DCU Blog - March 2025 Edition: CinenaCon Approaches, Lanterns Casting And More

March has certainly been a busy month for DC as more developments came to light with several upcoming projects.

Superman (2025) has allegedly had test screenings, a certain piece of casting may or may not be true and CinemaCon tomorrow will reveal a brand new trailer. July 11th 2025.

Both Nathan Fillion and Anthony Cardigan have talked about their respective roles in Superman (2025) and the overall tone of the movie.

Jason Momoa confirmed once again that his role as Lobo on Supergirl: Woman Of Tomorrow (June 26th 2026) is a small one with filming halfway done.

Production for Clayface (September 11th 2026) will start in the summer. Casting should be revealed very soon.

It seems that Colin Farrell may be playing Sgt. Rock after all for the upcoming movie, directed by Luca Guadagnino and written by Justin Kuritzkes.

The script for The Batman - Part II (October 1st 2027) still hasn't been handed in yet, though Robert Parkinson has stated filming should start by the end of the year.

Giancarlo Esposito has expressed interest in playing Mr Freeze in the DCU.

Action figures from Batman Returns will be released during the summer. They include Batman, Catwoman, the Penguin and Max Schreck.

Nicole Ari Parker and Sherman Augustus will play the current day versions of John Stewart's parents while Jasmine Cephas Jones and J. Alphonse Nicholson will play the younger versions in Lanterns. Jason Ritter will also play Billy Macon.

Superman Day will on April 18th this year. We might get something new for that particular day.

Darren Aronofsky has recently followed James Gunn on social media. There has been rumours of him doing a Plastic Man movie for the DCU.

Jason Bateman recently played Batman in a State Farm Ad that also featured the Joker, Riddler, Two Face and Poison Ivy.

The latest mobile game, DC Dark Legion was released this month. Available on Google Play.

The second season of Peacemaker has been confirmed for August 2025 on Max. Brey Noelle will be playing White Rabbit in the new season.

David Zaslav is looking to replace Mike Deluca and Pam Abdy for the film division at Warner Brothers.

The animated show that were announced last month, such as Starfire will all be Elseworlds shows.

A busy month for DC as the DCU continues to be filming upcoming projects while others are in pre-production.

My Review of Shock To The System (2006)

 

Written by Ron McGee And Richard Stevenson

Directed by Ron Oliver

Donald (to Timothy): "You ever wonder what your life would be like if you weren't gay?"

Last week I had watched Third Man Out, the debut movie in the Donald Strachey series. It was time for the sequel and once again, a murder mystery got turned on it's head.

Our leading man, Donald Strachey (Chad Allen) found himself meeting at night with Paul Hale (Jared Keeso) in an alley. The meeting got harshly interrupted and shortly, it appeared that Paul had seemingly died of an overdose. Of course, Strachey wasn't convinced of that.

It didn't help that Paul had a conservative mother named Phyllis (Morgan Fairchild) and that Paul himself had been attending a gay conversion called the Phoenix Foundation, which was led by Dr Trevor Cornwell (Michael Woods) and his wife, Lynn (Anne Marie DeLuise). This plot subverted some of my expectations.

For a moment, I genuinely believed that Trevor was going to be revealed to be a self loathing closet case and that he killed Paul as a crime of passion. Instead he was having an affair with fake lesbian, Katey (Rikki Gagne) and Paul uncovering the futility of the Foundation's work ended up being his downfall. Yet, it felt like Trevor kind of got away with things.

The highlight of this conversion therapy plot was more to do with the insight into Donald's past. Yes, his undercover attempts were ruffled halfway through the movie but I liked how he revealed to Timothy (Sebastian Spence) about his military past and the relationship with Kyle that had soured during that time. It was a nice insight into the character.

As for the rest of the movie, some of the other "ex-gays" included not so clandestine couple Walter (Ryan Kennedy) and Levon (Jeffrey Bowyer-Chapman) as well as struggling family man, Grey (Stephen Huszar) and film student, Larry (Shawn Roberts). They're a decent bunch of characters and I liked their interactions with Strachey throughout the movie.

Last but not least, there was some decent screen time dedicated to Donald and Tim, attending social engagements and sharing Martinis in a bubble bath. Oh and Kenny Kwon (Nelson Wong) returned just so Donald could get himself an office manager/secretary.

- Detective "Bub" Bailey (Darryl Shuttleworth) returned again to offer his own help with Donald's case.

- Donald made a point of telling two different characters that he only beats up people who deserve it. He had no problem knocking a gun toting Katey out for good measure. He's also been featured in The Advocate.

- Standout music: Peter Allen, Vincent Mai and Sibell Thrasher's I'm Over You. 

- Chronology: An unspecified amount of time since the first movie. It's an adaptation of the fifth book in the series.

Shock To The System had the whole gay conversion plot and I was a bit worried with how it would be handled. It's done pretty along with the twists and turns in the mystery itself. I liked getting more on Donald's past as well.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Mid-Century Modern - Season 1 (2025, Hulu Series)

 

Written by David Kohan And Max Mutchnick And Suzanne Martin And Adam Barr And Dan Bucantinsky And Tracy Poust And Alex Herschlag

Directed by James Burrows

Bunny (to Jerry/Arthur): "You'll both move in here. We'll be together while we still can, like a family."

Imagine if someone pitched a show that was basically The Golden Girls meets Will & Grace. Then imagine some executive for reasons unknown then decided to commission that show. Something that might have worked in 1985. Something that might have worked in 1998. Is it it something that works for a 2025 audience?

Before I even saw a trailer, I had a somewhat bad feeling about this show. As a premise, it felt very dated and rather niche and much as I love Matt Bomer as an actor, having him in a friends group with Nathan Lane and Nathan Lee Graham seemed an odd choice at best. It's still an odd choice but here we are.

The first opened with the death of fourth friend, George. At his funeral, you've got business owner, Bunny Schneiderman (Lane), who still lived with his mother, Sybil (Linda Lavin) in a lavish house. Then there's the rather caustic, Arthur Broussard (Graham) and ditzy flight attendant, Jerry Frank (Bomer). By the end of the first, both Arthur and Jerry found themselves living with Bunny and Sybil.

Getting back to the comparison of a certain show, each of these characters easily fit into certain roles, though not perfectly. That in itself isn't a bad thing as the show does try to give each of the characters an identity beyond the one show it was compared to. Over the course of ten episodes, I had to admit that I did find myself warming a bit to this series.

These episodes had the difficult task of handling the real life passing of Linda Lavin and to it's credit, the penultimate episode was a nice send off for both Lavin herself and Sybil as a character. Sybil in general had some good moments with the boys along with Bunny's sister, Mindy (Pamela Adlon). The latter character potentially could fill in the Sybil role if this show receives a second season.

Getting back to the show itself, there's a slew of different guests a week, all of whom worked well with the main characters. The likes of Jesse Tyler Ferguson, Billie Lourd, Richard Kind, Zane Phillips and Rhea Pearlman get some nice moments. In particular, Kind's Carroll and Phillips's Mason had quite the impact on both Bunny and Jerry respectively as did Billie Lourd, who played Jerry's daughter.

As for the humour, don't let the occasional swear fool you. It's not a very risque show in that regard. A fair amount of the jokes managed to land but a fair chunk of them also failed to hit the mark. Matt Bomer in particular did falter a bit at first, compared to his co-stars but somewhat improved as the show went on. 

- The episodes are titled Bye George, Working Girls, Turbulence, Never Have I Ever, Hello Fisty's, Maid Serviced, Love Thy Neighbour, Sour Pickleball, Here's To You Mrs Schneiderman and The Show Must Go On.

- COVID factored into the fourth episode with the reveal that Jerry and Arthur once slept together.

- I did like the political plot of the seventh episode while the boys let a pretty but lazy houseboy (Adam Hagenbuch) play them off each other.

- Hulu released all ten episodes at once and although he's a producer, Ryan Murphy didn't write or direct a single episode for the show.

- Standout music: The main characters dancing to What A Man was rather funny, I'll admit. There's a bit of dancing in the show.

- Chronology: 2025 Palm Springs for the majority of the show though the fifth episode is set in Fire Island.

Some misgivings to one side, I think I liked Mid-Century Modern a bit more than I thought I would. It's far from perfect, a lot of the jokes don't land and Matt Bomer does feel odd within this group setting but there's potential there. Now whether it not it'll land for everyone else, I'm not so sure.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Sophisticated Ladies"

 

Written by Jon Robin Baitz And Joe Baken

Directed by Crystle Roberson Dorsey

Max: "Cougars week or as we now refer to it-"

Tristan: "Sophisticated Ladies week."

Yup, it was an episode dedicated to older women with our main four getting an older woman but one was shared with both Robert and Avery. Not only that, but a returning character too.

Remember Shania Twain popping up in the second episode of the show? Well, she's back and her character, supposedly called Heather didn't waste time in quickly reuniting with Robert. Then because apparently one major pregnancy storyline isn't enough for the show, it was quickly revealed that Heather's pregnant and Robert's the father.

Now while Robert might have been surprised that Heather could get pregnant as was Avery, he's also delighted with the prospect of being a father again. For a moment, it did look like Heather was going to lose the baby but she didn't. I can't help thinking this could be a potential exit storyline for Robert. 

As for Avery, she's gotta wait a bit longer before finding out whether Max or Tristan is the father. I did like the scenes she had with Heather and it's another in a series of moments where Avery's talked about motherhood with a woman too. 

As for Max, his older woman was the COVID infected Olivia (Donna Mills) and she didn't appreciate being quarantined, until she had to do it with Max (who also got COVID again). There's some continuity on Max's earlier backstory and nice context provided into his thoughts of imminent fatherhood as well as Olivia's own past explored. It's a strong secondary plot for this episode.

Last but not least, Tristan had to contend with Delia (Jaclyn Smith) and her toy boy lover. Delia had cancer and wanted to spend the time she had left not being a burden. I feel Tristan wasn't as immersed in this story as the others were with Heather and Olivia but it's a solid enough subplot.

- The poker scenes were back and Max was annoyed that no one wanted to get vaccinated again.

- Now that Robert's about to be a father again, are we going to meet his children and grandchildren first?

- Avery was swatting up on her paperwork and Tristan ended up doing his in a bid to prove he can step up as a potential father. Tristan's mommy issues got mentioned again.

- Chronology: Not long from where the previous episode left off.

Sophisticated Ladies had it's moments with the guest characters utilised well throughout. The Heather and Olivia stories were the strongest but Delia one also was effecting.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

Avengers: Doomsday - Casting Announced

Yesterday saw Marvel Studios giving one of the biggest announcements. Yup, the casting for Avengers: Doomsday. With the movie currently in production, over twenty cast members were revealed.

The following cast members were revealed in this order ....

Chris Hemsworth (Thor)

Vanessa Kirby (Invisible Woman)

Anthony Mackie (Captain America)

Sebastian Stan (Bucky Barnes)

Letitia Wright (Black Panther)

Paul Rudd (Ant-Man)

Wyatt Russell (U.S. Agent)

Tenoch Huerta-Mejia (Namor)

Ebon Moss-Bachrach (The Thing)

Simu Liu (Shang-Chi)

Florence Pugh (Yelena Belova)

Kelsey Grammer (Beast)

Lewis Pullman (Sentry)

Danny Ramirez (Falcon)

Joseph Quinn (Human Torch)

David Harbour (Red Guardian)

Winston Duke (M'Baku)

Hannah John-Kamen (Ghost)

Tom Hiddleston (Loki)

Patrick Stewart (Professor X)

Ian McKellen (Magneto)

Alan Cumming (Nightcrawler)

Rebecca Romijn (Mystique)

James Marsden (Cyclops)

Channing Tatum (Gambit)

Pedro Pascal (Mister Fantastic)

Robert Downey Jr. (Doctor Doom)

This was done over a five hour live feed with a row of chairs revealing each cast member, before Robert Downey Jr. popped up at the end. Needless to say, the method was a bit divisive but it certainly generated the maximum amount of attention expected with many theories flying around as to what the main plot for this movie will be.

As for the cast members revealed, it's an impressive bunch but in news that won't shock anyone, there's more to be revealed over the next few months. Honestly any actor who's ever appeared in a Marvel production will likely appear in this movie and it's sequel. 

Avengers: Doomsday will be released in theatres from May 1st 2026 with Avengers: Secret Wars heading to theatres from May 7th 2027.

Doctor Who - 20th Anniversary For The Revived Series

It feels like only yesterday after a nine year absence that Doctor Who had returned to BBC1. Twenty years later, we're only a few weeks away from a new series.

On March 26th 2005, Doctor Who returned to the screens with it's first episode, simply titled Rose. The episode introduced both the 9th Doctor (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). In their first adventure together, they found themselves saving London from an Auton invasion. It was a simple introduction for the characters and the start of proving that a show that ran for twenty six seasons between 1963 to 1989 could work yet again for a modern audience. Since that episode, it's been one hell of a rollercoaster ride for the show.

Let's cut to 2025 where in seventeen days time, we'll be seeing the 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gatwa) meeting with Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) during The Robot Revolution. It's the start of an interesting new arc while some others are due to be resolved. Right now, there's some concerns about the show's future, the release of this upcoming series and spin-off, The War Between The Land And The Sea but for now, let's bask in the fact that this revived show has ran for nearly as long as it's original run, boasted spin offs such as Torchwood, The Sarah Jane Adventures and Class as well as cultivated a generation of new talent both in front of and behind the cameras. With the likes of Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall, the show has certainly been brought to new heights.

Then there's the Doctors themselves. Christopher Eccleston. David Tennant (x3). Matt Smith. John Hurt. Peter Capaldi. Jodie Whittaker. Jo Martin. Ncuti Gatwa. All of them have taken the character in different and fascinating directions and while I do have my favourites, all of these actors deserve equal praise for what they've done with the Doctor. The Lonely Traveller. Raggedy Man. The Timeless Child. The Last Of The Time Lords. They're proof as to why the Doctor remains one of the most fascinating and enduring characters of all time. Long live the Doctor.

Then there's the companions themselves. Rose Tyler (Billie Piper), Jack Harkness (John Barrowman), Martha Jones (Freema Agyeman), Donna Noble (Catherine Tate), Amy Pond (Karen Gillan), Rory Williams (Arthur Darvill), Clara Oswald (Jenna Coleman), Bill Potts (Pearl Mackie), Nardole (Matt Lucas), Graham O'Brien (Bradley Walsh), Ryan Sinclair (Tosin Cole), Yasmin Khan (Mandip Gill), Dan Lewis (John Bishop), Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson) and now Belinda Chandra (Varada Sethu) as well as the various recurring allies and guest companions throughout the last twenty years.

Now it's time in my opinion for the Top 20 best stories in the revived series. In my opinion obviously, feel free to disagree.

1: The Day Of The Doctor (2013)

2: The Stolen Earth/Journey's End (2008)

3: Human Nature/The Family Of Blood (2007)

4: World Enough And Time/The Doctor Falls (2017)

5: The End Of Time (2009-2010)

6: The Eleventh Hour (2010)

7: The Power Of The Doctor (2022)

8: The Doctor's Wife (2011)

9: Bad Wolf/The Parting Of The Ways (2005)

10: Blink (2007)

11: The Name Of The Doctor (2013)

12: Army Of Ghosts/Doomsday (2006)

13: Last Christmas (2014)

14: Face The Raven (2015)

15: The Giggle (2023)

16: Fugitive Of The Judoon (2020)

17: The Angels Take Manhattan (2012)

18: Village Of The Angels (2021)

19: Rogue (2024)

20: The Woman Who Fell To Earth (2018)

I'm not going to rank either Doctors or companions, so you get my Top 20 stories instead. It wasn't an easy list to compile and wanted every era fairly represented but hopefully you like it.

Series 15 Trailer: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_xuo_FvPI18

Series 15 of Doctor Who will air on BBC1/iPlayer/Disney+ from April 12th.

My Review of Third Man Out (2005)

 

Written by Mark Saltzman And Richard Stevenson

Directed by Ron Oliver 

John: "Have you ever been shot, Don?"

Donald: "As a matter of fact, I have. I didn't care for it much."

John: "Neither did I. But that doesn't matter to you, does it? You probably think I should be shot, and killed."

Donald: "No, actually, John, I don't. But that probably puts me in exclusive company."

I can't believe it's been twenty years since this movie came out. I also can't believe it's taken me this long to actually watch the first in a series of adaptations of the books from Richard Stevenson Lipez's Donald Strachey detective novels.

Taking on the role of Donald Strachey was the delightful Chad Allen from Dr Quinn: Medicine Woman and I have to say, he's great casting for the troublesome private investigator. The first time we meet Strachey, he's getting punched in the face by the disgruntled wife of one of his clients. Of course not everyone disliked Donald Strachey.

Nope, he'd got a lovely live in boyfriend with Senator aide, Tim Callahan (Sebastian Spence) and a cute dog named Dr. Watson. Oh and they're currently renovating their house with a lot of focus being on a new fireplace. That's more of a light hearted subplot in a murder mystery movie of course.

The potential murder in question being of John Rutka (Jack Weatherall), a reporter if sorts with his own website called The Rutka Report where outing homophobic people in positions of power was the order of the day. It meant that he had a target on his back and it took a big enough money incentive for Donald to actually figure out who was trying to kill him.

The suspect list was pretty large and halfway through the movie, it appeared that Rutka had been burned to death. Donald did suspect that Rutka's muscled boyfriend, Eddie (Woody Jeffreys) was responsible while Detective Sean "Bub" Bailey (Daryl Shuttleworth) also pointed out that Rutka had form for lying. That was something that Bub was very much spot on about.

Anyways the deeper that Strachey went into solving Rutka's murder, the more characters that popped up with the intention of harming of silencing Donald. Characters like Linklater (Sean Carey), and Slinger (David Palffy) certainly added complications but it was the arrest of Father Morgan (Alf Humphries) brought other revelations to light.

It's the last few minutes where Donald managed to crack the case and discovered that Rutka played a very complicated long con in order to get justice for the abuse he suffered as a child that really explained his motives throughout the film. That and a rather revealing moment about Donald's military past added rather nice denouement to the whole story.

- There's a few supporting female characters, including Tim's boss, the house contractor and Rutka's sister. Tim's also got Irish blood in him.

- At one point in the movie, Donald's investigation had him interviewing porn performer, Dik Steele (Matthew Rush).

- Bub was a character that debuted in this movie and would be added into later book. The same applied to Kenny Kwon (Nelson Wong).

- Chronology: The book itself (the fourth in the series) came out in 1992 but given some of the updates added to this adaptation, I'm betting it's supposed to set in the 2000s, Albany, New York.

Third Man Out was a very enjoyable debut in this detective series with a strong story, a complicated enough "victim" and a charming protagonist with Chad Allen being a delight as Donald Strachey. I'm looking to seeing the remaining movies in this series.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Adolescence (2025, Netflix Miniseries)

 

Written by Jack Thorne And Stephen Graham

Directed by Philip Barantini

DI Bascombe: "It's crazy what your brain tells you what to do when you're a kid."

Last year, Netflix struck gold with Baby Reindeer. The seven part miniseries had something of a frank discussion on mental health and masculinity. It appeared that lightning can strike twice because Adolescence explored similar themes, albeit with a vastly different story.

Shot with a single camera format, the four part miniseries focused on the arrest of a teenager named Jamie Miller (Owen Cooper), much to the confusion of his parents Eddie (Stephen Graham) and Manda (Christine Tremarco) and older sister, Lisa (Amélie Pease).

The nature of Jamie's arrest by DI Luke Bascombe (Ashley Walters) and DS Misha Frank (Faye Marsay) was made apparent very fast. Jamie was believed to be responsible for the death of his classmate, Katie and the first episode tackled Jamie's arrest and initial questioning by the detectives. Jamie went out of his way to give them as little as possible.

The second episode saw Bascombe and Frank going to Jamie's school and interviewing other classmates. That included Jamie's best friend, Ryan (Kaine Davis), who was revealed to have supplied Jamie with the knife that killed Katie. There was also Katie's grief stricken friend, Jade (Fatima Bojang) while Bascombe's own son gave his father the run down on Incel culture.

Perhaps the highlight of this miniseries would be the third episode, focusing on Jamie talking to child psychologist, Briony Ariston (Erin Doherty). It's an extraordinary piece of television with genuinely captivating performances from both Owen Cooper and Erin Doherty, with the episode getting to the root of Jamie's views on women.

As for the last episode, it's an examination of the impact of Jamie's crime from the perspective of his family. With the backdrop of Eddie's birthday and a series of setbacks, there's a heartbreaking performance from both Stephen Graham and Christine Tremarco as Jamie's trial was drawing closer and he'd changed his plea. That last scene in particular ended this miniseries on a harrowing note.

- The story was a work of fiction, though influenced by recent events but not specifically adapting one.

- This miniseries was Owen Cooper's first acting role and he was picked out of 500 boys who auditioned for the role.

- Jack Thorne's other miniseries, Toxic Town is also available on Netflix, having come out two weeks prior to this one.

- Chronology: From the second episode onwards we went from three days to seven months to thirteen months since Jamie's arrest.

Adolescence will easily go down as one of the best shows of 2025. It's also one of the most important ones too with it's depiction of several worthy issues and stunning performances from the entire cast. The hype's justified with this one.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

Doctor Who - Series 15 (Season 2) Episode Titles, Guests, Radio Times Celebrate

We are less than three weeks from the new series of Doctor Who and the marketing has kicked up a notch. 

First of all, let's get those episode titles for the new series out of the way as yesterday evening, the BBC revealed the titles in the same manner as last series.

The Robot Revolution. Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Peter Hoar.

Lux. Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Amanda Brotchie.

The Well. Written by Sharma Angel-Walfall And Russell T. Davies. Directed by Amanda Brotchie.

Lucky Day. Written by Pete McTighe. Directed by Peter Hoar.

The Story And The Engine. Written by Inua Ellams. Directed by Makalla McPherson.

The Interstellar Song Contest. Written by Juno Dawson. Directed by Ben A. Williams.

Wish World. Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai.

The Reality War. Written by Russell T. Davies. Directed by Alex Sanjiv Pillai.

Eight episodes. Four other writers aside from Russell T. Davies. A mix of new and returning directors but what about our cast?

Well, there's Ncuti Gatwa and Varada Sethu as the 15th Doctor and Belinda Chandra but there's also a slew of recurring characters. Ruby Sunday (Millie Gibson), Conrad Clark (Jonah Hauer-King), Kate Stewart (Jemma Redgrave), Shirley Anne Bingham (Ruth Madeley), Colonel Ibrahim (Alexander Devrient), Melanie Bush (Bonnie Langford), Rose Noble (Yasmin Finney), Carla Sunday (Michelle Greenidge), Cherry Sunday (Angela Winter), Susan Triad (Susan Twist) and Mrs Flood (Anita Dobson). 

Conrad in particular seems to have a lot going for him. He encounters the Doctor and Belinda as a child, hosts the Lucky Day podcast in the present day, gets romantically involved with Ruby and appears to be a foil in the finale. He could be a highlight along with Belinda's struggling to get home arc and possible connection to Mundy Flynn. Not to mention finally getting some answers on Mrs Flood.

Over the last few weeks, various guest actors have been announced. These actors have included Freddie Fox (House Of The Dragon), Kadiff Kirwan (Slow Horses) and Max Parker (Emmerdale), who were all confirmed to be popping up in upcoming episodes. The other confirmed guests this series have included Alan Cumming, Rose Ayling-Ellis, Christopher Chung, Rylan Clark, Charlie Condou, Blake Patrick Anderson, Caoilfhionn Dunne, Evelyn Miller, Ariyon Bakare and Archie Panjabi to name a few. Panjabi's casting in particular does seem to be shrouded in some secrecy.

Meanwhile with the revived series turning 20 on March 26th, Radio Times decided to give fans six glorious covers, featuring Christopher Eccleston, David Tennant, Matt Smith, Peter Capaldi, Jodie Whittaker and Ncuti Gatwa. The popular guide also included interviews from show runners Russell T. Davies, Steven Moffat and Chris Chibnall on the show's impact since it's 2005 return.

Series 15 (Season 2) of Doctor Who returns to BBC1/iPlayer/Disney+ from April 12th.

My Review of Borderline (2025)

 

Written And Directed by Jimmy Warden 

Sofia: "We're getting married?"

Paul: "What, are you having second thoughts?"

If you ever wanted a film like Misery but almost in reverse and without someone getting their legs smashed, then I think we've got a contender her with Borderline (2025). Yup, it's the ordinary guy obsessed with the famous woman.

The ordinary guy also being something of an obsessive lunatic named Paul (Ray Nicholson) and the fixation being on a pop singer named Sofia (Samara Weaving). It's also Paul who's something of an unreliable narrator for most of the movie, which didn't tell the story in order.

We did start off with Paul showing up at Sofia's mansion to propose, only for Sofia's bodyguard Bell (Eric Dane) to get stabbed. Don't worry about Bell too much, the guy's impossible to kill and this movie tried to but failed in that regard. Saying that, even Bell's daughter had to tell him to change jobs.

Anyways getting back to tie movie, Sofia found herself teaming up with fellow musician, Rhodes (Jimmie Fails) and it was obvious they were hooking up as well. However she didn't expect Paul to show up with an entourage in order to get married. I'm more shocked he though baby blue was the best colour for a wedding dress.

As Paul prepared himself to be a pop star's husband, his PA Penny (Alba Baptista) was too busy getting into a scrap with Sofia and being set alight. There's also a strange plot where the delusional Paul mistook Rhodes for Sofia and Rhodes literally had to go through with marrying Paul at the selected venue.

The rest of the movie then was about taking out Paul's right hand man and getting Paul taken away by the cops. There's a moment towards the end that felt like blatant homage/rip off to Pearl (2022) but it managed to work.

- Samara Weaving's husband, Jimmy Warden wrote and directed this movie.

- There's a nice character bit about Sofia doing puzzles with her grieving bodyguard.

- Standout music: The Cardigans Love/Fool not to mention, Sofia and Penny's version of It's All Coming Back To Me Now.

- Chronology: The movie had a 1990s Los Angeles setting. At one point, Sofia was compared to Madonna.

Borderline might have a bit of thin plot and it certainly relied on the comedy elements and lead performances but I enjoyed this. Ray Nicholson in particular was absolutely brilliant throughout this movie.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Casino Week"

 

Written by Tracy Taylor And Jessica Grasl And Mike Schaub

Directed by Jennifer Lynch

Max: "All of that sounds circumstantial to me at best."

Athena: "Which is why we need to catch them cheating."

Max: "We?"

Athena: "If they saw me arresting Henry, my cover is blown, but you, you're just a friendly doctor. You ever wear an earpiece?"

Finally it happened. It took eleven episodes but Doctor Odyssey did the inevitable and crossed over with 9-1-1. Now while I would've preferred having Buck (Oliver Stark) and Tommy (Lou Ferrigno Jr) boarding The Odyssey and flirting up a storm with Max, we had a different scenario play out instead.

Athena Grant-Nash (Angela Bassett), the icon she is ended up on the ship because of a Bonnie & Clyde con duo. She had seemingly arrested the Clyde part of the duo but ended up being locked in a room, only to find out that the ship was sailing. As we already know, Athena's not a cruise kind of woman. Too many bad memories of one particular incident.

The moment ABC announced that Doctor Odyssey was going to be a series, a part of me had assumed that the seventh season premiere of 9-1-1 factored into it and its rather fitting for Athena to be on this ship and this show certainly didn't waste the character for a moment. Athena dominated this episode in a way that no guest star has done this far and all the better for it too.

I loved Athena's dynamic with Max. He was the good cop to her bad cop. The rookie to her seasoned police officer and yes, despite being a married woman, Max flirted a little bit with Athena. They also mildly disagreed on potential suspects when we weren't getting gambling metaphors for a lot of the themes of the episode too.

The thieves being a grandmother and her grandson, connected to Henry was a nice but pretty obvious reveal. I didn't buy Granny's sweet and innocent act one bit but after this episode, can we return the favour and have Max help Athena out on a case on land? Also if the writers want to put him in scenes with Buck, Tommy and Eddie, that'd be nice too.

Athena also had some rather nice scenes with both Robert and Avery, especially with the latter. She gave Avery some sage advice on motherhood, which Avery took to heart. Avery made something of a point of telling Max that she's keeping the baby while also reminding him that he might not be the father. For some reason, Max's become a punching bag for Avery and Tristan and I don't like it, plot wise. I'm also not convinced the show will have Avery remain pregnant either.

- While Athena didn't get any big scenes with Tristan, there was a slight missed opportunity in not having her interact with Corey. I'm sure he would've reminded her of someone.

- Due to spoilers leaked, this episode seemed to setting up a drinking problem for Tristan. They could've seeded that a lot better.

- There was a nice subplot with a guest named Daphne in which the character needed a new heart.

- Chronology: From where the last scene of that 9-1-1 episode left off.

Casino Week might be just the best episode so far and yes, I know the bar's not too high. The show had fun with Athena as the main guest and I could have watched more and more scenes with her and Max, along with the glitzy backdrop of the casino theme.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Harley Quinn: "The Mess Is The Point"

 

Written by Dean Lorey And Leslie Schapira

Directed by Diana Huh

Harley: "So, you wanna go fuck shit up?"

Ivy: "You had me at one of the fuck."

Is it me or did that feel like a potential series finale? I mean if the show doesn't get renewed, it didn't end in a never to be resolved cliffhanger? Also, how much longer can this show keep going? Maybe one more season or maybe this is where it should end.

Getting back to the episode itself, Harley, Ivy, Sharon and Brainiac were trapped inside a bottle while Lex and Lena were getting along with Harley then ruining that by having thr pair turn on each other. To be fair, it didn't take much in that regard.

Anyways with some help from Frankette, bottle tipping and Sharon repeating the episode's title to Brainiac, Harley and company got free from the bottle as well as returned to their normal size. As for Lex and Lena, they got shrunk and ended up being eaten by Frankette but are still alive. Eventually, they're going to come out the other end, right?

Then there was Brainiac to contend with. He was kind of okay with letting his home planet collide with Earth and Bane's inability to lie almost sped up that decision on his part. A last minute change of heart meant that Brainiac sacrificed himself while Harley and company floated in space.

I'll admit, it did look pretty bad for Harley and company until Superman came at the last minute to save the day. Metropolis got restored, kids became friends and Harley and Ivy are now in a place where they might have more adventures on screen but will definitely be having plenty of them off screen for the rest of their lives.

- Lex and Lena wanting to name Metropolis after themselves really was the perfect way to get them to turn on each other.

- I got the impression that Gotham and Metropolis either merged or were placed beside each other. Frankette has inherited her father's potty mouth.

- Bane got his girlfriend pregnant and Goldilocks wanted to be Shawn's girlfriend. He didn't want that.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

The Mess Is The Point really did feel like a series finale. I'd argue that it should be one as the show has had a good run for five seasons and DC's animated universe does feel like it's moving into a new era with this show still very much a part of the old regime. Saying that, if it gets renewed, I'll be back and I really liked this season.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League (2025)

 

Written by Kazuki Nakashima

Directed by Junpei Mizusaki And Shinji Takagi

Batman: "Don't forget. It is most dangerous when a friend turns into an enemy."

The day before I had rewatched Batman Ninja in preparation for this sequel and it's a good job I had. It might be seven years between movie releases but almost no time passed here. Well, maybe a day.

The consequences of Grodd's Quake Engine meant that Feudal Japan was now floating over Gotham City and it didn't take long for Batman (Koichi Yadamera) and Robin (Yuki Kaji) to go up and investigate what was going on. Last time, it was Batman's rogue, this time it's a League.

The League being the Yakuza League and their members involved alternative versions of Superman (Takaya Kamikawa), Wonder Woman (Romi Park), Jessica Cruz (Ayane Sakura), The Flash (Nobuyuki Hiyama) and Aquaman (Akio Otsuka). As a League, they're somewhat of a splintered bunch.

First of all, Wonder Woman's not even taking part in the big fights, proving to be more of an ally to Batman and Robin as well as a protector to Harley Quinn (Rie Kugimiya) while Superman's a rather brutish enforcer to the real villain of the piece, Ra's al Ghul (Kazuhiro Yamiji). The rest of them are muscle that eventually come good by the third act.

Ra's al Ghul as the main villain with a plot very much in line with him did work for the film. He did try to sway Damian to his side but the latter refused and ended up encased with a lot of sushi (no, really). The Joker (Wataru Takagi) also factored into things with his notable contribution being to save Batman's life for his own selfish reasons.

As for the rest of Batman's support team - there was the returns of Nightwing (Daisuke Ono), Red Hood (Akira Ishida), Red Robin (Kengo Kawanishi) and Alfred Pennyworth (Hocho Otsuka) all returned and we had Commissioner Gordon (Masaki Tersoma) also in the mix. Throw in some good fight scenes, redemption plots and time being restored properly and you had the making of a great sequel.

- The English dub actors are Joe Daniels, Nathan Wilson, Bryson Baugus, David Harbold, Karlii Hoch, Molly Searcy, Cyrus Rodas, Annie Wild, John Swasey and Aaron Campbell.

- Harley's new look was more purple and black and Red Hood's seemed in line with his recent comic look.

- Most of the League's back stories in Feudal Japan were similar but Barry was a low level gang member and Jessica a gambling addict.

- Chronology: A day since the events of Batman Ninja.

Batman Ninja vs. Yakuza League turned out to be a rather enjoyable sequel. Granted, I'm over the Evil Superman story in any continuity but it was handled recently here and fortunately, Ra's was the main villain. If there's scope to do a third one, I hope they do.

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Batman Ninja (2018)

 

Written by Kazuki Nakashima And Leo Chu And Eric S. Garcia

Directed by Junpei Mizusaki

Batman: "This is madness."

With the sequel to this anime now released, I had to go back and rewatch this one. I'll admit I wasn't that taken with it at first but it's worth a second look.

Over the years, DC has embraced anime with the likes of My Adventures With Superman and Suicide Squad Isekai. This movie preceded both of those shows, though it had more in common with the latter, premise wise.

The film started with Batman (Koichi Yamadera) battling Gorilla Grodd (Takehito Koyasu) in Gotham City, only for the latter's Quake Engine to send him into Feudal Japan. Of course, it wouldn't just be Batman in that particular era.

This movie had not only Alfred Pennyworth (Hochu Otsuka) but also Nightwing (Daisuke Ono), Red Hood (Akira Ishida), Red Robin (Kengo Kawanishi) and Robin (Yuki Kaji). They made up Team Batman but what about the Rogues themselves? Again, this film didn't fall short.

There was Joker (Watery Takagi), Catwoman (Ai Kakuma), Harley Quinn (Rie Kugimiya), Poison Ivy (Atsuko Tanaka), the Penguin (Cho), Deathstroke (Junichi Sawabe), Bane (Kenta Miyake) and Two Face (Toshiyuki Morikawa). It's a fairly large gallery of baddies to use for this movie but great additions nonetheless.

Add in some original characters such as Bat Clan leader Eian (Yoji Ueda), Robin's pet monkey Monkichi (Anna Mugiho) and the latter's friend, Monmi (Juri Nagatsuma) and some rather cool battle sequences and I think I might have misjudged this movie. It's definitely a lot better than I remembered it to be.

- A mid credit scene had Catwoman selling weapons while we saw a horse drawn Batmobile.

- Yet another animated movie where Joker and Harley are a couple but we did get some Gotham City Sirens allusions here.

- The English dub actors are Roger Craig Smith, Tony Hale, Grey Griffin, Tara Strong, Adam Croasdell, Fred Tatasciore, Yuri Lowenthal, Will Friedle, Eric Bauza, Tom Kenny and Matthew Yang King

- Chronology: Present day Gotham City and Feudal Japan.

I'm glad I did give Batman Ninja a second chance. It's better second time around and there's some pretty good sequences throughout the whole movie, along with a good enough to keep it going. Now it's on to the sequel.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Steel (1997)

 

Written And Directed by Kenneth Johnson

John Henry Irons: "It might get dangerous."

Susan Sparks: "I laugh at danger."

Uncle Joe: "I boogie around danger like a "Soul Train" dancer!"

I really am in the depth of some of the biggest misfire from DC and after subjecting myself to Jonah Hex last week, I had to go and watch this one. First and likely last time tbh.

Getting Shaquille O'Neal as John Henry Irons was something of an interesting choice for the character. The way the character's written and his overall performance certainly had a sense of "character in name only" throughout the entire movie.

In this film, John's a weapons expert, using his knowledge to make better weapons while his best friend, Susan "Sparky" Sparks ended up in a wheelchair during a debacle that John's rival, Nathaniel Burke (Judd Nelson) was responsible for.

These events managed to set up Burke as the main antagonist for the movie. He wanted to sell John's weapons to criminal gangs for profits but John had other ideas. This included getting Sparky out of her funk and also working with Uncle Joe (Richard Roundtree). For that, John needed a look.

The look he went for was Steel and the name he eventually settled on after some bad choices was Steel. He also managed to make a negative impression on the police (but not the couple he rescued) while inadvertently placing his grandmother, Odessa (Irma P. Hall) and Martin (Ray J) in danger.

The rest of the movie just stomped along with Burke getting his villain moment, Steel having his loved ones threatened and then Burke getting his just desserts. While the movie initially teased the idea of Steel retiring, ultimately Colonel David (Charles Napier) tried and failed to get Steel on side.

- There's a voice modulator cameo of sorts with Arnold Schwarzenegger. Guess what other DC movie released the same year?

- Yup, director Kenneth Johnson really did ignore everything from the comics in order to do this version of the character.

- Standout music: Shaquille O'Neal along with rappers KRS-One, Ice Cube, B-Real, and Peter Gunz performing Men Of Steel.

- Chronology: 1990s California for this movie.

Steel has the good grace not to be a long movie and there's some moments that are okay enough. However, it's a largely disjointed film with a dull lead villain and a plodding script. I wouldn't recommend watching it beyond the one time you'd need to.

Rating: 4 out of 10 

My Review of Into The West (1992)

 

Written by Jim Sheridan And David Keating

Directed by Mike Newell

Papa Reilly: "There's a bit of a traveler in everybody, Tito. But very few of us know where we're goin'."

Seeing as it's St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd review the last Irish movie that I've watched and it's this one. It's one I've watched a few times and one I think would be seen as a favourite among Irish movies.

Taking place on an apartment block in Dublin, you have the former "King of the Travellers" Papa Reilly (Gabriel Byrne). He's lost his way since the death of his wife, Mary and his sons Tito (Ruaidhri Conroy) and Ossie (Ciaran Fitzgerald) are mostly ignored by Papa's penchant for drink.

Then there's the arrival of the lads maternal grandfather (David Kelly) and a mysterious white horse named Tir na nÓg. The lads took to the horse, even keeping him in their small flat while Papa and Grandfather clash over the old ways that Papa had abandoned. Oh and there's the myth of Tir na nÓg itself that played it's part throughout the movie.

Now keeping a horse in a flat wasn't the most practical of ideas and it didn't take long for the guards to seize the horse off the boys. Stepping into the villain role, there was Inspector Bolger (Brendan Gleeson). He's a thoroughly unpleasant character who took a sadistic pleasure in antagonising Papa while also selling Tir na nÓg to a local businessman (John Kavanagh).

On the plus side, when Papa wasn't reconnecting with his roots and getting fellow travellers, Kathleen (Ellen Barkin) and Barreller (Colm Meaney), both Ossie and Tito managed to steal Tir na nÓg off the businessman and go on the run. There's an entertaining plot with the two brothers trying to stay one step ahead of the law while Ossie also learned the hard truth about his mother's passing.

The last few minutes then had an emotional reunion between Papa and his sons, a comeuppance for the likes of Bolger and a supernatural encounter of sorts. On top of that, there's a sense of catharsis with Papa given the way this movie ended.

- Other noteworthy actors in this movie included Jim Norton, Anita Reeves and Ray McBride.

- I did laugh at Ossie and Tito having to pretend to be a part of the Murphy family. The dole crowd now think they have fourteen children.

- Standout music: The Devlins Someone To Talk To and Clannad's In A Lifetime.

- Chronology: 1990s, Ballymun. 

Into The West told a good story, encompassing many issues and a bit of mythology to boot. I liked this movie as a youngster and it's aged pretty well over thirty years later. 

Rating: 8 out of 10 

My Review of Apartment 7A (2024)

 

Written by Natalie Erika James And Christian White And Skylar James

Directed by Natalie Erika James

Terry (to Minnie): "It's the role of a lifetime."

After sitting through nine episodes of American Horror Story: Delicate, did I really want to venture back into the world of Rosemary's Baby? Not entirely but I also wanted to see if this prequel had what it took to add to an overfamiliar horror story.

Set before the events of that story, you've got aspiring dancer, Theresa "Terry" Gionoffrio (Julia Garner) doing her level best to get into a Broadway production. The only thing that she's achieved was to earn the nickname "the girl who fell" and the general disinterest of producers Alan Marchland (Jim Sturgess) and Leo Watts (Andrew Buchan). Then her luck somewhat changed.

Encountering an elderly couple, Minnie (Dianne Wiest) and Roman Castevet (Kevin McNally), Terry found herself living in the rent free 7A apartment in Bramford. Not only that but Minnie's friend, Lily Gardenia (Tina Gray) helped to heal her leg, Terry booked a Broadway gig and she even had a strange encounter with Marchland that she can't quite remember either.

Of course getting involved with the Castevets would turn out to be a bad omen for Terry. Her only friend in the movie and fellow dancer, Annie Leung (Marli Siu) pointed out the oddity of the Castevets wanting to take care of Terry. Then there was the disappearance of previous occupant, Joan Cebulski, who had a lot in common with Terry.

Yup, Terry ended up pregnant and feared it would end her Broadway career. Then there was Minnie and Roman insisting they'd look after the baby while Terry kept working along with Lily trying to kill her and Dr Sapirstein (Patrick Lyster) also gaslighting her. Not to mention some rather violent dreams and a Grimoire that revealed quite a lot.

Terry found herself in a situation where she would be giving birth to the Antichrist and everyone around her were doing their best to keep her isolated and compliant in order to give birth. There's a great scene with a certain song in which Terry took the most drastic measure she could in order to reclaim her autonomy and stop baby Antichrist from coming into the world.

- The film went straight to Paramount+ with no theatrical release as well as video on demand a week later.

- There's a young couple who appear that are clearly meant to be the Woodhouses.

- Standout music: The use of the Ronettes Be My Baby during that particular scene was the best moments in the movie.

- Chronology: The movie takes place in 1964 and 1965, New York City with a post credit directly leading into the start of Rosemary's Baby.

Apartment 7A pretty much just recycled the story of what's a prequel to but it's a surprisingly better handled than expected. There's nothing overly original, scary or too shocking but there's some nice moments and a solid performance from Julia Garner while Dianne Wiest certainly cranked her role up a bit. It's not bad.

Rating: 6 out of 10 

My Review of The Haunting (1963)

 

Written by Nelson Gidding 

Directed by Robert Wise

Eleanor: "Hill House has stood for 90 years and might stand for 90 more. Within, walls continue upright, bricks meet, floors are firm, and doors are sensibly shut. Silence lies steadily against the wood and stone of Hill House. And we who walk here... walk alone."

A few months ago, I went on a Mike Flanagan Netflix miniseries binge watch and I absolutely loved The Haunting Of Hill House. As a result, I had to watch other adaptations of Shirley Jackson's classic book. This one in particular.

Somewhat closer to the book than the popular Netflix miniseries or the 1999 movie (that'll be next week), this adaptation continues to prove that some of the scariest movies really are in black and white.

You get a brief rundown of the titular house and the Crain family and the amount of death that seemed to coincide after they had purchased the house. Hugh lost two of his wives and while his daughter, Abigail (Amy Dalby) lived to an old age, she also died along with her nurse companion. 

Anyways, in more recent times, you've got Dr John Markway (Richard Johnson) who not only narrated the previous events of the cursed house but also enlisted three other people to spend time in there to investigate the paranormal activity. Those three people were something of a mixed bunch.

There's playboy, Luke Sannerson (Russell Tamblyn), who was also a distant relative of a past victim along with the bohemian psychic Theodora (Claire Bloom) and Eleanor "Nell" Lance (Julie Harris), who had past encounters with poltergeists as a child. Those experiences would prove to be both handy and fatal for Nell.

As the movie went along, the house certainly had it's fair share of paranormal activity, terrifying the foursome at various points, along with Markway's wife, Grace (Lois Maxwell). There's links between previous victims and the main protagonists, with Nell feeling more of a connection to the house than others and given it's history, it did get one victim trapped within its grounds.

- There's strong supporting roles for Mr Dudley (Valentine Dyall) and his wife (Rosalie Crutchley).

- The original cut had monologue from Mrs Sannerson instead of Dr Markway.

- Although it's not as overt as later adaptations, Theo's definitely attracted to women in this movie.

- Chronology: 1960s Massachusetts, though it was filmed in the UK.

The Haunting is an absolutely fantastic first adaptation. While it did strip some of the elements down, it's done in a good way and kept enough to really elevate the material. The scares are effective, voiceovers suitably haunting and lead performances are excellent.

Rating: 9 out of 10 

My Review of Y2K (2024)

 

Written by Kyle Mooney And Evan Winter

Directed by Kyle Mooney

Screenslayer V2: "We are your god!"

Laura: "Ride the information super-die-way, bitch!"

Okay, now this was definitely something I should've watched back in December but eh, whatever. I decided to watch it last night and I had some fun with this movie.

Maybe it's the fact that we're getting to that point where 90s/00s nostalgia has creeped into things or maybe it's just that this movie took an idea that's been lampooned a bit but not as good as The Simpsons did it way back when. With this movie, it's also tackled well enough.

You've got two social outcasts Eli (Jaeden Martell) and Danny (Julian Dennison) psyching themselves up for a New Year's Eve party that not only would bring in a new millennium but for Eli, it maybe had the chance of him getting his dream girl, Laura (Rachel Zegler). That's the hope at least.

Of course there would be some bullies in the form of Farkas (Eduardo Franko) and his cohorts Ash (Lachlan Watson) and CJ (Daniel Zolghadri) and Laura's obnoxious ex-boyfriend, Soccer Chris (Charlton Howard). Don't worry, the majority of these characters don't survive the movie.

In fact, because it's a short movie, it didn't take long for the party to devolve into a bloodbath when every electrical item acted up and went on a killing spree. I have to give points for some of the inventive deaths on display here. There was some good kills here as only Eli, Laura and Ash along with Fred Durst (as himself) having to save mankind from the wrath of the machines.

With these three teen protagonists, you're given some moments to deconstruct each of them. That's in between porn history on display, a bubbling romance between two of them and one of them laying out why a certain band had a profound impact in their identity. The ending was a bit with a hint of things not quite being resolved.

- Mason Gooding keeps his Scream King momentum as Laura's other (but nicer) boyfriend Jonas. He doesn't survive the film while co-writer/director, Kyle Mooney played Garrett. Alicia Silverstone was Eli's mother.

- The retro opening and closing credits were a nice touch for this movie.

- Standout music: Let's see, the likes of Thong Song, Tubthumping, Break Stuff, Back At One and Fred Durst's version of Faith.

- Chronology: 1999/2000 with filming in New Jersey.

I'm not sure what movies that critics watched because I found Y2K really enjoyable. There's some fun kills, likable enough characters, a great use of Fred Durst and a bloody good soundtrack. I had fun with this one.

Rating: 7 out of 10 

My Review of Doctor Odyssey: "Shark Attack! Part 2: Orca!"

 

Written by Russell Friend And Jamie Pachino

Directed by Michael Medico

Robert (to Max): "You see right now, we're surrounded by a pod of orcas and they are pissed."

Last week we got a shark attack and this week a pod of pissed off orcas. The type of bat shit nuttiness that I was hoping the show would venture into. On the downside, they're killing this triangle for me.

Was this episode meant to make me think that Max was a jerk because if anything, I actually on his side throughout. Both Avery and Tristan were both too harsh and downright hypocritical in their scenes with Max. I guess I'm Team Max here.

Max showing an interest in a child he's potentially fathered and giving Avery sound advice about attending a dangerous mission at night with sharks and orcas isn't what I'd deem as controlling behaviour. If anything, Max has shown that he does respect Avery throughout the series so far.

It's also a bit rich of Tristan to berate Max about Brooke when he's also still having a thing with Vivian (whenever she appears on the show). Not to mention, he was making the moves on Avery this episode. Both Tristan and Avery were too harsh on Max here.

Saying that, both of them had great scenes away from Max. Spencer wanted to be useful in getting the power back on the ship and Tristan made sure he could assist Rosie and Ray in order to do that. Likewise there was a rather nice conversation between Avery and Brooke that sort of passed the Bechdel Test. I'm here for a Brooke/Avery mentorship thing.

As for the rest of the episode, the power got restored, Avery and Tristan got closer, Robert had some nice moments with Spencer and they hinted that Max and Brooke may be a thing at a later date. After this episode, Max needs to be with a woman his own age.

- I'm willing to bet that both Brooke and Ray will be both be regulars next season. Robert even offered the latter a job.

- I can't tell if the show was hinting at Brooke being a parent or not wanting kids during that conversation with Avery.

- The trailer for next week's episode featured a very familiar character from the show that aired before this one.

- Chronology: From where the previous episode left off.

Shark Attack! Part 2: Orca! did lose some points for me with the way both Tristan and Avery treated Max but there were better scenes throughout the episode. Those scenes managed to lift proceedings.

Rating: 6 out of 10