience and Riley and while I doubt that James is back from the dead, it does seem like both Emma and Audrey are linked by him though, especially considering what we learned about the former's mother in this episode.

As for the bad points of this episode - well, Emma, Noah and Audrey are good as characters but not amazing and the rest of them are just bland. Will (Emma's boyfriend), Tyler and Jake are stereotypical jocks (or were in Tyler's case), Brooke and Nina are/were bitchy and bland, Kieran just seems the typical mystery bloke and the adults (excluding Maggie/Daisy) aren't particularly exciting.

Also while it makes sense for social media to factor into the killings and so on (as did Scream 4), there are times in the episode (and undoubtedly in following ones) where it didn't come off particularly well though. I also think despite wiping off blood from his forehead that it's a safe assumption that Noah is not the killer of the group.

- The sing song element of Ghostface singing 'Daisy' was creepy enough. I have a feeling that Daisy is a future victim though.
- The episode opened with Audrey and Rachel's relationship being outed by Nina. The opening wasn't successful in recreating the opening from the first movie though.
- The movies may have been set in Woodsboro but in the series, it's a place called Lakewood.
- If we're going by the movies, it's a safe bet that there are two killers and possibly one of them is someone from the main six. The main six being Emma, Audrey, Brooke, Will, Kieran and Noah.

Not a bad opening episode and with a second season already secured, it certainly has time to fine tune itself but for a MTV show, it doesn't feel too violent. I guess maybe they're starting slow and there's enough potential here but I have a feeling that unless the show doesn't up it's game fast, the upcoming Scream Queens will end up overshadowing it.

Rating: 6 out of 10

Empire - Season 2 First Look/Spoilers

It's exactly two months until the second season of music drama Empire returns and FOX are really going into overdrive promoting the upcoming season as well with a slew of cast pictures, behind the scenes videos, casting announcement and of course a newly trailer.

First of all, FOX have released this rather on point promotional picture of warring exes, Lucious (Terrence Howard) and Cookie Lyon (Taraji P. Henson) sitting on thrones and posing with lions. I assume that one with Jamal, Andre and Hakeem posing with cubs perhaps is probably rather imminent but it's a nice way of capturing the tone for the second season, which assuming to Danny Strong will be "warring kingdoms". Looks like this show might be venturing into Game Of Thrones style territory with that theme.

Yesterday however a trailer dropped for the new season and while it was only thirty second long, it did show Lucious in prison, Cookie in a cage, Andre and Cookie in cahoot and both Jamal and Hakeem performing and recording at different points along with Anika looking particularly scheming. Over the next few weeks, I imagine we will be getting far more spoilery trailers but as a taster, that was a good start.

As for guest stars, the second season seems to be overflowing with them. Already we know that Adam Rodriguez is playing Laz Delgado, a potential love interest for Cookie while Marisa Tomei is playing Mimi Whiteman. Kelly Rowland was also confirmed as Lucious's mother for a flashback sequence with Chris Rock as a fellow inmate while Andre Royo will be Lucious's lawyer, Thirsty Rawlings while Ludacris, Alicia Keys, Lenny Kravitz and Tyra Ferrell have undisclosed roles for now. Meanwhile both Gabourey Sidibe and Ta'Rhonda Jones have been elevated as regulars and the show itself will run for 18 episodes this season.

Season 2 Spoilers/Trailer: http://www.spoilertv.com/search/label/Empire

Empire Season 2 will air Wednesdays 9pm on FOX from September 23rd and will air on E4 for UK viewers shortly afterwards.

Xena: Warrior Princess - Reboot Being Considered?

Because apparently enough returning shows (X Files, Heroes, Twin Peaks etc) wasn't enough, a few days ago, it was kind of announced that NBC were considering a reboot of popular fantasy drama, Xena: Warrior Princess could be in the works with a 2016 airdate even being earmarked.

However before anyone could get excited, Xena herself Lucy Lawless later confirmed that the reboot was more a case of "wishful thinking" than an actual promise, even though NBC are supposedly looking for writers and Lawless (who has previously stated her keenness to reprise her infamous role) herself has not been confirmed should the show actually return. The series itself aired for six seasons between 1995 and 2001.

I'm a bit mixed about this one. I loved the show and Lawless is so iconic in the role but given how it actually ended and that it seems you can't move for the amount of reboots either happening or being considered, I'm not sure another one is actually needed. I'll post more information when it becomes available on this one.

More Info: http://spinoff.comicbookresources.com/2015/07/20/xena-warrior-princess-reboot-headed-to-nbc/

Torchwood - If It Ever Returned As A Series

I've been debating writing this article for a while but with the recent announcement that John Barrowman would be reprising the role of Captain Jack Harkness for a range of Torchwood audios for Big Finish, now felt like the right time to do this.

The obvious warning - this mostly speculation and mostly ideas on how I think if the show ever returned to television (and I certainly wouldn't rule it out), how exactly it should be handled. Without further ado, here goes ....

1: A New Format: It's unlikely if the series ever returned that it would get the 13 episodes that it's first two series had but format wise, how about a series containing either six hour long episodes or a series of 90 minute episodes/specials (three or four like Sherlock)? Given the BBC's budget nowadays and the fact that Barrowman and Myles do have other commitments too, it would be the more viable of options.

2: Quickly Resolve The Events Of Miracle Day: And I mean quickly. It would be tempting to for any reboot of Torchwood to essentially ignore the events (and a part of me would be more than okay with that) of Miracle Day, but at the same time we could also have Jack mention in passing to Gwen and Rhys that Rex's immortality was reversed and that he took out the Families/ultimately stopped their Plan B from ever happening. That way, the show would be able to completely move on from that particular series.

3: Bring It Home: I'm not gonna lie - Torchwood was at it's best when it was mainly centred in Cardiff and while both Children Of Earth and Miracle Day are commendable for getting the team out of the Hub, I also think the show lost it's USP by doing that as well. Any reboot would have to have Jack and Gwen setting up shop in the Hub once again and having the action primarily in Cardiff.

4: New Team Members: Easily the most obvious request. Jack and Gwen are great but better when they have other characters to bounce off and a new Torchwood team comprising of a new doctor, a new tech geek and at least one or two field agents as well would be essential for the show. And of course, I'm sure there could be another work related romance too, though not essential.

5: Hold Back With The Kills: In four seasons we saw Suzie, Owen, Toshiko, Ianto, Vera and Esther all come a cropper in terms of demises and if we got a new team with Jack and Gwen, while I wouldn't expect them all to survive, I would like if RTD slowed down a bit on the kill factor and allowed the new characters to develop a bit more too. Like I said, Jack and Gwen are great but Torchwood should be an ensemble piece as well.

6: The Odd Returning Face/Crossover Appeal: Okay, any reboot would probably also feature Rhys and Andy but what about the likes of Bilis Manger and Captain John Hart? Both of those characters are certainly ripe for further stories. Not to mention the fact that if Torchwood went down the Sherlock route, it could become more crossover friendly with the Doctor Who universe. If not a cameo appearance from whoever would be the Doctor/companion should a reboot ever come to pass, then maybe a team up with Jack's new gang and the current UNIT?

7: A Sense Of Fun Along With The Danger: This might be a controversial opinion but for me Torchwood was at it's best during it's second series. It had the right amount of danger, a team who properly felt like a team but it also had a sense of fun and while later series seem intent into making Jack into a mashup of both Angel and Jack Bauer, I have to admit, it never works for the character. Jack is at his best when he's more of a cheeky rogue rather than a brooding so and so who ends up sacrificing his own grandchild and again if/when Torchwood returns to the small screen, I'd like a sense of proper fun along with the danger. I don't think that's the most unreasonable of requests.

Well those are my thoughts. What do you all think?