A Glimpse At The DCEU's Future (Rumours, Spoilers, Speculation, etc) - EDITED

The last few weeks and following the release of Shazam! in the cinemas, it seems that the future of the DCEU will be having more shake ups as developments on further movies, including casting speculations have surfaced.

The Batman: After months of effective radio silence to the point where some people feared this movie was going to be scrapped/delayed, could we be close to finding out who will succeed Ben Affleck as the Dark Knight? It seems so, apparently. According to the latest rumours, the likely candidate to don the cape and cowl will be Robert Pattinson but other sources are also claiming that Nicholas Hoult is in with a chance of playing the Caped Crusader as well. Between the two, I think I'd prefer Pattinson, but either way it's starting to feel real now. Other rumours surfacing about Matt Reeves movie will be that somewhere between two to six villains will appear in the film, among them Catwoman and Penguin as well as filming to start in London in late 2019. After so much delay and little information, we're finally getting the goods on this one. (June 25th 2021).

It's now been confirmed that Robert Pattinson is Batman with his casting finally confirmed. The reaction seems to be rather positive so far and other rumours are surfacing that both Robin and the Riddler may also be appearing in the movie. More casting details should emerge fairly soon.

The Suicide Squad: Right now, this movie doesn't know whether it wants to be a straight up sequel, reboot or spiritual successor as James Gunn (also rehired by the MCU to complete his Guardians Of The Galaxy trilogy) is planning to bring back most of the big hitters from David Ayer's 2016 hit - Margot Robbie (Harley Quinn), Joel Kinnaman (Rick Flagg), Jai Courtney (Captain Boomerang) and Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) while adding new players into the mix. Initially Idris Elba was cast to replace Will Smith as Deadshot but will now play a different role in the movie. David Dastmalchian and Daniela Melchior have been cast as Polka-Dot Man and Ratcatcher, while John Cena has been also cast in an undisclosed role. The movie will also feature Peacemaker, King Shark and an unknown alien female character and could be pulling from the Onslaught story arc. (August 6th 2021).

New Gods: Yeah, I haven't been really too bothered about this one but it seems after months of nothing that some progress has been made with this one as well. First of all, Ava Duvernay is still directing the feature and she's got a co-writer in the shape of Tom King. The latter has been a writer for DC comics for a while having penned Mister Miracle (which will be handy for this one), Batman and the rather polarising Heroes In Crisis event series. Both of them have been pretty hit and miss in their creative endeavors but perhaps they might make for a decent match with this particular project and unlike a certain Scarlet Speedster, at least we're slightly closer to this movie actually happening in the next few years. (Date TBC).

- Joker (October 4th) released a trailer last month, generating a pretty positive reaction. There are rumours of a controversial plot twist in the movie that will go against usual mythology for the character.
- DC Vertigo have released a trailer for upcoming crime drama, The Kitchen, starring Melissa McCarthy, Tiffany Haddish and Elisabeth Moss. The movie will hit cinemas August 9th.
- Wonder Woman 1984 (June 5th 2020) has seemingly confirmed that Pedro Pascal's character is actually Maxwell Lord. Patty Jenkins also has ideas for a third movie, which will be set in the present day.
- Birds Of Prey (And The Fantabulous Emancipation Of One Harley Quinn) (February 7th 2020) will feature the Joker in a flashback sequence, though for now it seems that Jared Leto will not be reprising the role, but a body double instead.
- Aquaman's sequel has been confirmed for a December 16th 2022 released. The Trench are also rumoured to be getting a movie, due for release before the sequel.
- Shazam! will also be getting a sequel, though no date has been set yet for it.
- According to Dwayne Johnson, Black Adam could be going into production next year. I got to admit, I still have my doubts about this one actually happening.
- It seems both Ezra Miller and Ray Fisher's contracts have ran out this month, leaving their future in the DCEU in doubt.
- Other rumoured movies for development in the last few months have been Gotham City Sirens and Plastic Man to name but a few. Supergirl is also being rumoured to begin filming in the first quarter of 2020, though a director has yet to be confirmed.
- Right now, there isn't any hope for crossover events with other movies as each movie will continue to be it's own thing for the time being.

Well, I think that covers everything for now but the next few weeks and undoubtedly, SDCC 2019 should be interesting in revealing more of what the future holds for the DCEU.

Was the Throne Actually Worth It?

Basically, it's finale time for every single show that I'm discussing in this blog and for one show, it's a series finale that will leave a lasting impression.

911: The last five episodes have been mostly solid stories with more flashbacks for Bobby, an interesting take on Ocean's Eleven in one off-kilter episode and some tragedy for both Eddie and Buck in different ways. We did also see a brief separation between Maddie and Chimney before the finale brought them back together as well as a low key but sweet wedding for Bobby and Athena at the last minute. I'm not too sure what the third season will bring (aside from an upcoming spin-off with Rob Lowe) but I'll definitely be tuning in to find out.

Arrow: Season Seven has been as close to a return to the good old days as the show could do and while not everything worked (Emiko turned out to be a lacklustre baddie, got a rushed redemption and still died), this finale was still a strong note to end things on. We know that the Monitor has Oliver and soon Felicity in the not so distant future but next season will be building up towards Crisis On Infinite Earths and the CW's DC universe will come to the beginning of it's slow but sure ending of sorts. It's going to be one hell of a bumpy ride in the next few years.

Chilling Adventures Of Sabrina: Whether these nine episodes that were just released Season 2 or the second half of the first season, I'm still confused but I'll admit, a few little bumps here and there aside, this was a solid enough return for the residents of Greendale nonetheless. The brief arrival of Lucifer in human form gave us more about Sabrina's origins in a manner that felt predictable but props to both Lilith and Zelda for getting their own way with ruling hell and the Church of Night. Getting Nick back next season should be interesting enough and it's nice that after several episodes of being at odds with them, Sabrina has her support system with Harvey, Roz and Theo.

Game Of Thrones: It's undeniable that the final season of this show has been controversial, has been rushed with only six episodes to tie up all the main threads and has made some questionable decisions with the actions of some of the main characters. Still though we've had some stunning battles with The Long Night and the polarising events of The Bells while The Last Of The Starks almost seemed like the calm between storms. The Iron Throne, while far from the worst series finale ever to befall a show is definitely a finale that should've been better and regardless of hints in prior seasons, I do think the show massively dropped the ball in it's depiction of Daenerys turning to the dark side and Jon being the one to stop. I won't go into the decision with Bran because it's still a terrible one but even though this season was a disappointment, it still pulled in record numbers, rating wise and I think we'll all be glued to the upcoming prequel series too.

Killing Eve: I hate to admit it but this show has suffered from difficult second album syndrome. The first season was consistently gripping from start to finish but this season despite some of it's best efforts has felt rather sluggish in parts. Having Villanelle and Eve working together in order to take down the tediously dull Aaron Peele wasn't quite as fun as it could've been, Carolyn and Konstantin's motives never seem to be clear, characters like Hugo and Niko add nothing to the show, Kenny was mopey and the last scene in the finale was a reverse of the previous finale but not quite as effective. Hopefully the third season due to film soon enough will get the show back on track.

Pose: Given how bad the ratings have been for BBC2, I'm slightly worried they won't air the second season or relegate it to a godawful timeslot and that's a shame. This show might be one of the most niche of television shows but it's still pretty great drama and the last two episodes of the first season were brilliant to watch. Predictable as it might have been, it was lovely to see Blanca win Mother Of The Year, to see Pray Tell get a new love interest and for Elektra to take a bit of a downfall before stylishly getting herself back up again. The Angel/Stan bits were less interesting but overall, I'll be back for seconds.

Supergirl: Without a doubt, the weakest season of the DC shows on the CW has ended and for the love of Zod, please let the writers be either a) fired or b) given a crash course in the nature of show, don't tell. The political backdrop was abysmally handled this season and with Agent Liberty being one of the dullest villains ever to grace any of these shows, I was disappointed that he wasn't killed off to be honest. On the other hand Brainy/Nia and Alex/Kelly are nice pairings, Lena FINALLY knows the truth about her best friend, Lex was a magnificent bastard in the finale, more Crisis stuff was hinted and we've got Leviathan to look forward to next season.

The Flash: Season Five has been pretty hit and miss in parts and the resolution to the arcs for Nora, Cicada (x2) and Eobard felt rather unsatisfying and the less said about Cisco's idiotic decision to remove his powers, the better tbh. Still though, at least we finally had Singh reveal that he knows about Barry being the Flash, more Crisis hints and a few cast departures as well. I am intrigued to see who will be the next main villain for the series and going by one scene, I think it's a safe bet that a significant person from Ralph's comic history will be appearing next season.

- Drew Van Acker will be guest appearing in the second season of Titans, playing Aqualad (Garth).
- Jessica Jones third and final season will stream on Netflix from June 14th while Orange Is The New Black's last one will be July 26th.
- The prequel series for Game Of Thrones has the title (for now) of Bloodmoon and has begun filming in Belfast.
- Empire's sixth season will be it's final season on with Jussie Smollett axed from the series.
- Amazon have the rights for Star Trek: Picard. A trailer for the series has been released.
- Sarah Michelle Gellar guest starred in the series finale of The Big Bang Theory.
- The Judoon will be returning for Series 12 of Doctor Who. There are also rumours of a musical episode for the series as well.
- Beverly Hills 90210 reboot is still on track to air in August on FOX despite losing showrunner and some writers.
- Criminal Minds fifteenth and final season will air on CBS in 2020 with only 10 episodes.
- Grey's Anatomy has been renewed for two more seasons while How To Get Away With Murder has been renewed for a sixth season.
- Humans has been cancelled by Channel 4 and AMC after three seasons.
- Gentlemen Jack has been renewed for a second season by BBC1 and HBO.

Review: Eurovision 2019

I know, I know, a little belated than usual but better late than never and my, wasn't it a rather strange and odd night the Saturday before last as the event took place in Tel Aviv, Israel.

As for our winner, I was actually pleasant surprised that Duncan Laurence's Arcade was the clear victor of the night with an impressive 498 points overall. The bisexual singer's song might not have been as flashy as previous winning entries but it was a rather solid pop song that has improved with further listens. Rounding  off the Top 5 winners were Italy at number 2 and 472 points with Mahmood's Soldi while number 3 was Russia getting 370 points as Sergey Lazarev (who previously entered the contest in 2016) performing Scream. In fourth position was Switzerland getting 364 points with Luca Hänni's She Got Me and in fifth place was Sweden at 334 points with John Lundvik's Too Late For Love. Lundvik also represented the UK's entry by writing Michael Rice's song, Bigger Than Us, which fared poorly by getting last place in the contest with 11 points.

As for the presenters we've gone from an all male pairing from a previous year and an all female pairing from last year to an evenly split male/female pairing for this particular outing of the contest. The presenters in question being Erez Tal, Bar Refaeli, Assi Azar and Lucy Ayoub. I do sometimes wonder if four presenters, even for a lengthy event like this is one presenter too many but in all fairness, I do think they all worked well together, with the contestants and in general with keeping the audience engaged throughout the night. Maybe not as iconic as Mans Zelmerlow and Petra Made but who can be, right?

Speaking of Mans, I do find it rather charming that despite winning the show back in 2015, he still manages to find a way to be involved (and even on his Instagram he joked about showing up next year as well). This time around he was paired with four other former winners - Conchita Wurst, Eleni Foureira, Verka Serduchka and Gali Atari performing some past hits along with a version of Halleujah. Their performance was a lot more entertaining to watch than the two song piece we got with Madonna, which was nothing short of a car crash to watch. Much as I love the contest getting iconic and LGBT friendly artists to perform on the show, Madonna's bits were deserving of the criticism it overall generated on the night.

Mixed performances aside, there was also a political protest aspect to this year as well with many people on social media refusing to watch due to the current situation in Israel, despite the event bagging over 182 million viewers worldwide. I stayed out of the political discussion on social media and to be honest, if you didn't watch it for political reasons that's perfectly fine but trying to guilt trip or shame people who did watch it, I did find rather annoying. This sort of attitude on social media rarely to never actually helps anyone and it felt like some were trying to score brownie points than sensibly raise an important issue. Other than that, not the best year but decent enough though and as a DCEU fan, I was also happy to see Wonder Woman herself, Gal Gadot for about three minutes during the ad/spoof segments of the night.

Duncan Laurence - Arcade: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Eztx7Wr8PtE

Next year's Netherlands turn to broadcast the event. See you all in 2020. 

My Review of Aladdin (2019)

Written by John August & Guy Ritchie
Directed by Guy Ritchie

Aladdin: "Hey, can you make me a prince?"
Genie: "There's a lot of gray area in "make me a prince". I can just... make you a prince."

We all know the story. We've seen the 1992 animated movie, it's two sequels, animated series and maybe the Broadway/West End production if we're lucky and with Disney having mixed success with their live action reboots of their animated classics, this could've gone either way.

For a lot of people, director Guy Ritchie seemed like an odd choice in terms of directors and with various controversies over extras being spray tanned, casting choices and memes inspired by the initial looks for the Genie, could this reboot been a total disaster area? Yes of course. Is it one? Surprisingly no, but there's no denying that there are some things that don't initially work in it's favour.

If you were hoping for a slavish reboot, then that's the first disappointment. There are a lot of noticeable changes from the animated movie and while some are good additions, there's a good few of them that are not if we're being honest. I get that Ritchie wanted his own stamp but some scenes that I loved in the animated movie are not included here, including some scenes between our titular hero (Mena Massoud) and the villain of the piece, Jafar (Marwan Kenzari).

Jafar is definitely the most divisive part of this movie. There's no getting away from the fact that Kenzari is a lot more attractive compared to Jafar's animated counterpart but the biggest gripe I had here that while the actor puts in a decent performance, there's a surprising lack of menace and camp theatricality that made Jafar in the 1992 movie such an iconic foe.

Jafar's backstory isn't widely different here, except for the movie's attempts to throw in some political commentary as the evil Vizier tried to manipulate the Sultan (Navid Negahban) into starting a war with another state as well as his own issues of being seen as second best. There's an attempt to give Jafar some depth but it doesn't quite succeed and even some of his antagonistic scenes with Aladdin and Jasmine (Naomi Scott) aren't as potent as they were in the original movie. The biggest disappointment is the lack of dynamic Jafar also had with Iago (Alan Tudyk) in this movie with the latter having nowhere near as much presence as before.

Then there's the Genie himself. I wasn't initially keen on Will Smith's casting and admittedly, it took a while for him to really get his groove as the most powerful being of the piece. Saying that, while Smith doesn't surpass Robin Williams iconic take on the blue skinned jinn, he does get better as the movie progresses. We even get a romance plot for the Genie as he fell for Jasmine's amusing handmaiden Dalia (Nasim Pedrad).

Now moving on to our leading two actors - both Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott were perfect choices for both Aladdin and Jasmine. Both radiate convincing chemistry together and work just as well as individual characters. Some of the positive changes was how Ritchie altered their original meeting and scenes where Aladdin was Prince Ali trying to woo Jasmine and they're changes that actually strengthen the connection formed with the pairing.

The A Whole New World scene was beautifully recreated and the subplot with Jasmine having political aspirations of her own (which are fulfilled when she became Sultan at the end of the movie) might generate some complaints but I actually thought they fit the character rather well while Aladdin's own earnestness about his poor man status was nicely handled too. Regardless of how this movie performs, I think it's a safe bet to assume that we'll see a lot more of Mena and Naomi in future high profile productions.

- Despite the negative reception to his casting, Billy Magnuessen was actually fairly entertaining as the briefly seen and slightly oafish Prince Anders. The palace guard Hazim (Numan Acar) also had some nice characterisation compared to Raoul in the original movie.
- Jafar's Genie look wasn't very impressive but maybe making Marwan Kenzari looking red wouldn't have worked. There's a reason we had the Genie look human for most of his screen time.
- Abu, Raja and the Magic Carpet thankfully fared a bit better than Iago did in this movie. I didn't like the giant Iago instead of snake Jafar. I wonder why so many of the noted distress moments were written out of the movie.
- Loved the use of the Bollywood dancing during the Harvest scenes at the party and the use of bright colours throughout the movie was great.
- Frank Welker is the only actor from the original movie to have three roles here as he voiced Abu, Raja and the Cave of Wonders.
- Standout music: The obvious highlights include A Whole New World, One Jump Ahead, Prince Ali, Friend Like Me, Arabian Nights and Jasmine's new solo, Speechless. Disappointed that Jafar's Prince Ali (Reprise) was omitted from the movie.

Aladdin won't win the same acclaim that it's original movie generated and while some of the disappointments were hard to ignore, this was a somewhat better live action version than expected. Both Mena Massoud and Naomi Scott carry the movie well, there are some gorgeous visuals (even if Ritchie is too fond of slow mo at times) and thankfully the musical numbers do work well enough on the big screen for a second time.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 1x15: "Ezekiel Patrol"

Written by Tamara Beecher-Wilkinson & Jeremy Carver & Shoshana Sachi
Directed by Dermott Downs

Larry: "Guys, I'm gonna suggest dealing with the issue at hand here and then meeting the world's most powerful little girl."

It's finale time and in case you weren't aware of that, this episode delightfully had Mr Nobody summing up fourteen episodes worth of antics before delving into the main events of this one. The events mainly seemed to be our band of misfits getting the hell away from Niles and trying to move on while flashbacks revealed each moment Niles orchestrated the team's formation to begin with.

I wasn't  surprised that the groups broke into Larry and Rita living together with the latter unsuccessfully trying her hand at being an acting coach while Cliff was looking out for a Jane desperate to escape all the voices in her head while Victor was all by himself. Then the use of a certain 90's song managed to pull everyone together for the final battle.

When I say final battle, oddly enough not with Mr Nobody. No, our season Big Bad for all his delightfully commentary unwisely formed a trinity with Admiral Whiskers and Ezekiel the cockroach and was quick benched by the pair of them when they grew in size. Nobody did the only thing he could do - get drunk and feel bad for him with a side order of manipulation from Rita and Beard Hunter feeling a tad sorry for him as well.

As for Ezekiel and Whiskers - I probably could've done without one particular scene but they did make for a fun set of adversaries for the gang, even if the whole devouring them part was useful as Larry managed to use his Negative side in order to save the day. However, cockroaches do survive nuclear blasts, even on sentient streets and Ezekiel nearly emerged as a victor, until we got a stomach slicing scene to release our heroes. Still though, good effort for a cockroach.

With both Nobody and Beard Hunter somewhat trapped in a blank painting, I'm guessing we'll be seeing both of those two next season. Another addition to the next season will also be Caulder's daughter Dorothy Spinner. I guess we did need another regular female for next season but I'm not sure why any of our current gang would want to be around Caulder after learning what he had done to them.

- The show is rumoured to be renewed for a second season but will apparently be 10 episodes, which might be a good thing.
- It's a shame that Flex randomly disappeared even if he did save the Dannyzens from Nobody and company. He better be back next season.
- Standout music: Chumbawumba's Tubthumping of course.
- Chronology: Still 2019 but plenty of flashbacks to previous eras for each of our gang members.

Ezekiel Patrol marked a surprising but fun way to end this season and put Mr Nobody on hold. While it wasn't quite as good as previous episodes have been this season, it was a satisfying ending for the first year and there was enough to set up the second season pretty well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 4x16: "Hey, World!"

Written by Phil Klemmer & Keto Shimizu
Directed by Kevin Mock

Nate (to everyone): "We should've done the crossover."

Ah, yes, it's funny you should mention that. While the Legends wisely/unwisely sat out the events of Elseworlds, it does however seem like they will not be able to avoid the imminent events of Crisis On Infinite Earths as one scene in the episode had the Monitor observing their flare for chaos and making a mental note while snacking on popcorn.

Fun as it was to see Sara as Supergirl, Nate as the Green Arrow and Gary as the Flash, the little spoof directed by Ava and Zari did actually serve some purpose as the gang had to think outside the box in order to save the day from Neron's desire to reign hell on Earth. Yup, people, this is where Hey World actually became a thing.

I can gripe about Hank's path being dramatically changed all I want or I can go with the flow and watch our Legends and the monsters they saved from the Time Bureau try and change public perception of the latter. Then again, I can also do both - the show really did chicken out of making Hank into a bad guy but at the same time, the spectacle on display was amusing, until Tabitha and a fully grown Wextible/Mitra nearly derailed everything that set up here.

Of course, it was younger Zari who had bonded with the dragon that managed to ensure we didn't get a situation similar to The Bells while at the same time, things did end on a rather bad note for Tabitha. Jane Carr clearly was having a ball as the wicked witch before getting eaten up by the very creature she was trying to get to incinerate everyone else. I think I'll miss Tabitha a bit more than Neron if I'm being honest.

Speaking of Neron - of course it would be Ray's sacrifice for Nate that would be the key to it. Nate knew it and he agreed with Constantine to let Neron kill him, thus ending Neron's arc in a fairly okay-ish manner. Even though I do like Nate as a character, I actually think the show made a bad call by undoing his sacrifice but at the same time resulting in the show losing Zari.

According to the producers, while Tala Ashe will be a part of the fifth season, Zari is done as a character, so it will be interesting to see who Tala gets to play next season. This is notably the second time the show has done this with a female character/actor as we've seen with Maisie Richardson-Sellers as Amaya and Charlie respectively.

Saying that, while Zari is gone, we do have another airbender in the mix with Behrad (Shayan Sobhian) taking his sister's place and only Nate being seemingly aware that something is amiss there. I know we were due a casting change for next season but a part of me is still annoyed that we're losing Zari yet keeping Mona as a character. I would've even sacrificed Gary for Zari but at the same time, it'll be interesting to see how Behrad fits into the mix with the gang.

In other casting news, I genuinely was convinced this episode would write out Constantine but with Astra making deals at the Soul Exchange and giving some of the worst people an Encore, it looks like the show has managed to prolong his time on the Waverider. I'm pretty happy with that development and evil Astra could be a fantastic antagonist for the next season as well.

- During his spell in hell, Ray was playing Giant Jenga with Vandal Savage of all people. I disliked the character in the first season but found him more charming in this episode. Funny that. Nora also is still a fairy godmother.
- I did find it amusing and petty that Oliver, Barry and Kara did refuse to help with the great plan to stop Neron. Then again, they were probably occupied with their own baddies at the time.
- Standout music: The use of Sweet Baby James during a crucial moment to revive Nate.
- Chronology: Mostly 2019 for the gang. The show's fifth season will air on the CW from early 2020 and will take in the final parts of the Crisis On Infinite Earths crossover event.

I'll admit compared to previous finales, Hey, World! might not be as strong as what we've had in the past but it did bring the Neron storyline to a decent end and it's nice we're not done with John as of yet either. I do however dislike the nature of Zari's exit and given the criticism some fans have made, it seems the producers will be making next season a little less silly, even if we do have to wait until 2020 to actually see it.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 1x14: "Penultimate Patrol"

Written by Chris Dingess
Directed by Rebecca Rodriguez

Mr Nobody (to the gang): "The moral is basically there is no beating me, not now, not ever."

Well, it could never be that simple, now could it? Still though, we have one more episode before Mr Nobody gets his backside handed to him by the very team he's enjoyed torturing and making snarky comments about all season long but not before the damage inevitably caused by that last scene.

I wish I could say that I was shocked with Niles's revelation about being the one who virtually caused all of our gang transformations but the reality is that I'm not shocked at all. How they deal with this information in the finale though will be the decider but going forward into another season, will Niles still be around or is there a potential redemptive sacrifice to save the world a coming next week?

Getting to the White Space was certainly the funniest part of the episode. We had the gang along with Flex land on Danny the Street where Flex got a little comfort over his recent loss while everyone else (minus Cliff and Flex) er, came when Flex tried to send them all to the White Space. Fortunately his second attempt was a lot more successful but my God, that scene was so awkward and funny to watch.

Once in the White Space, each of our misfits were tempted to go back to their former lives by Nobody and each of them resisted the temptation knowing well they had ruined them long before their transformations. Moments like that showed some character growth and along with Rita literally taking control of the narrative, it seemed like Nobody's days were numbered.

We got a delightful scene where each of the members managed to dissect and humiliate Nobody (including his former girlfriend, Milly) before Cyborg seemingly killed him off and things were back to normal. Only for it to turn out that Nobody faked the whole thing and everyone was being killed repeatedly in order to torture Niles some more.

The last few minutes of the episode were obvious but it was still nicely executed with Nobody getting his own little victory on the gang by forcing Niles into confessing the worst thing possible. For a final scene, that certainly left a nasty sting and with the finale trailer revealing sweet FA, I can't wait to see how Nobody is dealt with once and for all.

- I was convinced that the Beard Hunter died in his last episode but it seems that he's been living on Danny the Street and is also reformed.
- Silas confessed to Victor the real truth about his accident and Elinor. Cliff trying to fake an orgasm did make me feel bad for the guy.
- Standout music: The use of Eric Carmen's All By Myself during a certain scene of course.
- Chronology: Chicago 1946 for the opening flashback with Nobody and Milly. Safe to assume the Brotherhood of Evil will be the main antagonists for next season.

Penultimate Patrol was a rather amusing romp and it certainly didn't waste time with the action in every aspect along with the streaming service commentary as well. It's been a fun ride for this offbeat series and the finale should definitely deliver the goods and bring this Nobody arc to a satisfying conclusion.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Now Apocalypse's 1x10: "Everything Is Gone Forever"

Written by Gregg Araki & Karley Sciortino
Directed by Gregg Araki

Ulysses: "I just want answers."

After ten episodes on this show, don't we all? Frustratingly, this episode came no closer to actually doing that, even if we found from the homeless guy that he got pregnant from being raped by the cheap looking alien on this show. Then he got electrocuted after Ulysses refused to kill him for good measure.

Ulysses wasn't looking for more alien antics in this episode. Instead he was dealing with a break up from Isaac while trying to avoid Gabriel and comfort both Carly and Ford over their relationship woes as well. Then the encounter with the homeless guy and Gabriel happened towards the end of this episode but after the last scene, at least one other character will believe in aliens.

I didn't expect Jethro to be the one to get attacked by the alien at the end. The way the homeless guy talked about being at an all time low when it happened to him, I had a feeling that Ford might have been the victim but having it be Jethro could work well into the second season (if this show has one), now that him and Carly are no more.

I'm not surprised that Carly was the one to dump Jethro, seeing as she's always been the one in control of their relationship. Breaking up with Jethro, whom she doesn't respect most of the time was probably the least selfish thing she could've done for him. Carly also seemed the least affected by her own relationship going down the tubes.

Last but not least - Ford and Severine also broke up in this episode and it wasn't a moment too soon. Of course, it was Severine who made the break and Ford being the one to take it worse than her, even if he came close to hooking up with Cleopatra from the previous episode before changing his mind and leaving the latter at the end of the road.

I'm not surprised that all the main relationships broke up given how heavily signposted it was in the episode before and while I don't care about Ford/Severine and Carly/Jethro, I am a little disappointed to see Ulysses and Isaac break up. Whatever is going on with Gabriel though, I hope is finally answered early next season, again if the show gets one.

- Carly's meeting with Starz involved her encountering one of her cam clients and by the sounds of it, she probably didn't get a role she was hoping for.
- I really could've done without seeing that alien appendage during the last scene with Jethro.
- Both Ford and Jethro were talking to their mothers on the phone in this one. Ford also found out that his parents financial woes means they can't support him in LA anymore.
- Chronology: A few days since the previous episode.

Everything Is Gone Forever marks an okay ending to a fun first season. I don't know what this show's odds are on getting a second run (the ratings on Starz don't look great) and with the cliff hanger moment as well, it's hard to determine if solid answers will arrive for the series ongoing premise.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Now Apocalypse's 1x09: "Disappear Here"

Written by Gregg Araki & Karley Sciortino
Directed by Gregg Araki

Isaac (to Ulysses): "This day and age, say what you're looking for. If you're not a match, move on."

On one hand, that's great advice but on the other hand, the more the show talks about Ulysses and Isaac rushing into things, the more likely they're going to implode pretty fast, which is a shame as out of the three main romances on the show, theirs is the only one I actually care about. Also, Isaac really does seem like ideal boyfriend material and Ulysses is a better person now that he's not getting as high as he used to.

Of course with Ulysses and Isaac eating take out, spending more time with each other and the former being given a key to the latter's place, it'll be a shame to see this pairing end as we've only gotten to the beginning whereas the other two relationships at least have had more time to naturally devolve over the course of the season.

Carly and Jethro seem barely able to make small talk with one another since their sex party incident and when Leif reappear, Carly did seem to have more chemistry with him than her long suffering boyfriend. Saying that, she did seem rather taken aback by Leif's own rule book on what constituted as cheating and so on.

Then there was the cam girl stuff. Naturally we had to have Jethro find out about Carly's other job and needless to say, this episode didn't disappoint there. Will this be the thing that breaks them up for good? Er, probably I guess.

Keeping with the devolving relationships, Ford and Severine definitely seem like they'll break up. He didn't exactly take her news about having to relocate to Roswell, New Mexico pretty well and Severine herself didn't waste time sleeping with Klaus and Lars. Even Ford was nearly tempted to sleep with a random woman he met at a cafe during the episode as well.

- Carly managed to bag herself a meeting with Starz while her Sluts webcam series has about 600,000 views now.
- One of the few episodes that didn't end with Ulysses seeing something or having sex with someone.
- More mentioning from Isaac about his clients getting attacked by aliens.
- Chronology: Three days since the previous episode.

Disappear Here would've been better titled Devolving Relationships given that two relationships imploded and the only one really worth watching was hinted at possibly imploding as well. Still though, it's a pretty solid episode.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 4x15: "Terms Of Service"

Written by Grainne Godfree & Ubah Mohamed
Directed by April Mullen

Gary: "Go find John and help him rescue Ray from hell."
Nora: "Oh fiddlesticks."

Penultimate episode time of the season and well, at least three of our main cast are now in hell and all because when Gary tries to be helpful, he still managed to make a hash out of things. On the other hand, Nora will probably fare better there than John and Ray currently are to be honest.

Keeping with Gary first - I thought he was forgiven a little too easily and I wished he had expressed more remorse for the shit he had put most of the gang through while working with Neron and Tabitha. On the other hand, at least he did come to his senses, so hopefully he can make an effort to atone for his actions in the last two episodes.

Gary's torture of the gang though could've been worse but still taking away their free will, forcing them to spend time with him and humiliating them was pretty low and I don't want that to be glossed over with the character. Yes, they should treat him better and not take advantage but Gary's actions shouldn't be ignored either. He should have to suffer some consequence for it.

Speaking of consequences, both Nora and Constantine found themselves being a little too easily played in this episode as well. Constantine choosing Astra over Ray, I totally saw coming and understood the logic behind (and at least he attempted to fight for both of them) but even John should've realised that Lucifer and company were going to outsmart him.

The use of an older, embittered Astra to torture John was a smart move on the writers part and the casting seemed to be rather spot from the younger version of the character we saw as well. As for Nora, her being tricked by Tabitha into taking on the role of Fairy Godmother was genius but again like John, Nora should've spotted Tabitha's deception coming a mile off. Still Tabitha's post fairy transformation seemed like she was channeling Maleficent.

As for Zari and Charlie - those two made for a great team this week, even if Neron outed Zari as a witch and managed to capture Charlie during the latter and Zari's attempts of rescuing Mona (who I did feel bad for this week). On the other hand, with escaped magical creatures and a hatched Wextible in Zari's earlier timeline, Neron is going to need more than a soul grabbing app to get rid of the Legends once and for all.

- Did the show use some actual clips from the Constantine TV series during the Astra bits? If not then they definitely shot some similar scenes.
- Sara/Ava were subjected to tap dancing/book clubs, Mick a pacifer he couldn't remove and Nate made into a nerd. As I said, Gary should get some consequences for this.
- Neron's app can't even beat a cat trending on social media and it had a rather uninspired name to be honest. I also want to know more about that magical garden gnome that escaped from the Time Bureau.
- Chronology: Washington 2019 for the younger Zari scenes and Hell for Constantine and Ray.

Terms Of Service had fun talking about the fine print, amidst our main players getting deceived and taken out of the main playing field for quite a bit this week. The finale looks like it's going to be suitably jam packed as this Neron storyline comes to a close.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 1x13: "Flex Patrol"

Written by Tom Farrell & Tamara Becher-Wilkinson
Directed by TJ Scott

Mr Nobody: "Finally, a superhero team I can actually get behind. A superhero team I can actually use. Took you emo navel gazers long enough to work through your bullshit."

Let's just say the rest of that speech comments on the amount of episodes we've sat through and ended with the promise that the two episodes remaining will actually deliver on the action, while at the same time also benching Cyborg for a bit. Mr Nobody is nothing if not petty and prepared.

I should've guessed that seemingly nice old man that Rita was chatting to and unburdening herself of a past shame was actually Nobody but the reveal came as a pleasant surprise and it was great that it kicked Rita into action as well. It seems like she's taken on the leader role with the rest of the team in Victor's absence and who better for the job to be honest.

Rita is without a doubt one of the most complex DC characters out there and this show has done a consistently excellent job with that. She's made some terrible mistakes in her past and hasn't always atoned for them but she has been trying to learn from them and prioritizing Victor and Silas (the latter isn't dead) over the Chief made sense in the context of her scenes this week.

As for Nobody - he's been resting on his laurels for too long and with the Bureau of Normalcy being used quite a bit in the last few episodes, it'll be nice to see Nobody actually spring into action as the Doom Patrol try to get the Chief back once and for all. Not that the show really needs the chief at this rate.

Of course, this episode wasn't just about the team finally coming together - they also managed to save themselves a hunk of the beach, better known as Flex Mentallo (Devan Chandler Long) when escaping the Ant Farm. From the previous episode we knew that bearded bloke was him and it didn't take long for Rita to make the same deduction and for Cliff and Jane to give him a makeover again.

Fkex's flashbacks to his relationship with his wife Dolores, being captured by the Bureau and trying to make friends with Larry were nicely explored in flashbacks and present day scenes while Jane resorted to bringing back Flex's elderly wife to jog his memories.

It wasn't surprising that their reunion was tragic and short lived but on a positive note, at least Flex might have found himself a home with the team as he's in the next two episodes. The episode also had a lot of fun with Flex's soap opera addiction and how Cliff once had an acting credit to his name. Needless to say both Jane and Larry's reactions to this were delightfully funny.

- Nobody's scene got too meta with him having a show mug, blanket and poster where he rather vindictively removed Cyborg from.
- This week, Animal-Vegetable-Mineral Man got himself shot by a follower of Von Fuch.
- Larry came pretty close to death in this episode, only for his negative spirit to be persuaded to bond with him again.
- Chronology: 1964 for Flex's original capture as well as the present day for everything else.

Flex Patrol was a hunky, soap opera watching delight with some beautifully poignant character moments, a delightful snarky closing monologue and the promise of some proper action for our remaining episodes. I'll be a little disappointed if Flex himself doesn't become a regular next season.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Now Apocalypse's 1x08: "Unknown Pleasures"

Written by Gregg Araki & Karley Sciortino
Directed by Gregg Araki

Isaac: "I'll see you in nine and a half hours."
Ulysses: "Cool."

Ah, this was a rather sweet-ish episode. Well, any scene involving Ulysses and Isaac. Everything else was a lot less sweet, so let's focus on the best storyline before getting into the worst ones in this episode.

Ulysses and Isaac properly hooked up in the episode and it seems that they have the type of friends who both give them advice about not rushing into things. Of course it didn't stop the pair from being really into each other and generally being unable to keep their hands off each other. Two episodes in and I really hope Isaac will make it into the next season.

Just as importantly was Isaac vaguely throwing in a comment about there being an increased case of homeless people with serious delusions, so there was a tiny bit of the main plot being referenced here. Hopefully the next two episodes really do go further on this one.

As for the less great stuff of this episode - while both Carly and Severine raised points on straight men's general attitudes towards guy on guy action and submission, both women were mostly in the wrong in this episode as well. Carly more so out of the two but even Severine had some bad moments here.

I'm not the biggest fan of Jethro and while he does seem to like most of the BDSM stuff that Carly keeps inflicting on her, she was needlessly nasty towards him and seemed to show a lack of consideration that even EL James would balk at. The fact that Jethro hasn't dumped her yet is almost a miracle in itself.

As for Severine - I was all for her wanting to have a threesome with Ford and Tyce (Aubrey Marquez) but I felt sorry for Ford. He clearly wasn't into the idea and neither was he a dick about it. As much as I'd like Ford to make out with a guy, he's clearly only into women and while I did agree with Severine's comments on three ways, both her and Carly need to look into showing some respect for their male partners and respecting their boundaries as well.

- Tyce and his boyfriend (I think he's bisexual, he's definitely an Aquarius) are fans of Ford's underwear ads. He did seem more into Ford than Severine as well.
- Maybe if you're staying over, Isaac bring some mints in case someone doesn't have a spare toothbrush.
- Waterboarding and the baby stuff. Jethro suffered the most in this episode and to top it off, Carly also annihilated his acting prowess as well.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Unknown Pleasures had a lot to say about masculinity, BDSM, sexuality and boudaries and to be fair, it was the female characters and their lack of respect of male partners that came across the worst here. Only Ulysses and Isaac had a plot that resembled something pleasurable from both ends. Guest character wise though, I did rather like Tyce and loved him calling out Severine for some of her problematic attitudes as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Now Apocalypse's 1x07: "Anywhere Out Of This World"

Written by Gregg Araki & Karley Sciortino
Directed by Gregg Araki

Gabriel (to Ulysses): "The human race is finito. It's the end of the fucking world as we know it."

Finally, we might actually be getting somewhere with the main plot of the series, between the hookups, fetishes and billboard posters. Then again, it might also just be an excuse to get Tyler Posey to blow a trumpet while shirtless in a dream sequence as well as being super cryptic about the world ending too. I guess it's open to interpretation though.

Still, even if Gabriel is still having a bad impression on Ulysses, then at least two people had a good one for him this week. Carly for all her scathing one liners was right in telling Ulysses to stop getting high for a bit and then there was the introduction of new love interest, Isaac (Jacob Artist) for Uly.

This show hasn't been shy in giving Ulysses plenty of hook ups but going by the dynamic of this episode, it seems like for the remainder of the season, he'll have a boyfriend in the non materialistic social worker. Heck, Uly even tried to hold off having sex with Isaac before the episode ended with the two of them getting it on.

Speaking of getting it on, I'm not surprised that Severine took Ford to a sex party and while his awkwardness was rather endearing to begin with, it wasn't too shocking that he soon got into the swing (pun intended) of things as the night went on. As for the fallout of his photos being used for a billboard campaign. There was none as no-one except Ford seemed to be generally that fussed about the whole thing.

As for Carly - aside from giving some decent advice to Uly and getting money for her pee from a client that's into that sort of thing, this wasn't a great one for her either. You'd think by now, she'd actually pay attention to the people she lives with before letting them do stupid stuff, but apparently not. Then again, this show's continued lampooning of woke culture at times is amusing to watch.

- The campaign that Ford's picture were being used for are underwear company, Andrew Christian.
- Pretty sure the other Starz production that Carly's awful roommate was watching was Outlander.
- Anyone else find it interesting that Severine seems opposed to drugs? Then again that sex party hostess's suggestion for weed was pretty gross though.
- Chronology: Exactly from where the previous episode left off to tie into Ulysses meeting Isaac for the first time.

Again, not much was advanced here but Anywhere Out Of This World did at least introduce Isaac and it'll be nice to see where things go with him and Ulysses before the latter wrecks it (as Carly prophetically managed to put it). With three episodes left though, the show does need to move the alien apocalypse part along in a more meaningful way.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Legends Of Tomorrow's 4x14: "Nip|Stuck"

Written by Ray Utarnachitt & Matthew Maala
Directed by David A. Geddes

Constantine (to Neron/Ray): "It may be too late to save Ray or Desmond or the Legends but at least I'll get to send you back where you belong."

For the second time in this fourth season we get an episode that is largely Constantine focused. Not to be biased or anything but don't be shocked when I say this will go down as one of my favourites this season. Last time we left John, he got himself taken prisoner by Neron and this episode saw the latter using our occultist for his own ends.

First there was having Constantine as bait to get the Legends trapped under a lot of ice in order to keep them out of the way and then we got to meet one of John's ancestors - King Kon-sten-tyn in order to trick the former into actually helping out. Needless to say, Neron's plan couldn't have gone any better.

I mean, he managed to tap into John's humanity with seeing Constantine bond with a Pooka while also dualing his less magical tolerant ancestor and then there was Tabitha herself being freed. I hadn't expected Tabitha to have actually been the Fairy Godmother but more of Jane Carr for the remainder of the season isn't a bad thing as far as I'm concerned.

This was a great episode for Matt Ryan. We saw a Constantine who started the season forced into banding with the Legends to one who now was willing to go to hell in order to save them all and Ray from Neron. While I do doubt that we'll have him around as a regular next season (and please, CW, prove me wrong there), I am loving the character growth this season has given the character all around.

With Constantine currently in hell, there was also Gary to deal with. His nipple came with a hypnotic eye and only Mona/Wolfie were able to save the Time Bureau from whatever tyranny Gary would've subjected them all. While Gary's turn is understandable, it's also a shame that he didn't show some internal conflict as well, even if this episode did give Adam Tsekhman a bit more to do than usual.

As for Mona, she's not been my favourite this season but I did like that she was able to spot what was going wrong and helped rid Gary of his hypnotic nipple while banging Nora and Ava's heads together. As for the Legends themselves, we had some infighting with Sara and Mick before everyone followed one of Ray's handy guides to get themselves out of a potentially icy death.

I didn't like that Mick went over Sara's head but I do think he had a right to call her out during one scene. Saying that, I loved the card game with the gang and the purpose it ultimately served. Ray might not be having the best of times right about now, but I do think/hope that Constantine will be able to save Ray along with himself in the next two episodes.

- Meeting King Kon-sten-tyn was a great way to get Matt Ryan in a dodgy wig and some period costume this week.
- Astra was mentioned a lot in this episode. I wonder if this means that Constantine might actually get the chance to free her as well.
- Nate and Zari were outed as a couple, courtesy of Charlie and to the surprise of absolutely no-one. Wextible is a cute enough name for a baby dragon though.
- Chronology: Donner Pass and 533 BC for all the Constantine/Ray scenes. I'm guessing the bit hell though was to show us Dis at the very end.

Nip|Stuck definitely set up some good stuff for the next two episodes. Brandon Routh is clearly having a blast as Neron and the Constantine content in this episode was some of the best we've had in the second half of the season along with the group dynamics and Bureau antics. I really can't wait to see how the remaining two episodes will wrap up this arc.

Rating: 8 out of 10

My Review of Avengers: Endgame (2019)

Written by Christopher Markus & Stephen McFeely
Directed by Anthony & Joe Russo

Steve Rogers: "We lost. All of us. We lost friends. We lost family. We lost a part of ourselves. This is the fight of our lives."

Advanced warning: a week has passed since this movie's release and this review will contain massive spoilers, so if you haven't seen it already, you've been warned.

It has been one year since the events of Infinity War but for our dispirited team, at least a shorter amount of time had passed since Thanos (Josh Brolin) made the life changing snap of the universe. He was victorious and our gang were utterly defeated. Then there was the moment when Thor (Chris Hemsworth) lost his rag as the remaining gang along with Captain Marvel (Brie Larson) thought they could change everything. Except even in death, nothing changed.

The first half hour of this movie certainly had a sense of hopelessness to it. Sure we saw Carol Danvers rescue Nebula (Karen Gillan) and Iron Man (Robert Downey Jr) from space and there might have been a satisfaction in Thanos getting his head taken off but the moment the latter revealed he destroyed the infinity stones was the moment where things looked hopeless for our remaining heroes while an obvious solution was waiting in the wings.

First of all though - we had to have a five year time jump. A jump that involved Tony and Pepper Potts (Gwyneth Paltrow) living in a cabin with a daughter while Hawkeye (Jeremy Renner) lost his own family and became a dangerous vigilante named Ronin. A jump that also included Captain America (Chris Evans) running a men's group while Captain Marvel went off world and Thor got fat and depressed on New Asgard with Valkyrie (Tessa Thompson) just waited around doing nothing of consequence.

It's a good job then that Ant Man (Paul Rudd) reached out to the gang in order to propose the obvious solution of time travel to fix the Thanos problem and while it took Tony a bit to get on board with the idea, the rest of the movie then became a delightful call back to past movies as the gang made it their mission to fix the mess that Thanos made on the world.

I'll admit it was nice to re-examine the likes of The Avengers, Thor: The Dark World, Guardians Of The Galaxy Vol 1 and so on as each of our gang members went back in time in order to nab the time stones. Not only did it give us a few cameos from actors who clearly didn't film anything for this movie in particular but it was also a way of showing audiences how far certain characters have come throughout the course of the MCU as Nebula's own delving into her former time line meant that Thanos of the past was able to try and stop the Avengers from succeeding in their plan to change his future.

Now this was always going to be a movie that would not only bring back those who were snapped out of existence but also keep other characters dead (Loki for example) while adding a few more sacrifices into the mix as well. I'm not surprised though that the sacrifices in question happened to be some original members, so let's focus on them as this is really their movie with everyone else just playing a supporting role.

After years of struggles - the Hulk (Mark Ruffalo) finally has the perfect control of his alter ego, even to the point where he's happy to take selfies with admiring kids and find shirts that fit him as well, so he fared the best from this movie. Hawkeye became a far darker character before eventually getting his own family back while Thor handed his kingdom to the most trustworthy person he could find before setting off with the Guardians so his time in the MCU isn't quite as over as I thought it was going to be. I loved Thor being paired with those characters in the previous movie, so this is a development I am very pleased with.

Of course the harder sacrifices came with two major deaths. First of all, there was Black Widow (Scarlett Johansson) sacrificing herself so they could get the soul stone. I saw this one coming a mile and I'll admit that it stuck a little. I know the character has a prequel movie in the works but I kind of wished they had picked another character to have killed off over Black Widow for this particular moment.

As for Tony Stark though - the very man whose solo movie kick started this entire franchise. His sacrifice was devastating too but it was effectively handled and out of all the character who would be responsible for Thanos's downfall at the end of this movie, it made sense that Tony would be the one to take him out. The moment felt earned and the funeral scene which boasted far too many cameos to boot highlighted the poignancy of it all.

Then there was Captain America himself. Jokes about his ass aside (am I surprised that Scott is a fan of it? Nope!), I had no real issue with him deciding to live a life with Peggy Carter (Hayley Atwell) or that Falcon (Anthony Mackie) got to take on the mantle with Bucky (Sebastian Stan) as his partner in crime. I do get why this might not have gone down well with certain fanbases but for me, aside from the potential time issue, it wasn't too much of a big deal.

Last but not least - I have to comment on the big battle scene. It was pretty epic to see so many characters going up against Thanos and his army and while the girl power moment with nearly all the female characters banding together did seem a little trite (but also a clear reminder that the MCU has had plenty of amazing female characters prior to 2019), there was a satisfaction in finally having Thanos and his army defeated once and for all.

This is a movie that had a running time of three hours, so I certainly ate light before watching it. There were a few moments that could've been trimmed (Thor's depression being played for laughs, Scott's time travelling testing antics) but funnily enough, it didn't drag and it easily could've done so. For the most part it managed to utilise the three hours it had rather well.

- The movie gave us a gay character played by Joe Russo at Steve's support group. The scene didn't bother me but after 22 movies, the criticism for it seemed justified to me. Fortunately we are getting a gay lead in The Eternals though.
- All the obvious time travel movies managed to get a reference into this one along with cinematic flop, A Wrinkle In Time.
- Characters such as Loki, Wanda, Vision, Falcon and Winter soldier will be getting their own shows on Disney+ within the next year, so even if they're not in future movies, we'll be seeing more of them in other mediums.
- With the amount of cameos in this movie, the most surprising one was the inclusion of Harley Keener (Ty Simpkins) from Iron Man 3. Katherine Langford who was reported to be appearing in this movie had her scenes cut.
- This movie also gave us the final cameo appearance from Stan Lee as well.
- Chronology: 2018 and 2023 as well as various trips into the past.

Avengers : Endgame might not be the final movie from Phase 3 (that honour will fall to Spider-Man: Far From Home apparently) but there's no denying this felt very much like the end of an 11 year era for the MCU. The majority of the characters were served well, most of the time wasn't wasted, Thanos got a good ending as the franchise's strongest antagonist and there were some hints for the next phase. I won't say this is my favourite superhero movie of all time, but it's undeniably one of the most important movies of all time from the genre it's a part of and it's a massive accomplishment to see onscreen.

Rating: 9 out of 10

My Review of Doom Patrol's 1x12: "Cyborg Patrol"

Written by Robert Berens & Shoshana Sachi
Directed by Carol Banker

Victor: "You made me into this monster."
Silas: "I saved you and I'm trying to save you now."

Well, I guess we should've seen this one coming. All season long there have been fears that Victor could eventually stray into darker territory and given his issues with Silas, it was only a matter of time before something truly horrible happening. Still though, yikes.

Silas showed his best and worst sides within this episode before being killed by his own son. When he realised that the Ant Farm had Victor as prisoner, he made the effort to work with Cliff, Larry, Rita and Jane to get Victor, even if it meant letting Jones and company think that he was screwing the Doom Patrol over.

Unfortunately for Silas though, his past sins came back to haunt him and Victor lost his temper at the worst possible time, much to the joy of Mr Nobody as the latter took immense pleasure in seeing Victor come to terms with killing his own father. I do wonder if this is a moment too dark for the show but with three episodes left, I am intrigued to see where the show takes Victor next after this pivotal moment for him.

As for the rest of the team, well they certainly had a time of it. Cliff had to endure being referred to as scrap by a know it all scientist lady before Rita used Cliff's body mass to knock said lady out. On the other hand at least Cliff didn't have something extracted from him or was forced to listen to some 90's music.

Getting to the 1990's music - what a way to annoy Jane though. The guy whose hand she broke in the last episode tried his best to intimidate her and failed at every level, even to the point where his method of torturing brought about a brief return of Karen. Luckily for everyone else though, Karen didn't stick around too long for this episode.

As for Larry - he got his negative essence extracted out of him, thanks to Darren Jones but he also managed to get it back. It seems that getting away from the Ant Farm didn't mean that they stopped working on them but after this episode, I'm not sure there will be enough of an Ant Farm around, not especially after the unleashing of some literal killer butts. First Legends of Tomorrow gives us a nipple from hell and this show with lethal asses. Are they trying to outdo reach in the zany stakes? Who would win in that regard.

- Flex Mentallo (Devan Chandler Long) made an appearance in this episode, albeit rather unkempt and with his memories wiped. We'll be getting him properly next week though.
- How much space does Cliff have inside him that even Rita could fit in there? I know she's malleable but even still.
- Standout music: Ace of Spades The Sign of course.
- Chronology: From where Frances Patrol more or less left off.

Cyborg Patrol might be the darkest moment of the show but between killer backsides and Jane's pithy comments during her captivity (along with poor Cliff being referred to as scrap), the episode certainly had it's quota of funny and bizarre moments. Not quite as strong as last week but definitely a strong episode with a nice introduction for Flex Mentallo as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10

My Review of Now Apocalypse's 1x06: "She's Lost Control"

Written by Gregg Araki & Karley Sciortino
Directed by Gregg Araki

Jethro: "Are you okay, Mommy?"
Carly: "Yes, Mommy's okay."

Well, after what we've seen with those two in previous episodes, that scene wasn't too much of a shocker. Neither is the fact that Carly has a lot of anger issues waiting to truly boil over as this episode was a series of mixed fortunes for her.

On the negative side first - Jethro might not be setting the acting world alight but unlike Carly, at least he's bagging TV gigs even if those gigs are mainly him playing a corpse, each and every single time. Carly on the other hand just managed to herself dropped from an agent too flaky to even remember her name while her boyfriend managed to bag a cable miniseries with Benedict Cumberbatch.

I am surprised with the amount of crap that Jethro will tolerate from Carly while at the same time, it's impressive that he does seem to actually care for her even if he probably knows that she treats him like crap. As for the other part of the fortunes, at least Carly's web series unimaginatively titled Sluts has shaped up a little better with Ulysses going into director mode as well.

Speaking of Ulysses - at least we're back onto the alien plot as a dream encounter with the homeless guy got Uly to go to Reddit of all place to find out about the W sign with lightning bolts. It also resulted in his post being deleted because even Reddit have limits on what one can post on their conspiracy subforum.

The last scene did see Ulysses at his place of work (nope, the show hadn't forgot about that) with an encounter with the homeless guy that ended on an embarrassing note but between cryptic dreams and Severine asking both the twin guys if any mystery cars were following them of late, at least this episode seemed to make a tiny advance towards the main plot.

-  Carly gave pee guy her phone number but not Leif, though I'm sure we'll see him again. Ulysses mentioned enjoying going down on women as well.
- Ford didn't take Ulysses's advice about Otto and Barnabus well at all. Severine also enjoyed watching a couple having sex in the building opposite to her workplace.
- Carly also got a new roommate named Emily while a guy she filmed a scene with for her web series also bagged a mystery project as well.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

She's Lost Control was a bit of an improvement from the previous episode. While the alien plot does need to step up a gear, it would also be nice to have at least one person actually believe what Ulysses is saying and I do hope him and Ford patch things up next episode.

Rating: 6 out of 10

My Review of Now Apocalypse's 1x05: "Stranger Than Paradise"

Written by Gregg Araki & Karley Sciortino
Directed by Gregg Araki

Ulysses: "I guess aliens really are for the tin foiled hat crowd after all."

What this episode might have lacked in aliens, it did make up for in some raunchy antics as Ulysses, Carly, Ford and Severine all took that trip to Palm Springs for a party of sex, some connections and one hell of a creepy overture.

The sex first - Ulysses copped off with a woman named Aja and she was annoying as hell. I kind of hope this is the first and only time we see Ulysses with a woman as even in this episode he did say he was gay, which was a difference when the first episode indicated that he might have been pansexual. Anyways, the sex scene with Aja wasn't as graphic as any Ulysses has had with men and thankfully didn't last that long either.

On a slightly better sex front though, Carly met a lovely guy named Leif (played by Breaking Bad's RJ Mitte) and while she didn't actually go through with having sex with him, there was a decent connection between the two as Carly managed to actually be nice to him for more than five minutes. Then she remembered that she had a long suffering boyfriend who she decided not to cheat on ith Leif but instead got naked in a pool and play fought another girl by the end of this episode.

As for Ford - the guy really didn't get to have a good time this episode. He had to beg Severine to come to Palm Springs and before she eventually abandoned him, she made no effort to hide her contempt with having to socialise with other people. I don't mind Severine being more standoffish at times but the sooner the show has Ford ditch her, the better.

Then there was Barnabas. He's not exactly made his lust for Ford unknown and the moment the latter was in a vulnerable state, Banabas wasted no time in trying to take advantage of the situation by trying it on with an unconscious Ford. Luckily for the latter though, Ulysses really is that friend in a bad situation as he made sure that Barnabas didn't get his way with Ford. Ulysses being the best friend was the obvious highlight from this episode.

- There was a book signing with Mitchell Kent which resulted in the guy being an absolute asshole to Ulysses.
- Severine had to rush back to LA because those two twins found something important. Given the lack of alien stuff in this one, here's hoping it's something to move the plot along faster.
- Assuming this show gets a second season, is it much to guess we'll get a Coachella themed episode then? The gang did mention going there next year.
- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Stranger Than Paradise did little to advance the main plot but it had some nice character moments such as Carly and Severine poking fun at the Bechdel Test and of course, Ulysses looking out for Ford. I did like Leif as a guest character, so I wouldn't mind seeing a little more of him in the series.

Rating: 6 out of 10